Life's a beach in the north

East Timor's main attractions, apart from its ever changing scenery, are its shores and seas along the north coast.

Pristine beaches of white talcum powder-like sand meet turquoise seas that feature some of the best diving in the world. Martin Van Driel, a dive instructor at Dive Timor Lorosae in Dili, boasts that you can easily spot giant turtles and sharks in the teeming waters off Tutuala on the east coast.

However, just getting there is a big part of the fun.

The road east from Dili leads through countless traditional villages of wooden huts which seem untouched by time, until you spot the yellowed 2002 election posters of President Xanana Gusmao pinned to the doors of houses. Occasional newly built schools and halls provide a strange contrast, poised among the modest dwellings and the many burned out carcasses of public buildings torched by militias five years ago.

It takes less than three hours to reach the regional capital of Baucau; the road winds less, affording spectacular sea views, and then veers inland to wide savanna-like plains fringed by craggy wind torn mountains and stony outcrops. As one local aid worker put it, "this landscape is a work in progress".

Perched on a hillside with a picturesque beach nearby, Baucau has some fine examples of Portuguese colonial architecture, particularly the Mercado Municipal, an abandoned market building which towers over the town. However, for most travelers this is just a staging post on the way to what some nature connoisseurs call "The Perfect Beach" of Tutuala.

The Pousada de Baucau, a guesthouse in an old colonial manor, offers good rooms and has an excellent restaurant serving traditional Portuguese dishes, local specialties and Western fare. A pair of monkeys swings playfully on chains in the courtyard. They are about the only entertainment the town offers according to one of the waiters. When I asked what the main tourist attractions in Baucau were he replied: the municipal swimming pool and the road to Tutuala.

After Baucau the road is more pitted and broken but with groups of waving locals and running children smiling and yelling greetings of "Boa Tarde" you have no desire to speed through these villages. Travelers to Tutuala either spend the night in Baucau or further east at the village of Com which has a quiet seaside resort and diving center catering mainly for aid workers and their families.

From here the road can only be described as murder for those without good four wheel drives and a roller coast for those who do. One couple in our group had to abandon their small rental car and hitch a ride in a Land Rover.

But it's worth the bumps as the thick tropical vegetation gives way to vast plains of grazing buffalo framed by distant blue hued mountains. The landscape is wild and for tourists the villages are from a bygone era with their thatched wooden houses and mud huts.

As you approach the eastern tip of East Timor the road just gets worse and worse culminating with the piece de resistance: the infamous 45 minute crater-ridden descent to Tutuala beach. But when you finally place your feet on "The Perfect Beach", it's almost a spiritual experience.

The crystal clear water, white sand and the shade from lush green foliage lures intrepid travelers into a deep state of relaxation.

After lunching on delicious fresh fish sold and grilled by local fisherman it takes ten minutes by boat across to Jaco Island where an even more perfect beach awaits -- this is still a bit of a secret and the fishermen don't allow people to stay the night on the island as they worship animist spirits there.

An abandoned pousada at the top of the hill above Tutuala beach is occasionally opened for backpackers; some opt to sleep on the beach but there is no running water or anything to eat but fish. More basic than this you don't get. A better option for all but the most adventurous is to stay at the Pousada de Baucau or the resort at Com before returning to Dili.

Like its wind swept landscape and slowly developing economy, East Timor's tourist potential is a work in progress. But until word gets out, it will remain a little bastion of peace and tranquility and a nature lover's paradise. Please don't tell anyone.

-- David Kennedy