Dili - Day 2

On my second day in Dili, Marco and I visited a local orphanage that Marco has had some involvement with over the past year. This orphanage (there are several in Dili) currently houses 57 children between the ages of 3 and 23. Sister Malu, a lovely little Phillipino lady, runs the orphanage and was such a treat to talk to. I took along a large bag of rice and we could not believe when talking that they go through one of these every 2 days. The kids were gorgeous and very well behaved and loved the little clip-on koala's that Marco's wife Sal had sent over with me to give to them as gifts.

Driving around Dili I noticed people out cleaning up and Marco explained that Friday is clean up day where everyone is expected (and a lot do) clean up their local area. It certainly explained why I thought that Dili was not a dirty as most other cities are in 3rd world countries.

Day 3

My first Hash event and the big question was do I walk or do I run??? I was psyched up to run as I thought that it being a running club that everyone would be running but no this was not the case at all. This running club focuses on drinking and so walking is more than acceptable and if you have a beer or two before you walk then that is even more acceptable. The walk was about 5-7kms up behind Dili in the hills of Dare (pronounced Dar-ray) and was going to take us about an hour. About 30 of us took the walk while another 20-30 opted to run. 2 hours later we finally made it back after walking along goat tracks and up and down hills, through stunning vegetation and stopping to admire breath-taking views over Dili. I never expected the walk to be so scenic and was a highlight of my visit. Once we had all returned from the run/walk it was time for the games to begin and I am in no way going to even begin to explain what goes on…..that remains to be untold but I am sure my photos can give you some idea.

That evening the Hash Partying continued. As it was their 500th run since starting drinks, nibbles and entertainment had been organized at one of the local restaurants.

Day 4

My second Hash run/walk. This was a recovery walk/run as it was now day 4 for some of the hashers and some of the guys n girls had done the ball breaker Saturday morning which involved running up and downdirt roads and goat tracks for around 20km in the blazing morning heat. The walk was very short (and we took a short cut and made it even shorter) and our finish line was at the beach. It was a fab location with palm trees and crystal clear water. I went for a swim and the water was great, very refreshing. Lots more drinking went on and I had a blast of a day that went on well into the evening before it was time to say goodbye to my new Hash friends. All I can say is that expats know how to part-tay!!!

Day 5

Marco picked me up at 8am to go for a coffee before he headed back to Metinaro for work. After coffee I got drooped off at the ferry terminal so that I could purchase a ticket for the ferry that night to Oecussi. Oecussi is a small enclave of land that is separate to the main part of East Timor and is surrounded 3 sides by West Timor(Indonesia) and one side by sea. To get there without going through Indonesia is on a 12 hour ferry from Dili. It is a road less travelled and one that I thought would be interesting to see. After waiting for ½ hour for someone to come to the ticket booth I discovered that for a cabin ticket I would have to go somewhere else. I decided that it was all too hard (and the cabin too expensive) so bought a general 'pleb' class ticket instead. After all how bad can it be, the ferries I had taken in Indonesia were fine and there was always somewhere you could lay down. Well this wasn't going to be the case and is another story to tell.

The rest of the day involved packing my bag (which was a b**** and I cursed myself the whole time for bringing so much stuff.A cull is definitely in the pipeline over the next week or 2 once I find out what I don't use during that time), internet to get my Day 1 blog posted, photos posted and a skype call to home and a trip to the post office to send off my obligatory postcard to my niece.Soon it was time to say goodbye to Dili and head to the port for the 5pm Oecussi Ferry….Now it was time for the adventures to begin!!!!