There are two disadvantages about Timor Leste, which we might as well get out of the way right at the beginning.

No. 1: it's expensive. Whether because of the presence of the international community, or the dollar currency, or the need to import so many things from Indonesia, your money really doesn't go very far. After living in Yogya, it's a huge shock.

No. 2: it's sad. The people aren't sad. They're warm and welcoming and dignified. But you can't get round the fact that Timor Leste has been dealt a tough hand: neglected by the Portuguese, invaded by the Japanese, annexed by the Indonesians... There are memories everywhere. A beautiful, cliff-hugging road turns out to have been built with forced labour under the Portuguese. Just up the road from a pleasant lunch stop is a monument commemorating a massacre by the Japanese. The beautiful Matebian mountain was the site of tough fighting and enormous suffering under the Indonesians.

And there's no doubt about it, this new little nation has a tough climb ahead. There is much that still remains to be done, from road-building to port-construction to job-creation.

Having said all this, I loved being in Timor Leste. I can't imagine not returning. So here's my first-impression Top 10:



1. Getting to know Dili. Which is just lovely. Low-rise, low-key, laid-back, very livable. Framed by hills, fringed by beaches. Lots of trees, quite a number of gracious old Portuguese buildings, and some very sophisticated places to eat (for those who can afford them...)



2. Experiencing sunset and sunrise up at Mt Ramelau, as well as the starry, starry night in between. I found the climb embarrassingly difficult (big wake-up call for Prudence). But rewarding and inspiring.



3. Doing the road trips. Many of Timor Leste's roads are slow, juddering, 4WD-only affairs. Not necessarily comfortable, even in a big tough Pajero. The one to Maubisse, and on to Hato Builico, the gateway to Ramelau, is bad; the roads around Tutuala are quite dreadful. But they're so very scenic that they're worth every bounce and every lurch. Timor Leste has the topography of a crumpled tablecloth. Sometimes the landscape looks like Australia, sometimes like New Zealand, sometimes like northern Spain, sometimes like nowhere I've ever been. Always, it's fascinating.



4. Hiring a tandem from Barry's Ecoresort, on Atauro. We cycled to Vila, the island's main village; bought some of the famous Atauro dolls; drank some coffee; contemplated another beach; provided lots of kiddy TV en route; and tandemed back.

5. Sitting for a couple of hours by a scenic lagoon near Com, watching monkeys just being monkeys.



6. Touring Baucau and environs. So much to do round here: visiting the hilltop market; clambering around the ruined Portuguese fort; strolling the historic streets of Venilale; and swimming from beautiful Osalata beach, where turtles later appeared, just off shore.



7. Sitting on beaches, watching the sea...

8. Snorkelling off Jaco island. Our snorkellers' bad luck was with us again, and the day dawned cold, windy, and rainy, so our first port of call was a fishermen's hut, where we sheltered from the elements until the guys reckoned it was fit to put out to sea. But when we did, we saw a school of little dolphins romping along between the island and the mainland, and the snorkelling was absolutely awesome, with an incredible array both of fish and coral.



9. Facing up to some of Timor Leste's tough past through its various museums and memorials, and the testimony of the people we met. Saddening but enlightening must-visits include the Santa Cruz cemetery; the Chega exhibition, housed in a former Portuguese and Indonesian gaol; the Resistance Museum; and the Xanana Gusmao Reading Room, where a new generation of East Timorese young people can now not only access books and videos about Timor Leste's past, but also connect with Internet and a big new future.

10. Being invited into a family home, learning a bit more about other people's lives, and -- from their questions -- realizing afresh how many cultural misunderstandings still divide our world...