Breakfast was included in the price for the guest house so we sat down on the long table outside and helped ourselves to tea and fresh bread rolls. It was here that we met Barun, a Nepalese unicef employee. We talked about our plans to visit Nepal in March or April and might be able to get a bed in Kathmandu through him.
The last meters in Timor-Leste
We rode all the way to the border in pretty much one go. At the last shop before the actual border, Flo remembered that we needed to spend the local coins so we bought drinks and sweets for the remaining $4.5.
It’s been a while since I crossed my last land border. With the Schengen agreement in Europe and us flying to our holiday destinations from NZ, an actual crossing has become a rare thing. We weren’t quite sure how much time it would take. Arriving at the Timor-Leste side, people were very helpful, pointing out the right places for us to go. First, we filled out our departure cards and got our passports stamped before heading to customs to get the carnet stamped as well. The customs officer needed just a little bit of explanation before filling out all the required fields. And thus, we were through one side already.
Taking the motorcycle about 300 meters further down, we hit the Indonesian side of the border. Unsurprisingly, our fully loaded bike caused a bit of a stir again but of a good kind: We got guided into a parking spot right next to officials and sent to the customs office first. Again, after some brief explanation (“This is for import, this is for export, you keep this part of the page”), everything was stamped and signed as it should be and we couldn’t even say thank you in Bahasa Indonesia yet. From there, we were directed to the “arrivals” section, filled out our arrival card and got our passports stamped. We had sorted the visa in Darwin already so now we started on our 60 days in Indonesia! Everything done, incredibly painless and we were back on the road in less than an hour.
No bahasa ingglisi, but in a good mood
The western part still looks much like Timor-Leste (big surprise) just a notch better off. This was noticeable in the better road which allowed us to go between 60kmh and 70kmh in comparison with the 30kmh we used for much of Timor-Leste. This is no surprise since all of Timor-Leste’s infrastructure was purposefully destroyed in the last conflict. But people looked better off as well; we saw more stone houses and bigger ones. In Atambue, we went into a supermarket and were completely overwhelmed by the selection. From 50 different brands of shampoo over Tim Tam ice cream to plushy Hello Kitty pillows…everything could be bought here. We left without having bought anything.
On the way out of town, we stopped at a gas station to refuel. Only one pump was operated which lead to a cue of motorcycles. All those scooters formed two neat lines with already opened fuel tanks so that the operator could alternate between the lines and have the least amount of time possible between refuels. Rocinante was too big to fit in one line so after a couple of minutes, she got special treatment, was allowed to skip the line and was refuelled while pulling up from the front of the line. Flo was happy that his wait in the sun was shortened. Also, fuel cost less than NZ$1 per liter which is a new low for us.
smug about cheap food
We kept riding for quite a while, not really hungry and happy about our border experience. When we finally pulled up at a warung makan, we were in for another surprise. Even less people speak English than in Timor-Leste. Since Indonesia is so big and unites so many different people, all with their own language, the official language is Bahasa Indonesia which is spoken by everyone. Except for us. The lady in the warung makan cracked up laughing when she realized we didn’t speak a word of Bahasa. I pointed at myself stating “vegetarian” but she only had to laugh harder and ran off. Surely, she was getting someone who would speak English. But no. Just more people to look at us. Luckily, the Lonely Planet has a section with the most useful words so I managed to convey what I wanted to eat and Flo just at the chicken. While eating, a young man appeared, talking on the phone. First we thought he was having a conversation, then random English words clarified that he was live commenting our every action to someone on the other end. The lovely, laughing lady also got out her smartphone and took a picture of us in her warung. I swear this will end up on facebook…”look at who ate in my little place”….*nod*. I didn’t manage to get a photo of the lady as her kids were shy and she only wanted a photo with her kids. However, the young man on the phone was quite happy to step up. =P We paid something like $3 but the entertainment was easily worth more. We made an effort to thank her in Bahasa “terima kasih”.
Like shopping at McDonalds: One sim, biggest data to go!
At about 2pm, we reached Kefa where we planned to stay. It is almost halfway towards Kupang already. Town was quite busy and the first hotel was asked in was full. A military guy talked to us with his bits and pieces of English and when he realized we couldn’t stay because it was full, he got a bystander to show us the next place on his scooter. Unfortunately, it was booked out as well as that poor guy took us to a third place where we now have a room.
In the afternoon, we bought a SIM card so that we can use mobile data as our internet substitute. This was one of the rare times I took a picture today, just been too overwhelmed.
Back in the hotel room, we realized that West Timor is in a different time zone than Timor-Leste to bring it closer to the rest of Indonesia (which only extends east from here). So we have gained another hour.
