One of more scenic journeys I’ve made, travelling by road across the width of Timor-Leste from Dili to Covalima in 5 hours, and returning a few days later by air in just 30 minutes. The flight was more comfortable and spectacular, but the road was more varied and interesting.

From Dili there is some sizeable terrain to cross, involving a lot of switchbacks. Just over the border heading into Aileu from Dili the road almost literally goes through the beautiful Berloi Waterfall.

Aileu town had the usual variety of things found on Timorese roads, trucks, cars, motorbikes, scooters, school kids, and dogs!

Fleicha is at one of the highest points of the journey, heading over the spine of Timor-Leste. It is a popular place to stop, though the unexpectedly flash looking toilets were locked. The scenery reminded me of hiking in the Balkans in Eastern Europe more than what you’d imagine in South East Asia.

Heading into the municipality of Covalima there were noticeably more houses with traditional Timorese thatched roofs.

A big surprise was the 30km Suai Expressway, of a planned 155km. This four lane road is the only motorway in the country, and seemingly connects nowhere to a provincial town. I saw people driving the wrong way on it, people walking along it, and tree overgrowing the emergency shoulder. It was built to support the oil and gas industry which provides the vast majority of Timor-Leste’s income.

I flew back with Mission Aviation Friendship (MAF), a Christian charity that operates flights in 12 countries, providing much needed medical evacuations from remote areas. They also run scheduled flights to 7 destinations around Timor-Leste. Suai has an international airport which is more impressive and modern than in the capital and main hub Dili. Again it has been built to support the oil and gas industry investment that Timor-Leste seeks.

From the air Suai looked like mostly jungle with only Avé Maria Cathedral and antenna really visible.

This looked like an unusually planned community rather close to the sizeable Raiketan River.

From the air the Suai Expressway was obvious, along with some rather large cracks in the road!

Small communities exist through the land despite the challenging terrain.

I flew in the morning with beautiful light illuminating the landscape below.

There were some incredible light effects to my right looking east across Timor-Leste.

The flight cost USD$80, and was worth the price for the scenic views alone.

These huge river systems reminded me of the braided river systems in Canterbury, on the South Island of New Zealand.

Before landing in Dili the plane followed the coast of Liquiçá past reefs, a concrete factory site, and the recently built Tibar Bay Port.