Welcome to Timor Leste! This small island nation gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002, making it the first new country of the 21^st century. As an Indonesia, I was first skeptical about travel to Timor Leste due to warning by many of its bad infrastructure and past relationship with Indonesia.

But hey, was I wrong! In fact, our trip to Timor Leste reinforced my belief that traveling is essential in broadening one’s perspective. 

How to travel to Timor Leste

Flight: The only international airport in the country is Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport (formerly known as Comoro Airport) located in Dili. 

Origin Country: Indonesia 

You can fly to Dili from Jakarta, Bali, or Surabaya. 

Land: the main land border crossing between Indonesia and Timor Leste is Mota’ain Border Post. The Mota’ain border opens at 8:00 until 16:00. 
(We are using this option)

Another border posts are Motamasin Border Post, and Wini Border Post. 

Tour Operator

Merake Adventures.  Instagram: @merakeadventures

Accommodation

Kupang : Sylvia Hotel Kupang, Aston Kupang Hotel  (around USD 35/night)

Atambua : Hotel King Star (around USD 35/night)

Dili : Dive Timor Lorosae (around USD 115/night)

Itinerary

Jakarta – Kupang – Atambua – Mota’ain – Batugede – Dili – Mota’ain

Day 1: Kupang 

There’s only one flight from Jakarta – Kupang with Batik Air at 2:00 am. It took 3 hours from Jakarta to Kupang. 

Oenesu Waterfall

Kota Lama (Old Town) – Lahilai Bissi Kopan 

Vuurtoren aan de Kust van Kupang

Local place for food:

Se’I Babi : Depot Bambu Kuning ; Depot Se’I Babi Aroma

Café : Tebing Café (Perfect spot for sunset) 

Day 2: Kupang to Atambua 

We started our road trip to Atambua at 11:00 am, and stop for lunch at Taman Laut Handayani Seafood Restaurant.  The journey 8-9 hours with multiple stops at Soe, Temef Dam, Kefemenanu. 

Local place for dinner:

Warung Pak No

Day 3 : Atambua to Dili 

We started our day at 7am from Atambua to Mota’ain Border Post. The drive took us around 30 – 40 minutes to travel from our Hotel to the Border Post. 

At the Indonesia immigration border, we had to fill 3 forms before entering the immigration. Once we cleared Indonesia’s Immigration, we walked for around 10 – 15 minutes until we reached Timor Leste’s Immigration checkpoint in Batugede. 

From there, it was a 2-2.5 hour journey to Dili, the capital city of Timor Leste. Along the way, the scenery was stunning!

Things to do in Dili 

Cristo Rei Statue

Dili Cathedral

Cast Away Bar 

Church of Saint Anthony of Motael

Government Palace 

Ponte Presidente BJ Habibie 

Local foods:

Cast Away Bar

Day 4: Dili to Kupang 

We started our day at 6:00 am, feeling excited to start our trip to Atauro Island. Our first stip was the local harbour, where we scheduled to take a boat at 8:00 am. However, the boat was delayed until further notice due to the official meeting between the local police and the boat owners regarding the relocation of the new harbour. 

Not wanting to waste any time, we decided heading to the Archives & Museum of East Timorese Ressitance. There, we explore and learnt the rich history of Timor Leste, about the country’s journey until it gained its independence.  

National University of Timor Leste

Peace Coffee Shop : 

A nice decent coffee near NUTL where local student hang out before or after the class.

Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roastery 

As many of us know, Timor Leste is famous for its high-quality Arabica coffee beans, which is also the country’s most important export. As a coffee lover, we headed to Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roastery to buy whole coffee beans and ground coffee as souvenirs to bring back home. 

By 12:30 pm, we still had not received any updates from the boat owners regarding the departure time to Atauro Island. Feeling eager to continue our adventure, we made the difficult decision to leave Dili ahead of our plan and head back to Atambua, Indonesia. While we were disappointed that we could not explore more of Timor Leste, we make a pact to visit Timor Leste again in the future to continue our journey

Despite the boat setback, our short journey in Timor Leste was memorable, filled with experiences such as exploring archives, museums, and tasting great coffee. We left Dili with a sense of gratitude, ready to return for more adventures.