East Timor - Getting there

Further to my recent post on my 6 months in Timor during 2008 here is a look at the rapid changes around transport, specifically Getting There.

 In 2008 there were extremely limited ways of reaching East Timor.

1. Either flying from Darwin to Dili with a turbo propeller 15 seat aircraft at an extremely prohibitive cost of something in the area of $700aud each way.

1. Air Merpati from Denpasar (Bali) at around $370aud

1. Overland from West Timor – while cheaper, this process was hazardous as well as the border was commonly closed or disrupted

Now in 2014 I have discovered the following

1. Air North now flys an newish small jet – Embraer 170 for around $550aud  Darwin – Dili

1. Air Timor  Singapore – Dili  $370USD

1. Sriwijaya Air – Denpasar (Bali) – Dili 2,200,000 IDR – approx $200-250 AUD

1. Overland as above

Visitor / tourist visas, as with 2008 are available as visa on arrival for around $30usd for 30 days.
East Timor uses the USD for notes and Timorese coins.

While I was living there Comro Airport / Dili international

Airport was a dual Military & Civilian airport with UN flights, Australian Military and commercial airliners arriving often.

Packing list for Burma (Myanmar) and Malaysia (Redang Island)

As the count down begins to the big trip (roughly 30 days) through Burma (Myanmar) and Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur and Redang Island, I am putting together my packing list. As you will see most of my packing is actually mostly gadgets & electronics. I LOVE THEM.

Packs

Kathmandu 70L convertible ( roller with hidden backpack straps)

Kathmandu 15L Backpack ( day pack) – came with the 70L

I am still tossing up whether to get the Kathmandu 30L ‘Transit’ Day pack and use it as carry on. Additionally it has a secret compartment for my MacBook Air. The lady at Kathmandu kindly talked me out of buying it on the weekend, instead to wait until September when the 40% member discount starts.

Clothes

2 x neutral coloured ‘zip off’ travel pants for comfort.

3 x T-shirts

3 x singlets

3 x shorts

1 x Swimming Shorts

7 x Underwear

2 x socks

1 x boat shoes ( these are my every day, go anywhere, comfortable traveling shoes- I hate thongs / flip-flops )

1 x pair decent going out shoes (never know when a club night calls)

Cameras

Go Pro Hero 3 Black

Go Pro Hero 3 Silver

Samsung NX1000

Laptop

MacBook Air 11in Mid 2011 128gb

Phone / Communications

iPhone 5 64gig in Lifeproof Fre Waterproof Case

Delorme InReach enabled GPS tracker and 2 way communicator

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This is really just gear nerd porn, I want to be able to update my family and friends (and you through this blog) on our adventures. Also it would allow me to fire off a SMS style message to my parents who are meeting us for part of the trip, if any plans change. I am still working through some bugs on the posting map locations here. At this stage posting by email is my only option – this does not produce a ‘sexy’ post – more a quick and dirty text only post with links to an external map.

Where possibly I will endeavour to get a local sim – hopefully with prepaid data – in Malaysia this is no problem, Burma I think will be a different story.

Tablet

iPad Mini 64gig in folio case

Power

Solar

Goal Zero Guide 7 Solar panel

Goal Zero Guide 10+ AA Battery Pack with 4 x AA batteries x 2

Portable Power

In addition to the the Goal Zero Guide10+ I have a PLOX 6000mAh battery pack

PIXO USB Camera Battery Charger from Goal Zero – can charge the NX1000 battery from Solar, USB port or via a wall socket.

I know it sounds like a lot of power, but the guiding premise of my whole kit is that it can all be charged from the wall or from the Goal Zero Panels on the road. I am never quite sure of power availability, reliability or how safe it is (spikes). The only item I can not charge by solar from the above kit is the MacBook Air. Goal Zero does have products that could do it easily, but my budget and weight allowance doe not stretch that far this time. Their Sherpa 50 would be great with some folding panels, I just can’t convince the other half to allow me to get that one.

Have I forgotten anything? Comments ??

Related articles

A massive 6 months!

Laguna Resort, Redang Island, Malaysia

My first dive

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