It had been my long-time dream to visit Timor-Leste, the only country in South-East Asia I had not been to.
This is because Timor-Leste only gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. Last October, it officially became the 11th member state of Asean, after 14 years of waiting to be included.
Another reason was because there were very few flights going to Timor-Leste previously, so the airfare was pricey and the journey included multiple long transits.
Today, you can hop on a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Dili, the capital city, via Batik Air. The flight is around four hours and tickets cost only half of what it used to be.
In July 2025, I finally made my way there with my dive master and good friend, Ben. Ben has a friend (Dr Danny) who happens to be the principal of an international school in Dili, and he invited us to stay at his home.
I was happy with this arrangement because the official currency in Timor-Leste is the US dollars, and accommodation and transportation can be quite costly.
We were welcomed by Dr Danny, who came to the airport by motorbike; we hopped into a taxi to get to our destination. Along the way, we passed through the town centre, villages, and beaches.
Don’t expect to see skyscrapers and super modern city vibes here. Instead, Dili is very laid back with moderate towns and villages. There were also more motorcycles than cars on the road, we observed.
The people were mostly younger folks who were friendly, humble, and helpful. They did not take advantage of us tourists, and most of them can converse well in English, although their national language is Portuguese. They also have their own dialects.
As we explored Dili and chatted with the locals, we found out that on average their living expenses is quite low. Simple meals are priced at under US$1 (RM3.95), but if you eat at a restaurant – especially one at touristy areas – you can end up paying quite a bit.
We later rented a motorbike and visited many places like the Cristo Rei statue, beautiful beaches, the mountains, and local hangouts.
We were in Timor-Leste for diving excursions, which was quite expensive, but in this part of the world the dive spots are pristine and worth every sen.
It was very exciting as most of the dives were done by shore entry, unlike other parts of the world where boat dives are more common. My first dive was a bit stressful, though, because the waves were high and I lost my balance and fell.
But once I managed to get into the sea, the water was calm and had good visibility. I saw a number of sea creatures like frog fish, sea horse, puffer fish and sea worms. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to see a dugong – locals say Timor-Leste is a great place for dugong sighting.
The next day we went to a dive spot that was about an hour away by car. We stopped at the beach with shady trees and saw a few fishermen mending their nets while their children were happily playing nearby.
Our diving team set up a foldable tent with a table and some chairs for us to relax while they prepared our scuba diving equipment. It was such a privilege to be pampered that way.
The dive spot had clear waters with excellent visibility. There were lots of soft and hard corals of various colours and sizes, and colourful schools of fish swimming past us.
The following day, Dr Danny asked me to give a motivational talk at his school about a career in medicine. It was an interesting sharing session with the enthusiastic students and teachers regarding my experience. I hope I inspired them to do their best, and to be the leaders of tomorrow.
I wish to visit this country again in the future, to see how far it has come in terms of development. And I also really want to see the dugong and whales!
The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.
