The fourth highest mountain in Timor-Leste may be more than 500m lower than Mt Ramelau / Tatamailau, but the 2,459m high Mt Kablaki is a far more difficult and dangerous mountain to hike up. On my final crossing the country on foot we returned to complete a section around Mt Kablaki missed due to bad weather earlier in the week. This is very much a mountain to only tackle in good weather.

We didn’t aim for or make it to the summit, but it is a relatively flat topped mountain, so we got much of the way in terms of altitude and views before descending to Mausiga.

Before we started I took a look around the Fatuk Maromak shrine by the side of the road.

From the road it was a relentless climb up, with great views but some thick vegetation to get through. For large parts we had to basically pull ourselves up the mountainside through shoulder high long grass.

This rocky section was pretty tricky to traverse with distracting views.

A local guide is essential on Kablaki as there is often no path, with a machete required to make one…

The views were pretty stunning though.

Even up here, with difficult access, people have made their homes.

We had lunch with a view in one of the shelters on the mountain.

There is an impressive amount of food grown on the side of the mountain.

The sunshine unfortunately gave way to more variable weather but at least it stayed dry.

We visited the guide’s Uma Lulik, traditional Timorese sacred house, in Mausiga on the way down.

Before spending a final night camping at the local school, this time inside the classroom!

In the morning I found this huge Tribe Attacini silk moth on our shoes.

To finish with some sunrise photos from Mausiga.

It was an incredible eight day adventure crossing Timor-Leste on foot, up there with some of the best hiking I’ve done anywhere in the world. If you like what you see and want to do some or all of it I’d recommend reaching out to the locally owned Eco Discovery, who are one of the few tour operators to run these hiking trips in Timor-Leste.

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