Wednesday 5 May 2010

Baffled Backpackers Buggered at Batugade

As most of us are aware this year our President, Jose Ramos Horta has set up quite a few events to help encourage tourism in our wonderful country. We will be having the first underwater photo contest, the second Tour de Timor, the Dili Marathon, the endurance race and quite a few other events including the re-instatement of the Darwin to Dili yacht race. These are all wonderful things and I must say that I personally am looking forward to them all very much.
Not so the Ministry of the Interior. In their supreme wisdom this ministry has decided that at the moment the only way for any tourists to get here is by 'plane. A few weeks ago it was decided that anyone coming to our country overland from West Timor will no longer be able to get a visa at the border. You CAN enter the country this way if you have a previous Timor-Leste tourist visa in your passport but not if you are a first time visitor. Apparently, in theory you can get a visa at the consulate in Kupang or Bali. In practice you can't. See this link for reasons why.

So, all you first time visitors to Timor-Leste, "piss off".

....

1 comment:

malaebulak said...

The rules have just changed yet again. See http://migracao.gov.tl/?page_id=32 for details.

If tourists obtain a “Visa Application Authorization” via email or at an Embassy or Consulate they can again enter Timor-Leste via the land Border.

This obviously will only work if someone has actually bothered to tell the Border Staff and Consulate staff. Which being Timor may not happen.