I'm in the far east of "East-East." How much further east can I go? Leaving Com behind this morning in the blistering Timorese sun (thankfully, my Barmah hat protects me) I got a lift easily in the back of a delivery truck. The driver stopped at every village and hamlet along the way to drop off goods and talk to people as some guys in the back offered me cigarettes. Many Timorese smoke but at 38, I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. The truckie was heading to Lospalos but I had him drop me at Fuiloro, which is the turnoff to Tutuala. Even by Timor-Leste standards the road was horrible, as it took the better part of three hours to drive about 20 kilometres. Lonely Planet hasn't produced a new guide for Timor-Leste in more than 10 years, and the old guidebook stated that the final stretch down to Tutuala Beach was the worst of the worst but it must have been sealed since then because it's perhaps the best stretch of road I've seen in all of Timor-Leste.
Tonight I'm pitching my tent for the first time in Timor-Leste, so I set it up quickly and wanted to get out to Jaco Island because it was already mid-afternoon. A boat was organized quickly with an outboard motor, and I'd be whisked away to this uninhabited island. I told the skipper to give me two hours and then come back for me. Jaco is regarded as sacred and, officially, camping isn't allowed but I'm sure it'd be possible. I would have to bring enough water and organize transport back to the mainland. The water is turquoise blue and the sand is power white.
For an uninhabited island, there is a fair bit of plastic and other rubbish as well.
My friend Jakob has been to 117 countries and he get a photo of himself nude (from behind) in every country and I was thinking of his idea but there was nobody to take my photo, so I went for a skinny dip without a soul around. After getting myself wet, it was time to put my clothes back on and get Juliett into the air. With all the sand around, she needs a clean launch pad.
Sure enough, she didn't disappoint as she captured the vibrant blue from above...
Beautiful! As there are so many shades of blue. There is supposed to be a geocache hidden here on Jaco Island but like many here in Timor-Leste, it seems to be gone. At 5 PM the skipper returned to get me, and I paid them $10 for the passage across. With all the effort required to get out this way and with the amount of rubbish I spotted, I'll admit I was a bit disappointed with Jaco Island but the journey itself is spectacular and I'm glad I made the effort. When I travel I tend to enjoy nearly all places I visit, and even if I'm disappointed I find ways to enjoy it. I'm camping at Guest House Valu, but I don't know if it can be called a guesthouse, a homestay, or something like a hostel because there are several cabins and I'm currently the only guest. My hosts would cook me up a light Timorese dinner of rice, vegetables, and noodles, and one of their friends would bring over some palm wine. I would have a few of these before dreaming of Jaco Island.
I can't go any further east from here; looks like I'll have to head west.
