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East Timor: Now Serving Tourist 19,001 (Will It Be You?)

Where: Dili
November 2, 2009 at 8:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

Now that we've got our freedom, wanna come over? A Reuters article published this weekend described the follow-up fight of the new Southeast Asian country East Timor, which emerged from 24 years of occupation to join the UN in 2002, to capitalize on its troubled past in attracting visitors. Actually, it was more "speculated on" than "described," but we'll get to that in a minute.

East Timor declared itself independent in 1975 when Portuguese colonizers left, only to be invaded and occupied by Indonesia a week later. Some 180,000 civilian deaths and two attempted military uprisings later, East Timor is now a democracy backed up by its neighbor to the south Australia -- so it must be time for tourist dollars to flow in again.

Despite the article's confidence in tourism minister Gil da Costa Alves, East Timor is not quite ready for primetime: Its international airport is tiny, it currently offers under 700 hotel rooms in the entire country and only 19,000 people visited last year. And we're not sure a "See where the prime minister hid from Indonesian assassins!" theme park will take off among the Japanese and Australian tourists who are closest to East Timor, let alone Westerners. But we love new frontiers, and we bet East Timor would be a really killer stamp in our passports.

Want to be one of the tourist trailblazers? Check capital city Dili for traces of Portuguese culture, from street signs to leftover colonial weaponry. Head straight east to Tutuala, a village in the country's first national park, the Nino Konis Santana National Park, known for its brilliant and protected cockatoos and pigeons. Don't forget to hit the beach on your way back. If you're thinking about going next year, consider timing your visit along with -- or even participating in -- the Tour de Timor, a multi-stage bicycle race spread through the country's mountains, river-ridden plains and coastlines.

Related Stories:
· East Timor May Use Its Struggle as Tourist Lure [Reuters, via NY Times]
· Tutuala and the Eastern Tip [The Unofficial Guide to East Timor]

[Photo of Santa Cruz Cemetery, mentioned in the article: yeowatzup]

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