Australia - Timor-Leste - Indonesia

When I lived in Thailand years ago, I traveled to all Southeast Asian countries except Timor-Leste (East Timor). This has always been a regret for me. As world travel is opening up, I decided to visit Timor-Leste to complete my Southeast Asia experience. As options of getting into and out of Timor-Leste are limited, I decided to have an Indo-Pacific journey from Australia to Indonesia through Timor-Leste for my first real long-haul holiday after the pandemic.

Dec 25, 2022
Sydney

There is no doubt that Sydney is a great city. I especially like the efficient public transportation system. It's only 10 minutes to get downtown from the airport by train. The vivid light rail links Chinatown to Circular Quay. Buses to tourist hot spots like Bondi Beach are actually more frequent on weekends and holidays - exactly the opposite of many other places in the world, including Canada. Best of all, numeric ferries departing from Circular Quay serve as cruises of the Sydney Harbour. There are said to be two "best view"s of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - from Mrs Macquarie's Chair in Royal Botanic Garden and from the ferry. I did both. In fact, Most people take the Manly ferry which seems super crowded on holidays like Christmas. I actually took the Watson Bay ferry which turned out to be a good choice. It's less crowded and offers similar harbour views. I also did a hike (or bushwalking as Australians say) around the South Head near Watson Bay then a bus to Bondi Beach. Although it's Christmas Day, the number of people on the beach were not as crazy as I could imagine. The only "inconvenient" thing I found was that many restaurants and even supermarkets were closed on this Christmas Day - on this matter, some other English-speaking countries are doing better.

The Gap Lookout National Park in South Head

Dec 26, 2022
Canberra

Like Brasília in Brazil, Canberra was purposely built as the capital some 100+ years ago, as both Sydney and Melbourne wanted to be the capital. Apart from the Parliament House, most people come here for museums and galleries. There are actually many of them. I only checked out the top ones, including Australian War Memorial and National Gallery of Australia. All entries are free - another reason to love Australia. Not too far from Australian War Memorial, Mount Ainslie Lookout offers great views of Canberra layout, including Anzac Parade and Parliament House. Inside the huge Lake Burley Griffin, National Carillon is a local popular photo-taking spot.

Tapestry in the Great Hall of the Parliament House

Dec 27, 2022
Kakadu National Park

Kakadu is the highlight of my first trip to Australia. It's about 3 hour drive from Darwin. I'm not a big fan of driving, let alone driving in a foreign country. So I took a day tour from Darwin by AAT Kings (they only do this tour once a week in the wet season).

The tour normally picks up people from hotels before 6:20 am but was about 20 minute late understandably due to the holiday season (there were 54 people on board). After about one hour later, it stopped at Corroboree Park Tavern for a 30 minute food/drink/toilet break. Two hours later, it arrived at Nourlangie. From the parking lot, we walked 5 minutes to Anbangbang Rock Shelter to see some rock art, then walked the 550 meter loop to see the landscape of the area.

After lunch at Cooinda Lodge, we took the 1.5 hour Yellow River Cruise. The cruise is a good way to learn about the ecosystem of the region. There isn't a lot of wildlife to see in the wet season, but we did manage to see some interesting birds (including two cute lily hoppers) and a lazy crocodile hiding in the water.

After the river cruise, the group was divided into two - some went to take the scenic flight (additional $250, not included in the tour price) and some went to the culture centre. I booked the scenic flight as I flew a long way to Australia and would like to see the best Kakadu has to offer. The flight was good - both Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls were quite impressive, though there were only a few seconds to take photos of the falls (you got to act quickly). The scenic flight also offered a good opportunity to see the dramatic landscape of Kakadu.

Although it's wet season, it was partially sunny for most of the tour - rain only started when we were in the coach back to Darwin.

Two Lily Hoppers Seen During the Yellow River Cruise

Dec 28, 2022
Darwin & Dili

My flight to Dili was in the early afternoon so I had some time to explore downtown Darwin in the morning. First I had a walk in Bicentennial Park and paid my respect to "200 Remarkable Territorians". There is a little trail to the hidden Lameroo Beach. Leaving  Bicentennial Park, I continued walking on the Esplanade towards southeast, passing the grand Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, and eventually crossed the lovely Sky Bridge to Darwin Waterfront Precinct. I paid $8.5 to check out WWII Oil Storage Tunnels - the only site I paid for in this Australia trip.

Back to the city centre, I had a quick look at Remains of Palmerston Town Hall and Browns Mart, before checking out the last site - the Chinese Temple. Unfortunately, the NT Chinese Museum was closed at the time.

I booked the airport shuttle ($10) but it didn't come even 15 minutes past the scheduled time (they claim to run on the hour), so I ended up taking a taxi (about $30). On another note, when I arrived at Darwin Airport the previous day, I waited 30 minutes for the shuttle without seeing anybody giving directions and ended up paying $50 for Uber as there was a long lineup for taxi. I have to see that (the lack of) public transportation to/from the airport is something that needs to be improved in Darwin.

A short flight took me to Dili, Timor-Leste in the afternoon. It's completely a different world - chaotic, polluted, but it's more of a "foreign" taste and people are friendly. The first thing I needed to do after leaving the airport was to buy a bus ticket to Kupang, Indonesia. It was on the news that the Indonesian bus giant DAMRI started running the Dili - Kupang bus in December 2022, but I got no idea how/where to take this bus. So I went directly to Timor Tours & Travel in the city center. Unfortunately they were sold out. I then took a taxi to Paradise Travel on the busy Av. Pres. Nicolai Lobato in the west part of the city (near Landmark Plaza). Luckily, they still got some tickets left and I picked a window seat for $23.

I spent the next couple of hours sightseeing Dili, mostly along the waterfront, including Carol lighthouse, Motael church, Monumento 12 De Novembro (Santa Cruz Massacre Memorial Monument) and Government Palace. It started to rain cats and dogs and I took a shelter and bought some snacks at a shop. When the rain became lighter, I hopped to a microlet (minibus) No. 3 then changed to another microlet No. 12 ($0.25 each, they stop running after dark) to the foot of Christo Rei. The climb to the top is super easy and the view of the two beaches from the top (especially the northern one) is extraordinary.

Superb View from the Top of Christo Rei

Dec 29, 2022
Dili - Kupang

A transit day. I was told by Paradise Travel to arrive at their office at 7:30 am but my bus didn't depart until 8:40 am. They actually sent 6 vehicles and you need to register again when arriving at their office. The bus driver of each bus called passenger names on a list so those people would be on his bus. The journey to the border is largely along the coastal road. It's possible to have a glance of a few "sites" on the bus, such as Ai Pelo Prison (right side) and Maubara Fort (left side). 

The bus arrives at the border 2.5 hours later. Exiting Time-Leste was more straightforward, while entering Indonesia required several steps. First a health officer checked my COVID-19 certificate and entered some info into their system, then I was taken to a room to buy visa on arrival for US$35. The officer did ask about my itinerary and asked me to show the air ticket departing from Indonesia. Lastly, and most complicatedly, everyone needed to use an app to do the customs declaration (in addition to luggage scan). The officer helped me download the app and filled out the form using the app. Honestly, it was the first time I saw an app was used in customs.

After all the paperwork, passengers were waiting in an open building for Paradise buses on the Indonesian side. There are some simple eateries and shops in the building. Totally we spent about two hours crossing the border (including both sides).

Shortly after entering Indonesia, the bus made two stops in Atambua - a currency exchange (good rates) and a restaurant for lunch (it was a kind of buffet with price depending on what items you picked).

The journey from the border to Kupang is mostly inland, climbing several mountains. The scenery is great. There were no more "formal" meal stops after lunch but the driver did stop somewhere in the mountain where you could buy some fruits from street vendors and stopped again at a Alfamart about one hour from Kupang. We finally arrived in Kupang at 8:20 pm local time.

Leaving Timor-Leste

Dec 30, 2022
Labuan Bajo

The morning flight from Kupang to Labuan Bajo by Citilink was on time. After checking into the hotel, I took a motorcycle to the city centre looking for Komodo National Park day tours for the next day. Unfortunately, I was told the typical Komodo tour (usually involving 6 islands including Komodo Island and Padar Island) was not available until Jan 2 due to weather conditions - a price to be paid when visiting in the raining season. I then booked a day tour to Rinca Island for Rp 1,000,000 (not including park fees) - it's not as spectacular as Komodo tour (Rp 1,200,000) but you can still see Komodo dragons on Rinca Island (in a different way).

After a quick lunch at KFC, I took a taxi to Rangko village (Rp 450,000) then a boat (Rp 250,000) to Rangko Cave. 

The cave is similar to cenotes in Mexico but it's better to be visited in the afternoon due to natural light. Getting on/off the boat requires bare feet so it's better to wear slippers (I didn't so I had to take off my shoes, and the short walk to the cave on bare feet after the boat was no fun).

Back in town, I went to the port looking for a potential boatman to take me to Pulau Koaba (Kalong Island) to see flying foxes (bats) at dusk. Two men I checked with asked for Rp 1,200,000 / 1,500,000. The trip to Kalong Island was optional to me. It didn't make sense for me to pay more than the cost of a trip to Rinca / Komodo and the waves on the sea were quite strong. I decided not to go and went to Blue Corners for dinner.

The signature dish at Blue Corners, sop buntut (oxtail soup), was actually not available. I then ordered the satay chicken with rice which was not too bad.

Rangko Cave

Dec 31, 2022
Rinca Island

The tour to Rinca started from 7 am for hotel pickup and the boat started from the port at 8 am. Tour guide collected park fee (Rp 250,000 for foreigners and Rp 100,000 for Indonesians) on board. It took less than one hour to reach Rinca Island. There is a limited area on Rinca Island where tourists can see Komodo dragons from elevated wooden paths. There were actually many active dragons when we arrived it there. On Komodo Island you may get very close to dragons, but the experience on Rinca Island was not too bad either.

After seeing the dragons, we went to a site for snorkeling (so-so) then the boat landed on Manjarite Beach for lunch and hiking around. Just as I was to get off the boat, a terrible accident happened to me and I was badly injured. I was sent to a local hospital for emergency treatment so I had no idea what the hiking might look like.

The emergency doctor decided I needed surgical treatment ASAP but they didn't have a surgeon until Jan 2 due to holidays. I decided to fly to Bali for the surgery.

Jan 1, 2023
Denpasar

As a foreigner, I naturally looked at private hospitals. So I went to BIMC and Siloam first. But they told me I could only be treated in the evening. Then I went the largest public hospital on Bali, Sanglah General Hospital, and received the needed surgery in the afternoon. Yes the settings are not as elegant as the private hospitals and there is not much privacy (my surgery was actually done at an emergency department room with the door open) but they seemed to act much quicker than private hospitals and many people there did speak English.

Initially I was thinking of checking Kuta Beach after the surgery. But when I finished checking into a hotel, it was already dark. I then decided to treat myself for a foot massage near the hotel for Rp 110,000.

The Komodo (Labuan Bajo) to Denpasar (Bali) Fight Offers Great Views of Komodo Island

Jan 2, 2023
Bukit Peninsula

I was in Bali 20 years ago and visited Ubud then. This time I had a couple of hours in Bali before heading home so I decided to check out a few sites on the Bukit Peninsula. The popular Grab app made moving around Bali much easier (you do need internet connection and I never waited for more than 10 minutes for a ride).

The first site I visited was Uluwatu Temple. The temple itself is closed for non-prayers but most tourists come here for the dramatic cliff views. I was advised by many people to be careful about my glasses as monkeys tend to steal them. Out of caution, I took off my glasses and put them in my pocket when I saw monkeys close to me.

After Uluwatu Temple, I took a motorbike taxi (also using the Grab app) to the nearby Suluban Beach. You need to walk down a few hundred steps I guess but this hidden beach is gorgeous.

The last activity I had on Bukit Peninsula was having lunch at a seafood restaurant on Jimbaran Beach. I had eaten at many beachside restaurants but restaurants on Jimbaran Beach are actually setting up dining tables on the sand! Because sand is so soft, they have to use  double chairs so you can sit comfortably.

Suluban Beach

Overview

My first visit to Australia was pleasant. Like all the developed countries, everything in Australia is quite organized and you rarely need to use cash. Kakadu National Park is great to visit. You don't see a lot of wildlife in the wet season but flying over Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls makes visiting the park in the Wet worthwhile. Time-Leste is definitely off the beaten track. The view of a gorgeous beach from the top of Christo Rei is unforgettable. The Komodo dragons are a highlight in Indonesia. My accident was unfortunate. Interestingly, I had another less serious injury on Sumatra Island, Indonesia more than 10 years ago. It might be me being unusually unlucky, but some kind of lack of professionalism from tour operators was at least partially to blame. Even though I still think Indonesia is a great country to visit and I may check out some other islands in the future.