Dili is a sea side city and despite how charming and scruffy this little city appears, it is not one of the greatest capitals in Asia. However, after East Timor was declared as an independent country, Dili found itself shouldering the status of the capital city in 2002. During the colonial era, Dili was regarded as the major metropolis in the remote colony. After the colonialism, Dili was left with a Portuguese heritage and it is one of the east cities featuring Portuguese architecture and food. Even though Dili took the full force of the Portuguese colonialists, it has slowly recovered but the gutted buildings are still a common sight in the city.
Being one of youngest national capital in the world, Dili is yet to realize its full tourism potential. Nevertheless, the city and surrounding region is bestowed with rich tourism resources starting with the famous Statue of Jesus which stands tall in Dili. According to historical stories and rumors, the statue was built by Indonesians who are mostly Muslims and given as a token to Christians. However, the statue was designed in a way that it seems to be facing Jakarta and the spot has become very popular today as exercising internationals visit the statue in large numbers every year. The Cape Fatucama beach is found just next to Statue of Jesus and with its beautiful coastline with a C- shape, the beach is quite scenic. Its waters are near transparent and visitors tend to spend lots of their time sun bathing at the beach and enjoying other interesting water activities.
During your visit to Dili, you can decide to attend an English mass service at a local church located just across to the well known Leader supermarket. If you are fine with Tetum Masses, they are offered most of the times and you can as well join other worshipers. Dili is popular as a place where you can find inexpensive VCDs, CDs and DVDs and for those travelers with their laptops, they can get some great software installed in their machines in the city. Ramalau is another place in Dili worthy a visit and this is the highest and most popular East Timor Mountain. Climbing to the top of the mountain will take you some few hours and it is always an exciting expedition. However, if you are going there at night, you need to be cautious as the cold will make you feel like freezing.
Atauro and Dili Island offers a great diving spot and you will find several diving operators where you can hire the equipment needed. If you want to go for longer trips especially to the Jaco Island, you can have one arranged for you by the dive operators. This part of the world has untouched coral reefs and will provide you with a thrilling experience. The Resistance Museum in Dili has historical information regarding the struggle for independence of East Timor. Seafood is one of the most common dishes served in Dili’s restaurants and you can also find other delicacies as well.
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