Full-Day Tour of Dili
Dili, Timor-Leste
Trip Type: Day Trips
Duration: 7 hours
Learn all about East Timor’s capital city Dili, on this full day small group tour. You will take in everything the city has to offer, travelling through the central business district of the laid back capital. The city has sprung to life since independence in 2002. Nestled into the base of the surrounding hills, which are lush and green in the rainy season, passing by many historical buildings, monuments and religious places including the Government Palace, Casa Europa which was the original Portuguese Military garrison built in 1769, and the Prince Henry the Navigator Monument. You will stop at attractions including the Dare WW2 Memorial, East Timor Resistance Archive and Museum, and the colourful Tais markets before ending the day at the Famous 27 metre high Jesus Statue at Cristo Rai.
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Learn all about East Timor’s capital city Dili, on this full day small group tour. You will take in everything the city has to offer, travelling through the central business district of the laid back capital. The city has sprung to life since independence in 2002. Nestled into the base of the surrounding hills, which are lush and green in the rainy season, passing by many historical buildings, monuments and religious places including the Government Palace, Casa Europa which was the original Portuguese Military garrison built in 1769, and the Prince Henry the Navigator Monument. You will stop at attractions including the Dare WW2 Memorial, East Timor Resistance Archive and Museum, and the colourful Tais markets before ending the day at the Famous 27 metre high Jesus Statue at Cristo Rai.
Your tour will begin with a pick up from your accommodation.
You will travel east through the central business district of East Timor’s laid-back capital of Dili. The first stop is at the Australian World War 2 Memorial and Museum located in Dare. The memorial was built in 1969 by the Australian Diggers, veterans of World War II, and dedicated to the Timorese people for their support to the Australian soldiers against the occupying Japanese forces from 1942-1945.
Back to Dili you will visit the Santa Cruz Cemetery, which is one the most important, and historically significant worship sites in East Timor. To the international community, the cemetery is best known for being the site of the Santa Cruz Massacre that took the lives of approximately 250 youths on the 12th November 1991.
The next stop is at the Xanana Cultural Centre (originally the Xanana Reading Room) which is home to a public library, bookshop and exhibition spaces showcasing a permanent collection of photographs and paintings completed both during Xanana’s life as a resistance fighter in rugged jungles and mountains of East Timor and while he was imprisoned in Indonesia during the 1990’s. You will see awards and presentations made to Xanana Gusmao, tais and cultural artefacts. You can then make your way to the now famous East Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum for a personal 40 minute guided tour.
Enjoy a delicious Timorese buffet lunch before making your way into the centre of Dili, to the Tais craft market where you will see women weaving traditional fabrics and basket weaving. You can then pass by the National Parliament to the Chega Exhibition. The Chega is a Portuguese word that translates to the Commission for reception, truth and reconciliation in Timor Leste which was the title for its report. Chega speaks for all the victims of the nightmares, individual and collective who need to know that this will never be permitted to recur.
Head east along the coast to the Jesus Statue where you have the choice to explore the gardens at the base or follow the Stations of the Cross to the top. You will then be taken back to your accommodation.
You will travel east through the central business district of East Timor’s laid-back capital of Dili. The first stop is at the Australian World War 2 Memorial and Museum located in Dare. The memorial was built in 1969 by the Australian Diggers, veterans of World War II, and dedicated to the Timorese people for their support to the Australian soldiers against the occupying Japanese forces from 1942-1945.
Back to Dili you will visit the Santa Cruz Cemetery, which is one the most important, and historically significant worship sites in East Timor. To the international community, the cemetery is best known for being the site of the Santa Cruz Massacre that took the lives of approximately 250 youths on the 12th November 1991.
The next stop is at the Xanana Cultural Centre (originally the Xanana Reading Room) which is home to a public library, bookshop and exhibition spaces showcasing a permanent collection of photographs and paintings completed both during Xanana’s life as a resistance fighter in rugged jungles and mountains of East Timor and while he was imprisoned in Indonesia during the 1990’s. You will see awards and presentations made to Xanana Gusmao, tais and cultural artefacts. You can then make your way to the now famous East Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum for a personal 40 minute guided tour.
Enjoy a delicious Timorese buffet lunch before making your way into the centre of Dili, to the Tais craft market where you will see women weaving traditional fabrics and basket weaving. You can then pass by the National Parliament to the Chega Exhibition. The Chega is a Portuguese word that translates to the Commission for reception, truth and reconciliation in Timor Leste which was the title for its report. Chega speaks for all the victims of the nightmares, individual and collective who need to know that this will never be permitted to recur.
Head east along the coast to the Jesus Statue where you have the choice to explore the gardens at the base or follow the Stations of the Cross to the top. You will then be taken back to your accommodation.
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