TRAVERSE 133
That’ s when international peacekeepers, mainly Australian and New Zealand troops, arrived as part of Operation Astute. In their uniforms and armoured vehicles, they were imposing. But to the orphans, they became something else.
“ They came every day to check on us,” Anas recalls.“ Some would sit with us, bring food, ask questions. One of them … he became a friend.”
In 2010, that soldier brought Anas to Australia’ s southern capital, Melbourne for a visit. It was his first time leaving Timor. First time seeing a city skyline, riding an elevator, touching cold glass.
“ It opened my eyes,” he says.“ I saw that life didn’ t have to be so difficult. I felt this … fire inside me to change something. To improve myself. To help my country.”
Back in Dili, Anas was nearly finished with school. But he could no longer stay at the orphanage. He needed to work, to survive. So, he took a job cleaning rooms at a backpackers ' hostel, the kind that still catered to aid workers, NGO staff, and the occasional intrepid tourist.
“ I listened to the guests talk,” he says.“ English, Portuguese, Tetum, Indonesian, all mixed together. I started watching Hollywood movies with subtitles. That’ s how I taught myself English.”
One day, he asked the hostel owner if he could try working as a guide.
“ She said yes,” he smiles.“ She gave me a chance. I was nervous, but I loved sharing stories about Timor. Tourists were curious, not just about the country, but about me too.”
His tours were raw but authentic. He spoke from experience. He shared stories most guides wouldn’ t, about surviving on rice and salt, about guerrilla hideouts, about what it meant to lose your family and find a future anyway. His natural charm and encyclopedic knowledge of the land soon made him a favourite among travellers. As tour manager, he noticed a recurring question:“ Where can we rent motorbikes?”
At the time, there weren’ t many options. Timor’ s roads, pocked, narrow,
often half-paved, required something more nimble than a hire car. So Anas offered up his own dirt bike. When he wasn’ t using it, he rented it out.
“ At first, I only had my own bike,” he laughs.“ When I wasn’ t using it, I rented it out to tourists. I saved every dollar and bought another one. Then another.”
Today, Dili Dirt Bike has a small yet growing fleet of bikes, Honda CRFs and similar off-road-ready machines, perfect for the rugged tracks that wind through Timor’ s mountains, beaches, and villages. But it’ s not just a rental service. Anas offers guided tours, cultural experiences, and stories you won’ t find in any mass consumed travel guide.
Dili Dirt Bike is perhaps the country’ s most grassroots adventure tour company, and likely the most authentic. Anas leads small groups through some of Timor’ s most remote and culturally rich regions. He doesn’ t just point to landscapes. He introduces riders to families, elders, farmers, the same people who once hid resistance fighters in the jungle and now want to welcome the world.
“ We ride to Maubisse often,” he says.“ I take people to my father’ s land. I tell them what he did. Sometimes we ride the same paths the fighters used to escape. People feel the history. You can’ t avoid it.”
His tours mix adventure with education: steep climbs, river crossings, coffee tastings, and talks about traditional Mambai customs.
TRAVERSE 133