An enjoyable 7.7km loop walk starting from Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili.

From the cemetery it was short road walk before heading up into the multitude of dirt tracks and paths that cross the hills behind Timor-Leste’s capital city. There were some giant steps to climb up, which quickly got the blood pumping.

At the top of the steps was a cross, a familiar sight in the second most Catholic country in the world (behind only Vatican City).

There were already good views of the city below. A photogenic mist sits across the city most mornings.

Many families have their graves close to their houses rather than in the formal cemeteries.

I went around the huge walls of a huge new development, which I believe is church related.

This route is a combination of the best halves of two other routes I’d done, but I needed to connect them. Thankfully this is usually fairly straightforward as there are paths everywhere in Timor-Leste and I could find one on Google Maps satellite view, looking for dirt tracks. It was a relief to be going downhill, as even at 7am going uphill is hot work.

There isn’t much water in the river systems at the end of the dry season. It would be interesting to repeat this walk in the wet season to see the difference.

It was road walking for the rest of the hike. There were some impressive houses and Antigo Hospital, dating back to 1906 when it was built by the Portuguese during their colonial rule.

Off the road leads a small tunnel built in WW2 during the Japanese occupation of Timor-Leste, during which an estimated 70,000 Timorese were killed.

Few more views from the road down.

Final stop was the Indonesian Military Cemetery (Taman Makam Pahlawan Seroja) opposite Santa Cruz Cemetery. This is home to the graves of 697 Indonesian soldiers (only 243 of whom have been identified) who died while serving in then East Timor between 1975 and 1999.

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