April 20, 2026
I was definitely getting off the ship in Dili (dally), because Timore-Leste was a new country for me. I convinced Alisa to join me for lunch even though she was concerned we wouldn’t find anything good. But I had looked at the book that the Destination Manager had put together, and it listed a restaurant called Castaway right by the dock. The pictures of the food on Google looked promising.
We took the tender ashore, exited the dock area and turned left. The sidewalk was a little treacherous, with sketchy things sticking up from it.
The restaurant we were looking for was absolutely not there. Google Maps showed our dot right by its location, but there was no restaurant in sight.
We kept walking and came to a park, which was nice.
This fish was collecting plastic bottles.
Can you see the ship behind us?
We turned a corner, walked down a sketchy-looking street – and found this gem of a restaurant.
I was so relieved. I figured there had to be a restaurant around somewhere, but Alisa was not convinced that we would find anything better than the food that was on the ship.
When the waitress came to take our orders, I asked what she recommended. I took her advice, but she soon returned to tell me they were actually sold out. So I asked her what the next best option would be.
The food was great, and I got to hang out with my friend.
When we returned to the tender dock, I told Alisa that there were ports when I wanted to spend as much time ashore as possible. Here, it was hot, I had a lot of work to do and I was satisfied with our outing. I didn’t feel as though I needed to wheel and deal to get off the ship again the next day.
But if I do come back, I think I’ll turn to the right.
My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.