Kupang March 15

My hotel has some nice flowers in the garden.

When the night guy came on last night he told me that I can't take the bus to Dili today because they changed the requirements and you can't get a Visa on arrival anymore. I have to go to the East Timor Embassy and make an application which takes three days. Darn it! Usually they have accelerated service if you pay more, but not these guys.

Looking down my street as I head out to the Embassy.

We had a downpour this morning and the storm channel is running fast.

First I stopped at the bank to get some US money for the Visa. Look at the seats! No line-ups, you take a number and sit.

Then I went to the Embassy and started filling out my application. They insisted I have a flight booked out of Dili and I offered several other flights which follow that flight but no...go and book a flight from Dili if you want to go there.

I had already tried to do that in KL and other places and they all said the same thing. "You have to book it in the country because they have different airlines."

I gave it another try at a travel agency here and they told me the same thing, so does the Lonely Planet for that matter.

So this is the point where I give up on going to Dili. If I could have booked a flight online or some way I would still not get my Visa until Friday and It would be Monday evening before the bus left, getting there on Tuesday. That left less than a week to see Dili and get back to Bali and make the flight I have booked for KL.

It isn't such a big deal except I was trying to make a little record for myself of having visited all the countries in the SE Asia guidebook on the same trip. Oh well, I have been to West Timor and it is touching East Timor.

In my travels on this mission I saw a lot of the city as neither the Embassy or the travel agent or the best Internet place for that matter are near my hotel.

I passed this statue which I found interesting. It is one man who appears to be pulling another man back onto the top of the column.

This Bemo is one of the many I used to run around the city. They have routes and they keep going around them. You hop on and off as you need and each ride costs 2,000Rb (20 cents US). It is an excellent system except for the blaring music they all play.

My last stop was the same travel agent where I booked a flight to Bali tomorrow.

Now I am at the same hotel again. Guess I'll go home and boil up some bath water.

I have complained a lot but I must say that the people here are the warmest and friendliest of any of the countries I have been too.