KUPANG, WEST TIMOR

PART 2.  KUPANG, WEST TIMOR

We checked into a 6.50$ a night place with breaky included.  It wasn't the Ritz, but it suited out needs and saved us $.  Our mission on day 1 was to apply for an East Timorese Visa at the consulate.  Normally it takes 10 working days to apply for the visa online, so we thought we could get it quicker in person, and with 20$ passed to a man in an office, turns out you can get it in three days.  Later that day, Carol took a nap, so I went out for some exploring.  Turns out Kupang is Tainan 1998 on steroids.  In the words of Borat: "IT'S NICE!!".  All the Angkots (Indo Jeepenys) are full of paint jobs and music, unlike the boring ones in Jakarta.  I took one to the sea, where they had set up about 35 corn BBQ stalls (talk about killing the competition aspect??!!).  Then I walked back through an expensive night market where I found Lovona's Tourist Information Center and Bar.  There was a somewhat lethargic man working there who gave tourist information, but was more intent to discuss the following:

Recreation of the voyage

In April 2010, 221 years after the original voyage, a crew recreating Captain William Bligh's epic voyage after the mutiny on the Bounty was set adrift in Tongan waters. The expedition eschewed the use of modern technology including compasses and toilet paper, and only took the same provisions as were aboard the original ship. The expedition, planned to last 48 days, was led by Australian adventurer Don McIntyre on board the sailing ship the Talisker Bounty^[

Luckily, there were some Brits and Aussies there, and they were more than happy to include Carol and I on their trip to the outskirts of Kupang the following day,; where we were pulled over by the cops for not having a motorcycle license.  Another payment behind a parked car, and we were on our way.  We saw a palm sugar village, and then a palm leave band, who played some Indonesian and Western songs.  While watching the music being played, it was sweet as.  Then we snorkeled and jumped into the waters of a cave, where it is also possible to scuba dive.  We also went to a very nice waterfall.  Later than night, we enjoyed JIN (said like Francis Pa-In of Tinglion) and Tonic for 2.5$ at Lovonas and ate Backpacker grub. Talked to a Norwegian guy about Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). Turns out there is this island on the East coast of Kalimantan that has places to snorkel with schools of Manta-Rays, and there are more turtles there than you can count. Then next day, we went to Teddy's Bar and Grill, where I belted out the tunes and drank Bintang Beer San Miguel's in big bottles for 2$ to 3$.  The next day, we hung out across the street from Teddy's where we ate steaks for 3.5$, drank strong local cocktails for 2$ (!!!!!!!!!!) and looked at the ocean views.  The place also had a big screen set up and prizes for a nightly World Cup Party (only 1$ to enter).  More often then not, we'd just watch the World Cup in our Hotel's living room with other guests and staff.  On Friday night, we got our East Timor Visas.  We had a reservation with a Tourist Bus for Saturday morning, so we woke up at 4.50AM to catch the 5AM bus to Dili, and by 7AM, we were on the local bus, because the company lied to us (over-booked the bus).  10 hours later, we had to spend the night just inside the border of East Timor, in Mariana, as there were no more buses to Dili.  The police and boarder officials on the Indonesian side wanted more bribes to let us through, since this border "closed at 4PM".  We refused, pissed them off, but were met by very friendly East Timorese officials, who drove us to the nearest home stay in the back of their police truck!!  Carol even exchanged email addresses with the immigration lady so they could become friends on Facebook.  Now East Timorese officials rank alongside Laotians for being the nicest and friendliest. About the boat trip, the crew went from Australia to Kupang. That was why the Lovana's owner was so excited friendly, because the captain was having dinner there, too.

Also, at the waterfall, Carol and I jumped into from the top of the 5 meter waterfall hand in hand, but I hesitated a split second b4 Carol, so a landed on her shoulder, collar-bone and ribs.  She is going to need to see a therapist in Jakarta.