could you send me a coordinates of this place? how expensive is this place?

Villa Verde Hotel
Rua Antanio Hritor, Dili, Timor-Leste
http://goo.gl/maps/02g34

Not sure how to do coordinates? We paid $40/night. Internet & a couple of laundry items per day were included. Plenty of room to dry hand washed stuff. They also had a hose and bin they let us use for working on the bikes & scrubbing the parts. (we went and got a surface wash first). We were there for at least 10 days so we negotiated the rate.

I was happy to pay the extra money for a comfortable room. We stayed at the backpackers 1 night & it was $25 for a mosquito infested dorm. Even hanging outside the bugs were thick there. Plus lots of kids running around hollering.

There are other places we tried but it seemed common to tack on ridiculous prices for Internet or food. Villa verde is walking distance to the backpackers & some decent eateries. Otherwise it's easy to get around with minibuses & cabs.

it's enough, I've fond it on the map. Thank you!

Alex

stuck in Dili
 

TOLL changes a schedule 2 times a week. Everything was perfect on 10/03 but suddenly on 12/03 things go wrong. I was informed about schedule changing on 18/03 just one day before arriving in Dili. TOLL has just 2 ships on this line. They canceled Dili service in March. So the next ship is expecting on 08/04 three weeks later. Did anybody try finding another way to Darwin from Dili? I mean another shipping companies, private boats, flights, etc.

Alex

Sadly this is normal bull from them. If they don't have the freight, Dili gets skipped. We raced to get to Dili and ended up there for weeks. We ran out of time and had to skip Australia, shipping indirectly to Canada which was another experience with Toll. We absolutely tried to investigate air freight but the airline refused 3 different ways. Planes are small and they don't do DG no matter how many ways you disable the bike...it's frustrating for sure but we did enjoy our time in Dili getting to know Timor Leste and it's rough history. Plus we had good company with other bikers.

Hi

We also used Toll, do anything you can not to. It took 8 weeks from the time they originally said while we were in Dili. There were 5 boats that ommitted Dili during this time and later on I had asked for it to be put on the ship on its way out to singapore but they wouldn't for commercial reasons and gave 100% assurance it would stop on the way back, it didn't. I finally got my bike last month after arriving in Darwin Christmas day.

We learnt after there are a few other sea freight companies doing this route, Marriana was one and Swire is another, but not sure if they will give quotes for low container loads. There is no air freight as far as I know. It sounds a rough decision but if given chance now I would have ridden back to Bali to fly from there. Dealing with Toll has thankfully been the only real problem on our trip from the UK.

Taken from Swire Shipping Website

NEW SERVICE – EAST TIMOR AND DARWIN

Dear Valued Customer,

Swire Shipping is pleased to announce a new service linking Asia, Europe, Dili and Darwin. The new service will commence in April and is an extension of Swire Shipping’s commitment to develop sustainable multi-purpose shipping services in the Asia Pacific Region.


Service Rotation: Singapore – Darwin – Dili – Singapore

Port Coverage: Global connections via Singapore

Frequency: 18 days

Cargo Types: Containers, LCL, Break-bulk, Project cargo

Crane Weights: Up to 45t

Key Transit Times:

From Singapore:
To Darwin: 7 Transit Days
To Dili: 10 Transit Days

From Darwin:
To Dili: 2 Transit Days
To Singapore: 9 Transit Days

The first voyage will depart from Singapore on 18th April. The full voyages dates will be published in next week’s Swire Shipping schedule.

Please contact your local Swire Shipping representative for more information. Our Darwin and Dili contact details are as follows:

Darwin
Swire Shipping
Telephone +618 8984 3893
Email ssadrw@swireshipping.com

Dili
SDV Logistics
Telephone +670 3322 818
Email dil@sdv.com

We look forward to providing you with an excellent level of service in this new and exciting service.

Yours sincerely

Swire Shipping – Trade Team

I have sent them a request already but without answer...They probably ship tons of goods, wood, steel and oil. They don't want our bikes. It's too small deals.

I raced also to be in time. I missed Komodo because of this.

I'll ship it to Singapore on 25th from Dili and from there to Darwin on 8th of April.

So I'll see you in Darwin sometime soon ?

in the meddle of April I hope. I'll ship the bike next week to Singapore and next to Darwin the same vessel to avoid any skips in Dili on a back way to Darwin. According the schedule the arriving date in Darwin is 14th of April. I'm going to take a flight to Denpasar spent 2 weeks on Bali, Lombok and Flores. I missed some places there because of this race. Then take a direct flight from Denpasar to Darwin.

An excellent plan:) don't feel bad about Komodo, it's another 8hr round trip boat...blech.

I've put the bike in to the container today. they will ship it on 9 of April to Darwin. Two times ship have skipped Dili already so now they have 4-5 containers to Darwin. They have been asking main office in Singapore twice I saw the correspondence in the office. The boss told "yes, for sure Katheryn bay will call to Dili on the way to Darwin". But it's just a promises only. Nobody keeps promises in Asia. It costs nothing here. I haven't got a bill of landing but I payed the bill 100%. Should I trust people there I don't know. Would I have a choice I wouldn't. Shipping to Singapore at first and next to Darwin is more unpredictable than just live the bike here and rely on the own luck. The Singapore hub is 100 times bigger than harbor in Dili. If something goes wrong there it's a big problem. That is what they told me in Toll. So if the company say "we can loose your bike in Singapore" it's better to avoid this risk. Or maybe it's just in case of additional paperwork for them. This is Asia in short)

Alex

Hi Alex,

Just stick with the Katherine Bay from Dili to Darwin on the 9th, I doubt your bike would go missing in Singapore unless there was a change of ship and then I guess it's possible.

I just called Toll in Darwin to confirm shipping times for the Katherine Bay from Dili to Darwin but the staff have gone home for the day! They will return my call tomorrow, I called Alicross regarding the Heidenau tyres and Richard has them in stock :-) I also called Bobby at Exide Batteries and he will hold the battery till your arrival, so all is in order this end all you have to do is get here :-)

While I think of it, Air Asia have special fares for $119 AU one way from DPS - DRW!

Cheers Dave