East Timor here we come!

Fasten your seatbelts because here we go!

Yes, we ladies are in for an adventure. After planning and longing a whole year for this to happen, we finally managed to save enough money to begin our travel. So our backpacks are fully loaded, we’ve got our best climbing shoes on, our spirits are up and off we go!

East Timor

After hours of plane sitting and bus driving until we couldn’t feel our bums anymore, we arrived in Dili. The first thing I immediately noticed was the extreme poverty  in which people were living.

As we know, East Timor has struggled for many years as a country especially since the genocide caused by Indonesia, that invaded the country for over 25 years. It was a massive bloodbath.

It is unreal to me that just six years ago, the nation was filled with violence and gangsters on the streets shooting everything that moved. For 25 years (It seems so unrealistic that something so horrible can last 25 years) the people of East Timor had to endure executions, tortures and starvation.

It was until we visited the Santa Cruz cemetery, in the capital of Dili, that I sensed the monstrosity that has been the Santa Cruz massacre, where East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators were shot. The massacre was some sort of wake-up call for many pro-independence demonstrators of the world because shortly after that the UN sent their peacekeepers force into the country to restore calmth. We also saw a few  state institutions that was built by the UN. What baffled me is how much police officers were casually walking around with their guns to insure their country’s security. I think that in a sense, it makes people feel more safe. I guess it’s how you look at it. As an outsider this is a bit frightening, but for the people that had been taken advantage of and suffered for so long, it’s quite a safe feeling that police officers are not out of reach.

We saw a few UN troops gathering around and leaving the country. The election of 2012 was clearly a success. It shows that it resulted in a peaceful transition of power. I just hope it stays that way.

I can't wait to explore Dili, I am so eager to learn more about the country's culture.

Greets

Jihane

source article:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/12/2012123173256112503.html
source image:https://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/55886477.jpg