An enjoyable 6.3km loop in the hills close to Taibesi Markets, heading up one ridgeline, and back down another. These hills are particularly quiet and underpopulated compared with many in Dili, offering great views of the city below, and eucalyptus bush with some shade. It starts steep but gets easier as you climb, and much of the walk is along straightforward single track paths.
I found rough route from looking at Google Earth, and then worked it out on the day. I started up the road, and came down through the bush, as that was easier to figure out navigationally, but would strongly recommend that this hike is walked in the opposite direction to what I describe, doing the steep, slippery part at the beginning, and returning down the relatively more gentle and easier road.
I parked my motorbike at Mutudare Chapel, which is at the end of a short sealed road.
I took in the scenery and headed up what soon became a rather rough road, better suited to walking than riding on.
A couple of houses had quite impressive nativity displays, which appear to be popular in Timor-Leste.
I soon left the rough road for enjoyable single track paths through the bush.
There were surprisingly few houses up here and this was one of the few hikes I did in Timor-Leste which didn’t involve coming across lots of dogs. The path opened up to big views of the city below.
I managed to find the tracks I’d seen on Google Earth that followed the top of the ridgeline.
In the middle of the wet season everything was amazingly green and lush, such a contrast from just a few months before at the end of the dry season.
The paths descended more steeply, and was really quite slippery and tricky toward the end. I basically ended up behind a bunch of pig sty. Thankfully it was relatively clear and easy to get down to the road, passing a few locals houses.
Despite it being the wet season this river was still pretty dry. I had a final uphill push to return to my bike at the church.
