Day two hiking the Timor-Leste Coast2Coast, which has been completed by less than 100 people, and hadn’t been run for 6 years when I walked it in July 2024. Thankfully I was well supported by a great crew from Eco Discovery as I crossed the country from the north to south coast.

As is often the way the first breakfast was the best of the trip, helped by camping in Seloi, a vibrant agricultural centre. We had sweet potatoes, bread, bananas, eggs and homemade muesli slices to fuel us for one of the bigger days of the hike. We walked 15.4km, up 744m, down 370m, over 8 hours.

They get two, maybe three, crops a year from these productive soils.

The rice fields were quite special (if slippery!) to walk through.

Seloi Lagoon was filled with beautiful water lilies.

The view ahead was a sign of the weather for the day ahead, everything from sunshine to a bit of rain.

Climbing out of the basin we got a good look behind of the lagoon and surrounding rice fields.

The rocks around here are incredible, almost like Weetbix in texture, they just crumble.

The day was spent hiking about two thirds of Alieu, one of the smallest but most scenic of Timor-Leste’s 13 municipalities.

The paths were pretty rough to non-existent for much of the day. Having an experienced local guide is essential to doing this hike.

We dropped down, via a bit of bush bashing, to a river system, crossed by an ingenious aqueduct system.

More rice fields, home to water buffalo.

The size and quality of houses vary hugely. The flash ones have probably been built with remittance money from Timorese working overseas, the second largest contribution to the national economy after oil and gas.

Even here it was hard to avoid the ubiquitous yellow 5 tonne trucks that are the workhorse of Timor-Leste.

We stopped for lunch by the river just past this colourful microfinance office.

It was then ever upwards through changeable weather and scenery with the occasional big view.

We reached the remote Hahulo Ramsu, home to an unexpected French flag, probably hoisted for the Euro 2024 football cup!

We camped for the first, but not last time, at a local school. The verandas provided shelter and a welcome flat surface on which to put up the tents. Plentiful popcorn was a welcome post-hike treat.

A beautiful sunset was a great way to end the day.

For the detailed route and logistical information please select this hike below (click top left for the list of hikes).