Timor-Leste

Tais are the hand-woven textiles of Timor, made on backstrap looms by women across the country, each region with its own colours, motifs and techniques; they are worn and exchanged at births, weddings and funerals, and in 2021 UNESCO added them to its list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Dili's Tais Market, in the city centre, gathers stalls of scarves, sarongs and wall hangings from all thirteen municipalities, along with baskets and carvings. It is the best place in the country to understand the variety, and to buy directly from the weavers' families.

TipPrices are in US dollars and modest haggling is normal, but a fine, naturally dyed tais represents weeks of work; pay accordingly.

The essential first stop for making sense of the country. Through photographs, documents, weapons, radios and recorded testimony, the museum tells the story of the 24-year resistance to Indonesian rule: the armed struggle of Falintil guerrillas in the mountains, the clandestine networks in the towns, and the diplomatic campaign abroad that eventually brought the 1999 referendum. It is clear, moving and well laid out, with English labelling, and takes an hour or two.

TipOpening hours are limited at weekends and on public holidays; check locally before going.

In the Balide district, the former Comarca prison, built by the Portuguese and used by the Indonesian authorities to hold and torture political prisoners, now houses the national centre that carries forward the work of the truth and reconciliation commission. Its title, Chega!, meaning "enough!" in Portuguese, comes from the commission's final report. The exhibition walks you through the cells, some still marked by prisoners' writing, and through the history of the conflict and its victims. It is sobering, but it gives the clearest sense of what the country lived through.

On 12 November 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on a crowd of mourners and demonstrators who had marched here for a memorial; well over two hundred people are thought to have died that day and in its aftermath. Foreign journalists filmed the shooting and smuggled the footage out, turning world opinion and making the massacre a turning point in the struggle. Today it is a working cemetery, crowded with whitewashed tombs, and the anniversary on 12 November is a national holiday.

TipVisit quietly and dress modestly. Families come to tend graves, so ask before photographing people, and don't climb on tombs.

At the eastern end of Dili's bay, a 27-metre statue of Christ stands on a globe atop Cape Fatucama, arms outstretched towards the city. It was completed in 1996, during the occupation, and its height is often read as a reference to Indonesia's claim to East Timor as its twenty-seventh province. A path of several hundred steps, lined with Stations of the Cross, climbs to the top for wide views over the bay to Atauro. Below lie Cristo Rei beach and, round the headland, the quieter "Back Beach", favourite swimming and sunset spots for Dili's residents.

TipClimb early in the morning or in the last hour before sunset; there's little shade on the steps at midday.

A dry, mountainous island 25 kilometres north of Dili, Atauro is the country's easiest escape and its best diving and snorkelling base. Surveys in the 2010s recorded more reef-fish species per site here than almost anywhere else in the world, and the walls drop steeply into the deep strait, which is a corridor for whales, dolphins and the occasional whale shark. Most visitors stay around Beloi, where the ferries land, in simple eco-lodges and community homestays; there are no big resorts, and electricity can be intermittent. Walks lead into the hills and along the coast to fishing villages, and in Vila the Boneca de Atauro women's cooperative sews colourful cloth dolls and crafts.

TipBook a dive or snorkel trip with an established operator in Dili or Beloi, and bring cash; ATMs and card machines on the island can't be relied on.

Up in the coffee-growing highlands south of Dili, Maubisse is a cool, misty hill town after the heat of the coast. Its Portuguese-era pousada, perched on a hilltop, looks over terraced valleys, eucalyptus forest and rows of shade-grown coffee, and the weekly market draws villagers from across the hills with vegetables, livestock and tais. It makes a natural overnight stop on the road to Mount Ramelau, and a pleasant base for short walks.

TipBring a fleece: highland nights get properly cold, especially in the dry season.

Ramelau, or Tatamailau, is Timor-Leste's highest peak at 2,963 metres, and a sacred mountain in both Catholic and traditional belief. The classic climb starts in the dark from the village of Hato Builico, at around 2,000 metres, with a two- to three-hour walk up a steep but well-trodden trail to reach the summit for sunrise. A white statue of the Virgin Mary stands at the top, and on clear mornings the cloud lies below you while both coasts of the island come into view.

TipStay overnight in Hato Builico, hire a local guide for the pre-dawn start, and take a torch, warm layers and water. The road up needs a 4WD or a motorbike.

Timor-Leste's second city sits on a limestone terrace above the north coast, and its old town is the country's best ensemble of Portuguese colonial architecture: the arcaded former municipal market, now disused, the old church and the Pousada de Baucau, with its terrace overlooking the sea. Springs bubbling out of the rock feed a public swimming pool in the old town. Below, a road winds roughly five kilometres down through the fishing village of Osolata to Pantai Wataboo, a long white beach backed by palms with clear, calm water for swimming.

TipBaucau is about three to four hours' drive east of Dili and makes a good first overnight on the way to the far east.

On the north coast of Lautém, the small fishing village of Com has a sheltered bay, a pier where boats land the morning catch, and fringing reef that is good for snorkelling straight off the beach. A handful of guesthouses and a beach resort make it the most comfortable base in the east, within easy reach of Lospalos, the lake and Tutuala.

TipAsk in the village about fresh fish grilled for dinner; it is the reason many people stay an extra night.

Timor-Leste's largest lake lies on a karst plateau south-east of Lospalos, inside Nino Konis Santana National Park. With no surface outlet, it drains through sinkholes into the limestone, so its size swells and shrinks dramatically with the seasons, from open water to grassland where water buffalo graze. Birdlife is rich, especially waterbirds in the dry months, and the surrounding forest shelters endemic species. Lospalos, the main town of the Fataluku people, is the access point and has a lively traditional market.

TipSaltwater crocodiles live in the lake. Don't swim, and keep well back from the water's edge.

At the eastern end of the island, the village of Tutuala sits on high cliffs above forested slopes and the sea. This is the heart of Nino Konis Santana National Park, Timor-Leste's first, which combines forest, limestone caves, reefs and the island's eastern tip. Near the road down to the coast, the Ili Kére Kére rock shelter holds ancient painted figures, boats and animals in red ochre, a reminder that people have lived in this corner of the island for many thousands of years.

TipAsk a local guide to take you to the rock art; it is a steep walk and some sites are sacred to the Fataluku.

Just off Valu Beach, below Tutuala, Jaco is an uninhabited island of white sand, clear water and forest, sacred to the Fataluku people. Local fishermen run short boat crossings from Valu, and the snorkelling over the reefs around the island is superb. Visits are by day only, and the island is left without buildings or overnight stays. Back at Valu, a community-run campsite and simple huts make a magical place to spend the night at the very end of the road.

TipAgree the boat price and a pick-up time with the boatman before leaving, and take everything you need, including water, shade and your rubbish back with you.