June 7, 2025 • 22 mins
Fascinating conversation with Alcino Da Silva, a Timorese entrepreneur, about his home country.
Website - www.exploringtimor.com
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@exploringtimor
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Episode Transcript
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Alcino (00:00):
They said, there's something about Timor less.
(00:02):
Then a lot of them worked indifferent countries, but they
said when they come to Timor,when they leave, they feel like
there's a hole in their heart,,it's just the immediate love for
this country.
Jonty (00:19):
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:45):
I'm delighted to welcome ourfirst guest on the podcast
today, which is Maran SinoDaSilva.
He has many years of experiencein the hospitality and tourism
industry, and it's a realpleasure for him to join us
today.
I really appreciate your timetoday.
So I'd like to ask you a fewquestions just starting off with
a little bit about where did yougrow up in Timor, Este.
(01:07):
Give us a little bit of an ideaof your background.
Alcino (01:09):
Good morning to you, JTI, and thank you for the
opportunity to talk with you andbeing your first guest, I grew
up in dhi, the capital city ofTim Este, I was here for about
eight years.
Before we had the civil unrestin 1975 and then off to Darwin,
and then stayed in Sydney forabout 24 years before returning
(01:32):
back to Leste in 2000, justafter the referendum.
And I've been here ever since.
So 25 years, basically on andoff.
A lot of changes.
When you talk to differentpeople coming at different
stages of demo list there.
Sometimes they think it'sunderdeveloped but from day one
(01:53):
when I dropped in here in 2000,it was absolutely nothing.
A lot of the buildings weredestroyed.
And there was no government.
There's no nothing in place.
So when you look at where it istoday people sometimes don't
estimate what Tim's gonethrough.
But a lot of efforts have beenput in place to bring Tim
molested to where it is today.
Jonty (02:13):
It's an incredible story of Tim Este and people..
Forget how new a country it isand how far it has progressed.
Hopefully later this year it'llbe joining as end.
So that's a great milestone.
Yeah.
In this new country and it's
Alcino (02:24):
done.
We've had little, we've hadhiccups along the way but.
We haven't fallen.
And a lot of people sometimesexpect that Tim molested mean
classed as a failed state andwhatever, but definitely it's
not.
While we have differences inpolitical opinions and here and
there, but at the end of theday, I think that there is a
common thing is that Timorsuffered a lot over the years.
(02:46):
We've had colonial rule, we haveIndonesian occupation.
I don't think it's going to goback to where like it was in 75
or in 99.
People are, have grown a lotsmarter and wiser since then.
Jonty (02:59):
So you are a successful team race businessman with a few
different fingers in differentpies.
What if you meet somebody, whatwould you say that you do?
Alcino (03:06):
I don't even know what I do.
Sometimes we just do thingshere.
Honestly, I just remember whereI, I come from.
I used to be a public servant inAustralia I, I wasn't an
entrepreneur if you say, butcoming here, Timor gives a lot
of opportunities.
And if you fail, you fail small.
If you make it, you make it.
Just wasn't something I thoughtabout, but initially we started
(03:28):
a security business.
At that time, because we catereda lot for the UN personnel that
grew very well, I ended upemploying like 2,500 employees
And then by the time in 2006,seven, I thought maybe it was
time to move on to otherbusinesses.
So started to do investment invillas and we have apartments
(03:50):
and then restaurants.
Having a few restaurants here,it doesn't make you, millionaire
overnight, it, it provides okay,good income every month.
Jonty (03:58):
How would you describe Tim Oreste to somebody who's
never been.
Alcino (04:01):
People are cautious when they hear the word istic.
'cause I think most of the timewhen you Google it, it comes up
as conflict and unstablegovernment and all that.
But the reality is, and I thinkyou would agree with me most
visitors that come here love theplace.
They fall in love with the placeand the people here.
The good thing is that you cancome here and expect the
(04:23):
unexpected.
Basically, you probably get offthe plane and.
Fuel a 33 degree heat andthinking, wow, what am I doing
here?
Every step of the way of yourjourney here is an experience.
When you come here you can visitmany places that aren't touched
by tourists.
Sometimes there are negativeimpacts are having.
Too many tourists visiting yourcountry.
(04:44):
So at the moment it's virgin.
It's you can come and experienceTim Oreste as you would probably
do in Bali like 40 or 50 yearsago.
So you can make a comparison ifyou come now as, as you were, if
you did come in 2000 and you'dcome now it's not the same.
And probably another 10, 15years, you'll find the team,
(05:05):
more or less dealer inparticular will change a lot.
Jonty (05:09):
It's quite hard these days to find somewhere that
doesn't already have a largenumber of tourists or tourists
infrastructure.
And I would agree to your point,when I arrived in Team Este, I
didn't really know much aboutTeam Este and I was just
constantly surprised in a goodway at the things that I found
and things I managed to do then.
And it's definitely, for betteror worse, everything in team war
is a memorable experience.
(05:30):
Yeah.
I'd love to hear about what issome of your favorite places in
Timor Lester, and what makesthem so special to you?
Alcino (05:37):
I think it's changing, I used to like Dili, but as you
get older, I think depends onyour taste, but I tend to spend
more time in uh, I have a placethere.
It's quiet for me.
I prefer that, but for me it's,it depends on the visitor, it
depends on the person, becauseTimor it's like having,
different countries in onecountry.
(05:58):
And then the geographies or.
Different too.
I it provides differentexpectations depending on where
you go and how you tailor yourholiday here.
But I, I think it, it's betterto, it initially maybe go
through a travel agent like alocal travel agent.
And.
Tie up a package so that you canhave a, an introduction to Tim
(06:21):
Oreste.
That's how I see it, but wheremy favorite place is.
Anything outside Dili.
Jonty (06:27):
So the rest of the country, other than Dihi, the
Alcino (06:30):
rest of the country's beautiful.
It's quiet, pristine.
There's, if you like peace andyou actually sit down and just
let your mind at rest, honestly,JTI, sometimes it's hectic here.
I don't get much sleep in Dihi.
So when I go to Lake East, I dohave a 30 minute nap in the car.
You're not driving,
Jonty (06:49):
I hope.
Alcino (06:50):
No, I'm not driving.
That's why I prefer not todrive.
I get my staff to drive my carso I get a 30 minute nap in my
car.
'cause it's so peaceful.
And then when you're looking outin the ocean, if you have an
ocean driving it's beautiful.
Jonty (07:05):
Tell us a little bit about, for somebody who's not
visited, what can they expect tosee there?
Alcino (07:10):
It, Lakeside provides a lot of different environment
when you go past Dili, you'llsee the coast on the right hand
side, and then if you look tothe left, you'll probably see
the mountains.
To me, a an historical place aswell.
An old prison there in nlu.
I think it was established inthe early 19 hundreds.
(07:30):
And I believe my grandfatheralso came here in 1927 and was
posted in nlu.
My grandfather was Portuguese.
So he came out here.
He left Portugal in 1924 andmust have gone around different
places, different colonies ofPortugal, and then they end up
arriving in Timor in back in1927.
(07:53):
So it's interesting for me to goback to Lakey SA as a, his
historical connection with thefamily as well.
Yeah, and the people are niceand you can grow basically
anything.
Also.
In all around Timor, but in it'sfamous for custard Apple, is it
Ata papaya bananas.
(08:14):
It's quite good.
Jonty (08:16):
So on the theme of food, as you mentioned just now and
earlier, so what are your, someof your favorite Timur East
dishes?
So if you had visitor to Timur,what would you recommend that
they eat
Alcino (08:26):
Timur food.
We normally have mainly,vegetables in our diet.
So the famous, what we have isKko that's very nice.
A lot of people eat that.
We, because we had likedifferent colonizers all the
years, so we've had Arabicinfluence.
Portuguese influencer.
(08:47):
There's also fusion of foodshere in Timor Chinese
influencer.
You can be cooking one thing,depending on different
backgrounds.
They have different taste, butyeah, so food is paramount here.
When you come to Timor, itdoesn't matter where you are.
Food always tastes nice.
It is a basic food, not.
Chef style, quality food, it'svery tasty.
(09:10):
So a lot of my diet includes VEvegetables and fish.
Fish is common here as well.
Jonty (09:16):
What are some local restaurants that you'd
recommend?
Alcino (09:19):
They come and go over the years jti a lot of good
restaurants have opened and somehave closed and some have moved
on elsewhere.
But basically depends on yourtaste.
So if you have Chinese.
Food.
There's a lot of Chineserestaurants here.
My favorite is The Great Wall.
Then there's the Malaysianrestaurants.
(09:40):
I think there's Ocean View atouch of Malaysian food there.
We serve Indonesian styleseafood in our restaurants.
I have a few, so the.
The one in, in, we tried toincorporate a lot of the local
product.
What's the name of that
Jonty (09:58):
one?
Alcino (09:59):
Alma Dumar.
I opened that in 2020.
So we've been operating therefor five years.
When you look at food, there'snaza also.
There's a lady there her name isiida.
She's a spectacular cook.
Then there's gone So Naza in
Jonty (10:16):
dli.
Alcino (10:17):
Yeah.
So most of these restaurants arein, in dilly.
So when you go to the districts,the, you're probably.
Come across a lot of the localrestaurants there, but as I
said, a lot of them are quitecheap and very tasty.
But don't expect chef stylequality food, but it's edible
and it's healthy
Jonty (10:38):
A visitor to Tim or less day.
If they really wanted tounderstand traditional Timorese
culture, what would yourecommend that they do or where
they could go to understand, oryou maybe could explain a little
bit about your culture?
Alcino (10:50):
For me it's like this if you look at the history of
Timor, we're very religiouscountry, but we also believe
animus as well.
A lot of that.
So there, there is the country.
Is it's reaching both, ourbelief in Catholicism and also
in our traditional culture.
So when people arrive here, thefirst place you probably go to
(11:13):
is Chris Ray.
It's a nice walk, it's east ofDhi about probably six, seven
kilometers from the main city.
So you can walk up to the Christstatue there, or can visit some
of the cathedrals in Dhi.
'cause I think they said afterVati and Timor Les is the.
The most populous Catholicnation in the world.
(11:35):
So that, that's one.
So you'll probably see a lot ofprocession here, a lot of
praying.
We also have here in Kalothere's a moji there.
So there's a small percentage ofMuslim people here.
And it's a nice place to visitalso.
'cause you have a lot of thesestalls that sell Indonesian food
there.
The
Jonty (11:56):
mosque.
Yeah.
There's always people sellingfood outside the mosque.
Alcino (12:00):
Yeah.
It's different different moni,different family heritages, they
have different customs.
What I recommend is tourists tocome and talk to locals, and get
to know more about our culture.
'cause it's it's interesting.
People here like to tell storiestoo.
By talking to people you get tohear their side of the story,
(12:22):
their history, their culture.
Jonty (12:24):
Could you explain a little bit about Luli, what they
are?
Yeah.
Put you on the spot.
Alcino (12:31):
It's basically, the origin of us, our families, and
our history We normally, in eachof our generations we have our
own worship to, the nature, wecall it za and then we built
this to, to protect the familyand to conduct every year, every
(12:55):
just to honor the dead.
To ask for protection for thosethat are leaving and to guide
us, if we make mistakesthroughout the year or whatever,
sometimes we need to fix allthat.
And if there's family issues andthings like that it can be
resolved.
And we also make reference tothe ul so it's more like a
sacred site for families and theorigin of families and where
(13:19):
they come from It's importantpart of our culture here, the
lic and you find that it'sdifferent.
There's different styles, thedifferent shapes of building,
depending on which part of Timoryou go to.
But the most common one youprobably see is the the one,
they call it the Los pa one.
But if you go to differentareas, they built it differently
(13:41):
using local material.
Jonty (13:43):
It's quite interesting how much they vary.
Like the ones in KU were, quitedifferent to the ones out in Los
Palace or in the KK or in partsof the kind SCHs SW also.
So it is you don't see many inDili, but when he gets outta
Dili you'll see a lot of luli asyou travel around Timor-Leste do
you have any tips for people interms of.
Getting around Tim Este.
(14:03):
So obviously you can fly intoDili, that's where the
international airport is.
That's relativelystraightforward, but if you want
explore the rest of the country,how would you suggest that
people could best do that?
Alcino (14:14):
A lot of people just rent cars.
Four-wheel drive.
So you can do like adventuredriving.
Most of the roads, connectingthe cities are pretty good.
However, if you wanna go offtrail a bit, then you probably
need a four-wheel drive and youcan easily hire that.
Now there's a lot of car hireplaces in dhi, normally cars
with insurance they probablycome at around.
(14:35):
Between 90 and$120 a day.
Us and the driver, I think ifyou can include drivers is$20 a
day and you have to provide foodand probably accommodation if
you're staying overnight.
Different places.
Jonty (14:52):
I would say from my experience having I've ridden a
motorbike in Timor Lesso for thebest part of a year.
I would probably recommend thatpeople do get a local driver,
unless you're familiar withdriving.
Yeah, on Southeast Asian roadswith a few more potholes thrown
in, then yeah, it can be quite achallenging place for, it's for
visitors, but so a local driverparticularly also the lack of
signage is quite an adventurekind of destination, so a local
(15:15):
driver would know the best waysto get places.
It's
Alcino (15:17):
highly recommended and it gives you comfort too.
And you have someone driving,then you can have the
opportunity to just look aroundat different places.
Jonty (15:27):
Exactly.
You can relax, you can enjoy theview, relax
Alcino (15:29):
more, relax.
Jonty (15:30):
And I say there's always something happening in Timor.
So if you're traveling aroundthe country, it's great just to
look out the window and see lifehappening.
And there's always somethingunusual or something that
catches your eye.
Your eye.
Yes.
Alcino (15:44):
Yes.
It's like different rockformation or, different shaped
trees or I dunno I enjoychickens running
Jonty (15:51):
out across the road or dogs running around, or cows or
the water buffalo.
Alcino (15:57):
Yes, but not as often now.
I think when you came, the earlyyears, I guess there are a lot
of that, but now it's a lotbetter.
It's more controlled But havingsaid that, you still have to be
alert for those kind of things.
Jonty (16:09):
You do.
Alcino (16:10):
And the odd potholes.
Jonty (16:12):
The odd pothole.
Correct.
We mentioned at the beginningjust around the kind of safety
side of things and that I thinkyou're right, is a big
misconception that people haveabout Timor less day that they
have safety concerns.
And I can speak from my ownexperience that it is a very
safe place to explore and it's alot more stable than the media
may make out.
Alcino (16:32):
It's very stable.
A lot of people travel thecountry alone.
You don't get harassed oranything like that.
And the other case maybe.
If there's an incident, I thinkit can be managed here also, I
think it's quite safe.
Here.
Although it says it's come fromwar torn country, but, it's
quite stable.
It's quite peaceful here.
(16:52):
So highly recommend it.
If if you come here and you justgotta be, I think cautious about
what you do.
A lot of the security you haveto self-reflect and realize
'cause.
You, you have to understandalso, JTI initial phase is also,
we had a lot of differentforeigners here from the un.
And I don't recommend going to,beaches with, tea strings and
(17:18):
bikinis and things like that.
It's not part of.
For us here.
It's different in Bali, but inTimor I think it, it probably
'cause it's a Catholic countryand you gotta respect that and
as you take away of what you arewearing and things like that
here yeah, a bit conservative aswell.
But if you're here for.
An adventure holiday and thingslike that.
(17:39):
I think it's fine.
A lot of locals will welcomeyou,
Jonty (17:41):
the welcome you get from Timor is incredible and I think
that's because there aren't hugenumbers of tourists, it's almost
quite unusual, but of an noveltyfactor to see visitors and
everybody is very.
Welcoming and as you say, is youjust have to be respectful.
If you're traveling to acountry, you need to be
respectful of their theirculture and traditions.
And as you said, like the, it isa very safe place.
You just take your usualprecautions.
(18:03):
If you are walking around atnight by yourself, anywhere in
the world, you're gonna be atmore risk than in other
situations.
To be honest, the biggest riskyou're gonna have in Dili.
You might fall down a hole inthe pavement rather than anybody
doing anything to you.
So there's there's a differentsort of risk profile, but it is
certainly a safe place forpeople to explore.
And I know people havehitchhiked around Timor Este
(18:23):
without any issues.
Alcino (18:25):
That's right.
I've had, a lot of my memorablemoments, I think I, I remember a
few years ago I was in, and Iwas staying working there for a
few weeks.
And I really enjoy, just gettinga case of beer and just sitting
out at the beach front there andhaving a drink and talk to your
friends.
You can go fishing here inDilly.
(18:47):
A lot of people now go nightfishing just on the outskirts of
dilly at night.
I see.
That's with the torch increasinga lot with, is that
Jonty (18:54):
where they you weighed out with the torch and you're
trying to trap the fish,
Alcino (18:57):
the torch?
Yeah.
When the sea goes out, they golooking for those the pippies
that what they call'em yeah.
Clams and things like that.
So yeah, there's a lot ofactivities at night in there,
but no, there's very little interms of criminalities here.
So it's quite safe that's what Iwanna put out to people out
there.
If you wanna come to Timor less,it's quite safe.
Jonty (19:19):
I think that's a key takeaway.
'cause that's not necessarilywhat you read on the internet,
as you mentioned earlier.
Just to finish up, if a travelercould take away just one thing
from Timor Lester, what do youhope that would be?
Alcino (19:29):
For me, the probably it's the wow factor when.
When you go, not so much inDilly, but outside dhi, you have
a lot of beautiful places.
So I think, bring a good cameraand then definitely when you
walk away you'd be reallysurprised when you look back and
how beautiful those photos willbe and those places that, and
bring you back memories.
(19:50):
I, there, there's two thingstoo.
Jte, a lot of people that workedin the UN and I spoke to a lot
of them when they were here.
They said, there's somethingabout Timor less.
Then a lot of them worked indifferent countries, but they
said when they come to Timor,when they leave, they feel like
there's a hole in their heart,,it's just the immediate love for
this country.
(20:11):
I.
That's one.
And then some tell me that theycome here and they fall in love
with this country and with thepeople.
I think that people that come
Alcino (2) (20:19):
here and go back, they'll feel like they'll be
missing this place, honestly.
I do it whenever I leave Timor,I come back
Alcino (20:28):
normally less than two or three weeks.
'cause at that time I'm startingto feeling a bit bored and
missing the place.
Jonty (20:34):
I can completely understand that.
I know towards the end of myyear in Dili, it can be
somewhere to live.
It can be a bit challenging interms of the heat and the noise
and the traffic and theinfrastructure, and so it got a
little bit frazzled towards theend.
But then I got home andremarkably quickly I was
homesick for dili and missingthe excitement and the buzz and
(20:55):
the vibrancy of life there.
You get perspective when youleave a place.
And when you're in a place, it'sharder to see it, but once you
go, you're like, oh, that wassuch an amazing place
Alcino (21:04):
that's right.
Jti.
I'll tell you something.
My, my father lived here a longtime before we moved to
Australia.
We left, but in 19 nine, he saidto me after he won the
referendum, he said, Sino, youcan go to Timor, but be really
careful.
He said, it's like a big holethere.
Once you go there, it's veryhard to creep out of there it is
(21:25):
to crawl out of the hole.
In a good way.
Yes.
Yes.
He said, you'll fall in lovewith the place and it's
difficult to get out.
And I said to him at that time,I said, they're not me.
I've been living in Sydney for awhile.
I've got all my footy mates andthis and that.
So for me it's difficult.
I said, but here it's 25 yearslater, I'm still here.
Jonty (21:43):
Thank you so much for your time today.
I really appreciated you comingon the podcast and sharing your
thoughts and experiences ofTimor Less Day.
I'm sure people will appreciateyour insights.
Alcino (21:53):
Okay, thank you John t for the opportunity and for
whoever's listening, pleaseconsider if you're trying to
think of a holiday, come toTimor and
Jonty (22:02):
yeah, have an
Alcino (22:02):
experience here.
Jonty (22:04):
Always a memorable experience in Timor Este.
Alcino (22:07):
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jonty (22:10):
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
They said, there's something about Timor less.
(00:02):
Then a lot of them worked indifferent countries, but they
said when they come to Timor,when they leave, they feel like
there's a hole in their heart,,it's just the immediate love for
this country.
Jonty (00:19):
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:45):
I'm delighted to welcome ourfirst guest on the podcast
today, which is Maran SinoDaSilva.
He has many years of experiencein the hospitality and tourism
industry, and it's a realpleasure for him to join us
today.
I really appreciate your timetoday.
So I'd like to ask you a fewquestions just starting off with
a little bit about where did yougrow up in Timor, Este.
(01:07):
Give us a little bit of an ideaof your background.
Alcino (01:09):
Good morning to you, JTI, and thank you for the
opportunity to talk with you andbeing your first guest, I grew
up in dhi, the capital city ofTim Este, I was here for about
eight years.
Before we had the civil unrestin 1975 and then off to Darwin,
and then stayed in Sydney forabout 24 years before returning
(01:32):
back to Leste in 2000, justafter the referendum.
And I've been here ever since.
So 25 years, basically on andoff.
A lot of changes.
When you talk to differentpeople coming at different
stages of demo list there.
Sometimes they think it'sunderdeveloped but from day one
(01:53):
when I dropped in here in 2000,it was absolutely nothing.
A lot of the buildings weredestroyed.
And there was no government.
There's no nothing in place.
So when you look at where it istoday people sometimes don't
estimate what Tim's gonethrough.
But a lot of efforts have beenput in place to bring Tim
molested to where it is today.
Jonty (02:13):
It's an incredible story of Tim Este and people..
Forget how new a country it isand how far it has progressed.
Hopefully later this year it'llbe joining as end.
So that's a great milestone.
Yeah.
In this new country and it's
Alcino (02:24):
done.
We've had little, we've hadhiccups along the way but.
We haven't fallen.
And a lot of people sometimesexpect that Tim molested mean
classed as a failed state andwhatever, but definitely it's
not.
While we have differences inpolitical opinions and here and
there, but at the end of theday, I think that there is a
common thing is that Timorsuffered a lot over the years.
(02:46):
We've had colonial rule, we haveIndonesian occupation.
I don't think it's going to goback to where like it was in 75
or in 99.
People are, have grown a lotsmarter and wiser since then.
Jonty (02:59):
So you are a successful team race businessman with a few
different fingers in differentpies.
What if you meet somebody, whatwould you say that you do?
Alcino (03:06):
I don't even know what I do.
Sometimes we just do thingshere.
Honestly, I just remember whereI, I come from.
I used to be a public servant inAustralia I, I wasn't an
entrepreneur if you say, butcoming here, Timor gives a lot
of opportunities.
And if you fail, you fail small.
If you make it, you make it.
Just wasn't something I thoughtabout, but initially we started
(03:28):
a security business.
At that time, because we catereda lot for the UN personnel that
grew very well, I ended upemploying like 2,500 employees
And then by the time in 2006,seven, I thought maybe it was
time to move on to otherbusinesses.
So started to do investment invillas and we have apartments
(03:50):
and then restaurants.
Having a few restaurants here,it doesn't make you, millionaire
overnight, it, it provides okay,good income every month.
Jonty (03:58):
How would you describe Tim Oreste to somebody who's
never been.
Alcino (04:01):
People are cautious when they hear the word istic.
'cause I think most of the timewhen you Google it, it comes up
as conflict and unstablegovernment and all that.
But the reality is, and I thinkyou would agree with me most
visitors that come here love theplace.
They fall in love with the placeand the people here.
The good thing is that you cancome here and expect the
(04:23):
unexpected.
Basically, you probably get offthe plane and.
Fuel a 33 degree heat andthinking, wow, what am I doing
here?
Every step of the way of yourjourney here is an experience.
When you come here you can visitmany places that aren't touched
by tourists.
Sometimes there are negativeimpacts are having.
Too many tourists visiting yourcountry.
(04:44):
So at the moment it's virgin.
It's you can come and experienceTim Oreste as you would probably
do in Bali like 40 or 50 yearsago.
So you can make a comparison ifyou come now as, as you were, if
you did come in 2000 and you'dcome now it's not the same.
And probably another 10, 15years, you'll find the team,
(05:05):
more or less dealer inparticular will change a lot.
Jonty (05:09):
It's quite hard these days to find somewhere that
doesn't already have a largenumber of tourists or tourists
infrastructure.
And I would agree to your point,when I arrived in Team Este, I
didn't really know much aboutTeam Este and I was just
constantly surprised in a goodway at the things that I found
and things I managed to do then.
And it's definitely, for betteror worse, everything in team war
is a memorable experience.
(05:30):
Yeah.
I'd love to hear about what issome of your favorite places in
Timor Lester, and what makesthem so special to you?
Alcino (05:37):
I think it's changing, I used to like Dili, but as you
get older, I think depends onyour taste, but I tend to spend
more time in uh, I have a placethere.
It's quiet for me.
I prefer that, but for me it's,it depends on the visitor, it
depends on the person, becauseTimor it's like having,
different countries in onecountry.
(05:58):
And then the geographies or.
Different too.
I it provides differentexpectations depending on where
you go and how you tailor yourholiday here.
But I, I think it, it's betterto, it initially maybe go
through a travel agent like alocal travel agent.
And.
Tie up a package so that you canhave a, an introduction to Tim
(06:21):
Oreste.
That's how I see it, but wheremy favorite place is.
Anything outside Dili.
Jonty (06:27):
So the rest of the country, other than Dihi, the
Alcino (06:30):
rest of the country's beautiful.
It's quiet, pristine.
There's, if you like peace andyou actually sit down and just
let your mind at rest, honestly,JTI, sometimes it's hectic here.
I don't get much sleep in Dihi.
So when I go to Lake East, I dohave a 30 minute nap in the car.
You're not driving,
Jonty (06:49):
I hope.
Alcino (06:50):
No, I'm not driving.
That's why I prefer not todrive.
I get my staff to drive my carso I get a 30 minute nap in my
car.
'cause it's so peaceful.
And then when you're looking outin the ocean, if you have an
ocean driving it's beautiful.
Jonty (07:05):
Tell us a little bit about, for somebody who's not
visited, what can they expect tosee there?
Alcino (07:10):
It, Lakeside provides a lot of different environment
when you go past Dili, you'llsee the coast on the right hand
side, and then if you look tothe left, you'll probably see
the mountains.
To me, a an historical place aswell.
An old prison there in nlu.
I think it was established inthe early 19 hundreds.
(07:30):
And I believe my grandfatheralso came here in 1927 and was
posted in nlu.
My grandfather was Portuguese.
So he came out here.
He left Portugal in 1924 andmust have gone around different
places, different colonies ofPortugal, and then they end up
arriving in Timor in back in1927.
(07:53):
So it's interesting for me to goback to Lakey SA as a, his
historical connection with thefamily as well.
Yeah, and the people are niceand you can grow basically
anything.
Also.
In all around Timor, but in it'sfamous for custard Apple, is it
Ata papaya bananas.
(08:14):
It's quite good.
Jonty (08:16):
So on the theme of food, as you mentioned just now and
earlier, so what are your, someof your favorite Timur East
dishes?
So if you had visitor to Timur,what would you recommend that
they eat
Alcino (08:26):
Timur food.
We normally have mainly,vegetables in our diet.
So the famous, what we have isKko that's very nice.
A lot of people eat that.
We, because we had likedifferent colonizers all the
years, so we've had Arabicinfluence.
Portuguese influencer.
(08:47):
There's also fusion of foodshere in Timor Chinese
influencer.
You can be cooking one thing,depending on different
backgrounds.
They have different taste, butyeah, so food is paramount here.
When you come to Timor, itdoesn't matter where you are.
Food always tastes nice.
It is a basic food, not.
Chef style, quality food, it'svery tasty.
(09:10):
So a lot of my diet includes VEvegetables and fish.
Fish is common here as well.
Jonty (09:16):
What are some local restaurants that you'd
recommend?
Alcino (09:19):
They come and go over the years jti a lot of good
restaurants have opened and somehave closed and some have moved
on elsewhere.
But basically depends on yourtaste.
So if you have Chinese.
Food.
There's a lot of Chineserestaurants here.
My favorite is The Great Wall.
Then there's the Malaysianrestaurants.
(09:40):
I think there's Ocean View atouch of Malaysian food there.
We serve Indonesian styleseafood in our restaurants.
I have a few, so the.
The one in, in, we tried toincorporate a lot of the local
product.
What's the name of that
Jonty (09:58):
one?
Alcino (09:59):
Alma Dumar.
I opened that in 2020.
So we've been operating therefor five years.
When you look at food, there'snaza also.
There's a lady there her name isiida.
She's a spectacular cook.
Then there's gone So Naza in
Jonty (10:16):
dli.
Alcino (10:17):
Yeah.
So most of these restaurants arein, in dilly.
So when you go to the districts,the, you're probably.
Come across a lot of the localrestaurants there, but as I
said, a lot of them are quitecheap and very tasty.
But don't expect chef stylequality food, but it's edible
and it's healthy
Jonty (10:38):
A visitor to Tim or less day.
If they really wanted tounderstand traditional Timorese
culture, what would yourecommend that they do or where
they could go to understand, oryou maybe could explain a little
bit about your culture?
Alcino (10:50):
For me it's like this if you look at the history of
Timor, we're very religiouscountry, but we also believe
animus as well.
A lot of that.
So there, there is the country.
Is it's reaching both, ourbelief in Catholicism and also
in our traditional culture.
So when people arrive here, thefirst place you probably go to
(11:13):
is Chris Ray.
It's a nice walk, it's east ofDhi about probably six, seven
kilometers from the main city.
So you can walk up to the Christstatue there, or can visit some
of the cathedrals in Dhi.
'cause I think they said afterVati and Timor Les is the.
The most populous Catholicnation in the world.
(11:35):
So that, that's one.
So you'll probably see a lot ofprocession here, a lot of
praying.
We also have here in Kalothere's a moji there.
So there's a small percentage ofMuslim people here.
And it's a nice place to visitalso.
'cause you have a lot of thesestalls that sell Indonesian food
there.
The
Jonty (11:56):
mosque.
Yeah.
There's always people sellingfood outside the mosque.
Alcino (12:00):
Yeah.
It's different different moni,different family heritages, they
have different customs.
What I recommend is tourists tocome and talk to locals, and get
to know more about our culture.
'cause it's it's interesting.
People here like to tell storiestoo.
By talking to people you get tohear their side of the story,
(12:22):
their history, their culture.
Jonty (12:24):
Could you explain a little bit about Luli, what they
are?
Yeah.
Put you on the spot.
Alcino (12:31):
It's basically, the origin of us, our families, and
our history We normally, in eachof our generations we have our
own worship to, the nature, wecall it za and then we built
this to, to protect the familyand to conduct every year, every
(12:55):
just to honor the dead.
To ask for protection for thosethat are leaving and to guide
us, if we make mistakesthroughout the year or whatever,
sometimes we need to fix allthat.
And if there's family issues andthings like that it can be
resolved.
And we also make reference tothe ul so it's more like a
sacred site for families and theorigin of families and where
(13:19):
they come from It's importantpart of our culture here, the
lic and you find that it'sdifferent.
There's different styles, thedifferent shapes of building,
depending on which part of Timoryou go to.
But the most common one youprobably see is the the one,
they call it the Los pa one.
But if you go to differentareas, they built it differently
(13:41):
using local material.
Jonty (13:43):
It's quite interesting how much they vary.
Like the ones in KU were, quitedifferent to the ones out in Los
Palace or in the KK or in partsof the kind SCHs SW also.
So it is you don't see many inDili, but when he gets outta
Dili you'll see a lot of luli asyou travel around Timor-Leste do
you have any tips for people interms of.
Getting around Tim Este.
(14:03):
So obviously you can fly intoDili, that's where the
international airport is.
That's relativelystraightforward, but if you want
explore the rest of the country,how would you suggest that
people could best do that?
Alcino (14:14):
A lot of people just rent cars.
Four-wheel drive.
So you can do like adventuredriving.
Most of the roads, connectingthe cities are pretty good.
However, if you wanna go offtrail a bit, then you probably
need a four-wheel drive and youcan easily hire that.
Now there's a lot of car hireplaces in dhi, normally cars
with insurance they probablycome at around.
(14:35):
Between 90 and$120 a day.
Us and the driver, I think ifyou can include drivers is$20 a
day and you have to provide foodand probably accommodation if
you're staying overnight.
Different places.
Jonty (14:52):
I would say from my experience having I've ridden a
motorbike in Timor Lesso for thebest part of a year.
I would probably recommend thatpeople do get a local driver,
unless you're familiar withdriving.
Yeah, on Southeast Asian roadswith a few more potholes thrown
in, then yeah, it can be quite achallenging place for, it's for
visitors, but so a local driverparticularly also the lack of
signage is quite an adventurekind of destination, so a local
(15:15):
driver would know the best waysto get places.
It's
Alcino (15:17):
highly recommended and it gives you comfort too.
And you have someone driving,then you can have the
opportunity to just look aroundat different places.
Jonty (15:27):
Exactly.
You can relax, you can enjoy theview, relax
Alcino (15:29):
more, relax.
Jonty (15:30):
And I say there's always something happening in Timor.
So if you're traveling aroundthe country, it's great just to
look out the window and see lifehappening.
And there's always somethingunusual or something that
catches your eye.
Your eye.
Yes.
Alcino (15:44):
Yes.
It's like different rockformation or, different shaped
trees or I dunno I enjoychickens running
Jonty (15:51):
out across the road or dogs running around, or cows or
the water buffalo.
Alcino (15:57):
Yes, but not as often now.
I think when you came, the earlyyears, I guess there are a lot
of that, but now it's a lotbetter.
It's more controlled But havingsaid that, you still have to be
alert for those kind of things.
Jonty (16:09):
You do.
Alcino (16:10):
And the odd potholes.
Jonty (16:12):
The odd pothole.
Correct.
We mentioned at the beginningjust around the kind of safety
side of things and that I thinkyou're right, is a big
misconception that people haveabout Timor less day that they
have safety concerns.
And I can speak from my ownexperience that it is a very
safe place to explore and it's alot more stable than the media
may make out.
Alcino (16:32):
It's very stable.
A lot of people travel thecountry alone.
You don't get harassed oranything like that.
And the other case maybe.
If there's an incident, I thinkit can be managed here also, I
think it's quite safe.
Here.
Although it says it's come fromwar torn country, but, it's
quite stable.
It's quite peaceful here.
(16:52):
So highly recommend it.
If if you come here and you justgotta be, I think cautious about
what you do.
A lot of the security you haveto self-reflect and realize
'cause.
You, you have to understandalso, JTI initial phase is also,
we had a lot of differentforeigners here from the un.
And I don't recommend going to,beaches with, tea strings and
(17:18):
bikinis and things like that.
It's not part of.
For us here.
It's different in Bali, but inTimor I think it, it probably
'cause it's a Catholic countryand you gotta respect that and
as you take away of what you arewearing and things like that
here yeah, a bit conservative aswell.
But if you're here for.
An adventure holiday and thingslike that.
(17:39):
I think it's fine.
A lot of locals will welcomeyou,
Jonty (17:41):
the welcome you get from Timor is incredible and I think
that's because there aren't hugenumbers of tourists, it's almost
quite unusual, but of an noveltyfactor to see visitors and
everybody is very.
Welcoming and as you say, is youjust have to be respectful.
If you're traveling to acountry, you need to be
respectful of their theirculture and traditions.
And as you said, like the, it isa very safe place.
You just take your usualprecautions.
(18:03):
If you are walking around atnight by yourself, anywhere in
the world, you're gonna be atmore risk than in other
situations.
To be honest, the biggest riskyou're gonna have in Dili.
You might fall down a hole inthe pavement rather than anybody
doing anything to you.
So there's there's a differentsort of risk profile, but it is
certainly a safe place forpeople to explore.
And I know people havehitchhiked around Timor Este
(18:23):
without any issues.
Alcino (18:25):
That's right.
I've had, a lot of my memorablemoments, I think I, I remember a
few years ago I was in, and Iwas staying working there for a
few weeks.
And I really enjoy, just gettinga case of beer and just sitting
out at the beach front there andhaving a drink and talk to your
friends.
You can go fishing here inDilly.
(18:47):
A lot of people now go nightfishing just on the outskirts of
dilly at night.
I see.
That's with the torch increasinga lot with, is that
Jonty (18:54):
where they you weighed out with the torch and you're
trying to trap the fish,
Alcino (18:57):
the torch?
Yeah.
When the sea goes out, they golooking for those the pippies
that what they call'em yeah.
Clams and things like that.
So yeah, there's a lot ofactivities at night in there,
but no, there's very little interms of criminalities here.
So it's quite safe that's what Iwanna put out to people out
there.
If you wanna come to Timor less,it's quite safe.
Jonty (19:19):
I think that's a key takeaway.
'cause that's not necessarilywhat you read on the internet,
as you mentioned earlier.
Just to finish up, if a travelercould take away just one thing
from Timor Lester, what do youhope that would be?
Alcino (19:29):
For me, the probably it's the wow factor when.
When you go, not so much inDilly, but outside dhi, you have
a lot of beautiful places.
So I think, bring a good cameraand then definitely when you
walk away you'd be reallysurprised when you look back and
how beautiful those photos willbe and those places that, and
bring you back memories.
(19:50):
I, there, there's two thingstoo.
Jte, a lot of people that workedin the UN and I spoke to a lot
of them when they were here.
They said, there's somethingabout Timor less.
Then a lot of them worked indifferent countries, but they
said when they come to Timor,when they leave, they feel like
there's a hole in their heart,,it's just the immediate love for
this country.
(20:11):
I.
That's one.
And then some tell me that theycome here and they fall in love
with this country and with thepeople.
I think that people that come
Alcino (2) (20:19):
here and go back, they'll feel like they'll be
missing this place, honestly.
I do it whenever I leave Timor,I come back
Alcino (20:28):
normally less than two or three weeks.
'cause at that time I'm startingto feeling a bit bored and
missing the place.
Jonty (20:34):
I can completely understand that.
I know towards the end of myyear in Dili, it can be
somewhere to live.
It can be a bit challenging interms of the heat and the noise
and the traffic and theinfrastructure, and so it got a
little bit frazzled towards theend.
But then I got home andremarkably quickly I was
homesick for dili and missingthe excitement and the buzz and
(20:55):
the vibrancy of life there.
You get perspective when youleave a place.
And when you're in a place, it'sharder to see it, but once you
go, you're like, oh, that wassuch an amazing place
Alcino (21:04):
that's right.
Jti.
I'll tell you something.
My, my father lived here a longtime before we moved to
Australia.
We left, but in 19 nine, he saidto me after he won the
referendum, he said, Sino, youcan go to Timor, but be really
careful.
He said, it's like a big holethere.
Once you go there, it's veryhard to creep out of there it is
(21:25):
to crawl out of the hole.
In a good way.
Yes.
Yes.
He said, you'll fall in lovewith the place and it's
difficult to get out.
And I said to him at that time,I said, they're not me.
I've been living in Sydney for awhile.
I've got all my footy mates andthis and that.
So for me it's difficult.
I said, but here it's 25 yearslater, I'm still here.
Jonty (21:43):
Thank you so much for your time today.
I really appreciated you comingon the podcast and sharing your
thoughts and experiences ofTimor Less Day.
I'm sure people will appreciateyour insights.
Alcino (21:53):
Okay, thank you John t for the opportunity and for
whoever's listening, pleaseconsider if you're trying to
think of a holiday, come toTimor and
Jonty (22:02):
yeah, have an
Alcino (22:02):
experience here.
Jonty (22:04):
Always a memorable experience in Timor Este.
Alcino (22:07):
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jonty (22:10):
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
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