East Timor: History and Culture Off the Beaten Track

East Timor hopes improved infrastructure will entice more visitors to sample its rich Portuguese heritage and the untouched beaches that ring the island. (JG Photo/Eduardo Mariz)

With coastlines washed by 13 seas and more than a hundred active volcanoes dotted over thousands of islands, the geography-minded traveler will find Indonesia anything but a disappointment.

Yet in the vastness of the archipelago, one measurement is often overlooked: the length of its land borders with Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and East Timor total 2,830 kilometers — longer than any other island nation and even some mainland countries such as Poland, Egypt and Turkey.

Despite its size, only seven official land border postings allow the transit of goods and people to move from one country to another: four in Timor, two in Borneo and one in Papua. The remoteness of the checkpoints and the unavailability of on-arrival visas make them impractical entry points for most visitors to Indonesia.

But if East Timor’s ambitious tourism plans continue, this could soon change for Mota’ain, the busiest border crossing between Indonesia and the young neighboring nation.

Cross-border facilities on the eastern side were upgraded in 2010 in anticipation of greater usage, and the 118-kilometer road connecting the capital Dili to the checkpoint is being improved as part of the national Road Network Development Sector Project funded by a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Local residents, many of whom have been employed on the project, will soon benefit from easier access to basic infrastructure such as health-care centers and schools.

But for tourism, the improved access between East Timor and Indonesia could encourage visitors to include Timor in their travel plans.

Developing tourism in East Timor

Since gaining formal independence in 2002, East Timor has come a long way in the arduous process of becoming a sovereign state.

The nation of just over a million people sees in tourism the potential of a core economic sector alongside oil and gas exports, which currently make up more than 90 percent of government revenue.

At the moment, East Timor remains one the world’s least visited countries, having received only 51,000 tourists in 2011 — to put that into perspective, Papua New Guinea had three times that number in the same year while Thailand received more than 19 million.

The East Timor National Development Plan (2011-2030) seeks to change that by promoting the nation as a prime stop in many areas: from religious significance to marine tourism.

(JG Photo/Eduardo Mariz)

By next year it aims to have most critical infrastructure in place, and by 2020 fully operational touristic destinations in the three targeted tourism zones: East (from Tutuala through to Com and Baucau), Central (the capital Dili as well as Atauro Island and the Maubisse region) and West (a loop from Dili along the Great Northern Coast Road to Balibo, Maliana and Bobonaro).

Our recent visit to the West and Central areas confirmed that the initial stages of the project are well underway. For travelers heading to East Nusa Tenggara, land crossing the island of Timor should be counted as an enticing possibility.

Arriving in Dili

East Timor’s town-sized capital is also home to the nation’s only commercial airport, with direct services from Singapore, Denpasar and Darwin. Arriving passengers can clear customs and leave the terminal in record time, as incoming flights rarely coincide.

Accommodation options in Dili range from budged inns such as the East Timor Backpackers ($12 a night) to the upmarket Hotel Esplanada ($120 a night).

Getting around on foot is encouraged; most attractions are at a walking distance from each other, including the iconic statue of Cristo Rei, reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer.

The six kilometers from Dili’s port to the monument, a gift from Indonesia’s former president Suharto during the annexation period, is the most scenic and worthwhile walk.

The path by the beach is pedestrian friendly and there is a good selection of restaurants offering local and international cuisine.

For history buffs, the Chega! Museum and the Museum of East Timorese Resistance are a must, offering detailed accounts of the young nation’s troubled path to independence.

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Tweeter Street Comes to Asia

Tweeter Street is a photo project that photographs Twitter users; where they tweeted, with what they tweeted, created by Michael Hughes, left. (Photo courtesy of Michael Hughes)

Only a decade ago, the word “Twitter” most likely didn’t ring any bells for most people. Today, however, the social networking and micro-blogging service is as much mainstream and part of contemporary, popular culture as Doc Martens shoes and flannel shirts in the early 1990s era of grunge.

Millions and millions of users share their thoughts on Twitter in 140 characters or less — be it about the latest movie they watched, what they had for lunch or the political situation in the Ukraine, often complete with images, links or videos.

Photographer Michael Hughes, who works with editorial and corporate clients specializing in portraiture and reportage, was just one among those many Twitter users. But when he began looking at the “nearby tweets” application on his phone — showing the tweets of other users close to your own location — the idea for a project formed in his head.

“I wondered where these people were and about the context in which they tweeted,” Hughes, whose photographs have been published and exhibited worldwide, explained. “I was fascinated by the fact that I could see these people who were tweeting near me, but felt there was something missing. Instead of just seeing their location and profile picture, I wanted the essence of the ‘tweet context’ captured.”

This is when Tweeter Street was born — a photo project that depicts Twitter users, where they tweet, with what they tweet.

“Tweeter Street aims to capture, record and document this exciting period in our time, where the social media phenomenon, which is still in its infancy, has become a significant medium of interaction and communication in our world,” Hughes, who kicked off the project in March 2011, said. “It will look to humanize social media, by visually replicating people’s tweets.”

Among the photos he took for Tweeter Streets are humorous shots including Twitter user @stevekennedyuk, who stands in the entrance hall of his home, staring somewhat baffled at a card in his hand. The accompanying tweet reads: “Really weird, just re read date on card delivered by neighbor, 1997, he’s had it for 14 YEARS!!!”

Another one depicts @Troy__Munns lounging in his bathtub after tweeting: “Important announcement: My bathroom refurb has been completed. I’m now going to sit in the bath until spring. Laters!”

(Photo courtesy of Michael Hughes)

According to Hughes, “the phenomenon of social media has broken down barriers and transformed the ways in which human beings communicate with each other.”

As Twitter has taken off all around the world, Tweeter Street has grown from a small UK online venture into a global project and Hughes will be in Jakarta from Feb. 26 to March 2 to continue his work with Indonesian Twitter users.

“Tweeter Street is very excited to come to Indonesia,” Hughes said. “We chose Indonesia because it is one of the top tweeting countries in the world and around half of the geo-tagged tweets sent from the Asian region are from Indonesia. Jakarta will be the place where we will be photographing tweeters to represent Asia.”

“My time here will be spent photographing Jakarta tweeters in the environments in which they tweeted to visualize the moment that they tweeted,” he added. “We will also be trying hard not to spend too long in the Jakarta traffic, which is heavily tweeted about.”

Hughes is looking for Indonesian Twitter enthusiasts who would like to become a resident of his Tweeter Street. Those interested in being photographed can drop him an e-mail at tweeterstreet@gmail.com or send him a message via Twitter @tweeterstreets. Once he receives a message, he will check out the potential candidates.

“I’ll follow their tweets and if they tweet something that I think would work I’ll contact them and arrange a shoot,” he explained. “I look for tweets that open up a moment in the tweeters’ lives and something that can be translated into an image. ”

One of the main goals of Tweeter Street is to show the connectivity that social media has brought forth.

“With the project now going to showcase tweets from different parts of the world, I hope that it can show that we as people have similarities and uniqueness no matter what part of the world you are from,” Hughes said. “The rise of social media and in particular Twitter, enables us to break down barriers in how people communicate and engage with each other. In addition to this, seeking out international tweeters from around the world will truly represent the boundary-less nature of Twitter.”

Although there are many other networks and platforms that have made a splash in the world of social media following in the footsteps of Twitter, Hughes still believes that Twitter remains an important tool in people’s lives.

“Due to the simplicity and speed through which information can be spread through this medium I think Twitter is very relevant and will continue to play a significant role for some time to come,” he said.

Hughes has a Twitter account himself, which he uses for keeping up-to-date with the world and staying tuned on what his friends and colleagues are doing.

“I usually tweet about the wonderful, interesting, and outrageous things that I come across,” he said.

After his one-week stint in Jakarta, Hughes will move on to the next city to find more interesting Twitter users for his project. “Having photographed tweeters from London and Jakarta to help represent Europe and Asia, the next place for Tweeter Street will be New York to represent North America,” he said.

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