Dili, Timor Leste (Sunday 24 July)

I meet with Justin at 10am down on the harbour. We catch a taxi to a church on a hill just west of the town. On the way we pass the Comoro markets. ‘I don’t go there’ explains Justin. ‘Oh? Why?’ I ask. ‘There are drugs and they kill people’ he replies. ‘Oh…that is a very good reason not to go there’!
The church is in a great location, up high with nice views all around. There is a large impressive statue of the pope, one arm outstretched and the other holding a cross. We are not alone with locals and visitors also there. We meet two Australian nurses there who are in Dili on assignment to look after Australian soldiers based in Dili.
From here we walk along the beach and across to the ‘Three Seas’, a series of saltwater lakes that do little more than breed mosquitoes according to the Australian nurses. Dengue and malaria are a problem with the Australian troups stationed here. Not far from here is a UN vehicle graveyard where there are hundreds of broken UN vehicles stacked up. UN personal come from all parts of the world with various levels of driving backgrounds and abilities. This graveyard is testament to their bad driving. It’s an amazing sight and provides another measure of the extraordinary waste at the hands of the UN! If ever they change car brands, Toyota will go broke! The UN is timed to pack up and move out in another 12 months after the next presidential elections but the word is they will extend their departure date indefinitely as things are still unstable in Timor Leste.
We catch a taxi to the famous Aituri Markets. These markets are located on the southern edge of Dili at the foot of the hills. They are impressive just for the volume and variety of produce available and if you come to Dili, you should come here. It is impossible to capture the atmosphere in photos. There is nothing you can’t buy here. Everything is artfully displayed, tomatoes stacked in pyramid piles, green vegetables hanging or stacked in order, tobacco broken up into manageable piles all in rows, bean seeds of all colours displayed beautifully. Even the fish are organised artfully. Walking through i give Justin the English names and he gives me the Timorese equivalent. The markets are a labyrinth of alleys solid with product and I would get completely lost if it wasn’t for Justin. These markets are active every day.
We visit another market at Taibessi. The government wants to move them to use the land so they built a complex of sheds for the vendors to move to. There are more vendors than sheds so they refuse to move. The new sheds remain unused.
Justin and I part ways for today and on the way home I grab some dinner at a hole-in-the-wall at an Indian eatery across the road from the backpackers. An Asian looking guy (not Timorese) waiting for his order comes up to me and says ‘G’day mate’ in perfect Australian! He is a Jehova’s Witness missionary from Japan. He has been here 5 years and has no plans to leave.