The Path Less Ridden

With the bike finally back in hand, and the need to return to the Indonesian embassy at 2PM to collect our passports, we set off early for a day trip into the mountains south of Dili – the target town, Maubisse.

 

 

Most of Timor Leste is extremely mountainous and steep, with only small flat patches along the coast and in valleys. As such, on the southern edges of the city, you climb 3000ft within a few kilometres of the coast.

 

 

Before passing through Aileu, a busy market village.

 

 

Pushing on to Maubisse, we passed through 5000ft – not a massive altitude but impressive considering the gradient of most of the roads. Speaking of which, the roads were quite bad, but not as bad as I had been warned. Plenty of potholes, lumpy bits of bitumen, random bits of dirt and mud, but quite passable by most vehicles.

 

Once in Maubisse, the obvious place to visit is the old Portuguese colonial governor’s summer house – perched right on the hilltop in the centre of town. It’s been converted into a guesthouse and restaurant, but because we were there at morning tea time they weren’t ready for lunch yet. Great views though.

 

 

After a quick snack and drink, we checked our maps against our watches and decided it was time to turn around and head back.

 

It was difficult to appreciate some of the views, for fear of hitting one of the innumerable potholes, but the road was very scenic.

 

 

The few flat areas available in the valleys are used for rice paddies – a sight I’m sure I’ll become very used to passing through the rest of South East Asia.

 

 

Coming back over the final mountain range before Dili, the clouds started to close in over the mountaintops, limiting visibility but fortunately not raining on us.

 

 

The final descent into Dili drops as rapidly as it ascended, while dodging potholes, trucks, scooters, animals, and school children.

 

 

The next morning we rose early again, trying to cross the border (and the whole island!) from Dili to Kupang, at the far West of Timor Island. 400 kilometres, which ended up taking almost 11 hours of riding to complete.

 

The road out of Dili heading towards the border looks sublime – a beautiful piece of tarmac that follows the coastline, with sweeping corners providing unobstructed views out to sea. Sadly, that lasts around 4 kilometres before the road quite frankly turns to crap. Apparently the roads wash away every wet season, and are rebuilt every dry season (and we saw plenty of roadworks to prove it). Why don’t they build good roads with decent drainage? Apparently because then the road workers don’t have jobs next year – this way it keeps people employed.

 

 

The other major hazard on the roadway are the animals. Apparently if you hit an animal there’s a sliding scale of compensation you have to pay – chickens are $10USD, dogs are $50, goats or pigs are $100, and a buffalo is $1000 – although if you hit a buffalo I’m sure you have other things to worry about! The animals have no road sense and do not care about vehicles, quite happily sleeping on the road, or trotting across whenever they feel like it. The goats, in particular, are assholes.

 

 

The best parts of the road were on par with, say, the Cote d’Azur or the Great Ocean Road – however you always had to be careful as you didn’t know when the next dirt section or pothole was coming. Average speed was around 70kph on the good bits, and down to 25kph on the rough sections and roadworks.

 

 

On arrival at the border, we were stamped out of Timor Leste quite quickly – once we had convinced the officials to stop sitting around smoking and talking. Coming into Indonesia was a different matter, taking over an hour as our bags and panniers were thoroughly searched – although given the current diplomatic stoush over drug smugglers, hardly surprising. The customs and immigration guys were also very friendly though, teaching me a few key words in Bahasa, and posing for photos with the bike.

 

 

Finally clear of the border point, we hit the road again. The difference in each country’s economy was staggeringly clear straight away. The roads were all bitumen, full width and in fair condition (lumpy in places but no potholes). The children were better dressed, the shops had more stock, and everything is much cheaper (not operating in US dollars helps!)

 

We didn’t really stop for much on this run; a quick feed and refuel, and a very few photo stops – a combination of the timeframe (wanting to get to Kupang before dusk) and the monsoonal rain that set in for more than half the trip. Going was still slow despite the better roads; the pattern was to go up and down a mountain following endless hairpins, then through a small village with roadside stalls selling fresh food and petrol in glass and plastic bottles, then over another mountain.

 

 

As we approached Kupang, which is quite a major city, the traffic closed in. Two lanes painted on the road seems to imply at least 6 lanes of traffic, which requires a hefty dose of bravery before any overtaking moves (of which there are many, as a sheer necessity for moving at more than 30kph). Finally battling through the traffic we pulled into the beachfront hostel and shared a few beers as the sun set.

 

 

Today has been spent wandering the city centre, trying to organise the ferry to Flores (no one is quite sure whether the big PELNI ships will take our bikes), pick up a local SIM card etc.