The world’s newest nation is fast emerging from a dark past of violence, oppression and neglect. With pristine beaches, newly discovered reefs, superb diving and snorkeling just a paddle offshore, crumbling stone fortresses and elegant Portuguese buildings, you ‘d expect this place to be having with tourists. ln face East Timor is blissfully uncrowded- and a lack of infrastructure means your most important piece of luggage will be your adventurous spirit.

May to November for the weather-since gaining official independence in 2002 there hasn’t been a batter time to visit 400 years!

Walking up to the towering Christ Statue at Cape Fatucama to take in the view over the bay to Dili Diving the crystal waters off Atauro lsland amid turtles, dugongs and colourful reef fish Climbing lofty Mt Matebian (231m), East Timor’s holy mountain Overnighting in the historic pousada (Portuguese inn) at Maubisse Visiting the crumbling Portuguese garrison of Fatusuba in Pantemakassar

Read Timothy Mo’s The Redundancy of Courage, which uses the fictional country of Danu to depict East Timor’s struggle during the lndonesian occupation. Luis Cardoso’s Crossing: A Story of East Timor is a memoir of growing up in East Timor under Portuguese and lndonesian rule

Listen to Liberdade Viva East Timor, the benefit album for the newly created nation

Watch Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy, John Pilger’s exploration of the international abandonment of the tiny nation

Eat fresh seafoog-East Timor’s crytal-clear seas are teeming with gourmet goodies, which find their way onto restaurant tables cooked in various tempting lndonesian, Chinese and Portuguese styles

Drink rich, flavoursome Arabica coffee or sopi, a potent brew distilled from the pandanus plant

Be nebe? (where are you going?)

Xanana Gusmao; Jose Ramos-Horta; UN convoys; freedom fighters; colourful woven lengths of tais (traditional cloth)

A small patch of East Timor (the Oecussi Enclave) site nearly 100km removed from the rest of the country, sharing all its land borders with lndonesian West Timor; the Greater Sunrise oilfied between Australia and East Timor is believed to be a rich source of both oil and its bounty should provide the struggline nation with income for years to come

My travels around East Timor were dotted with magic moments… sitting on the veranda of the flamboyant Pousada de Baucau, sipping a sunset beer, marveling at the viev from the headland at Tutuala…my delight when our boat was surrounded first by dolphins and then by pilot whales on the way back to Dili from Atauro lsland. Everywhere there was a feeling that was a county which had seen tough times but was determined to move on.