Mt Ramelau Road Trip

25 October - 1 December 2013

I went on a sight-seeing tour to Mt Ramelau on the weekend.  This tour was hosted by Shirley from Timor Adventures along with two Timorese drivers.  My fellow touring companions were Alexa (the original organiser) Julianne, Sue, and Chloe.

The road from Dili to Maubisse is the same as to Covalima and Same mentioned in previous weeks when we headed off on Saturday.  We first stopped at the Dare war memorial, which I had been to earlier but this time we managed to watch a video and not eat cake.  It was a moving video about how mainly young Timorese boys (average 13 years) supported the Australian troops in their guerrilla war with the invading Japanese in WWII.  José Ramos Horta said in the video that Australia did not respect Portuguese Timor’s neutrality and invaded the country first thereby making it a target for the Japanese.  This is a view that is obviously not communicated back in Australia.

So we bounced, wended and wound our way to lunch at the Pousada in Maubisse.  The Portuguese knew where to locate important buildings in their colonising of TL - the views from the Pousada are amazing and for this time of year relatively clear.

(The Pousada, view (part) from the Pousada, solar powered street lights at start of Mt Ramelau)

We finally reached the Alcrim guest house in Hatu Builico in the late afternoon, where it was pleasant to watch the changing colours as the sun was setting.  In a previous job, I was responsible for street lighting back in OZ so I was amazed at the number of solar powered street lights in the town and that went all of the way up to the start of the Mt Ramelau walk.  I even tried to learn the ukulele but my chunky fingers struggled and gave up just as dinner was served.

(Hatu Builico, recently upgraded kitchen at the guest house, start of the Mt Ramelau walk)

Hatu Builico is located nearly 2000 metres above sea level so the night was cold!  It made me reminisce with a heavy heart for the cool changes that pass through back home where it is mid 30’s one moment and then 20 something within 20 minutes.

It was a 3:00 am start to reach Mt Ramelau’s peak at the crack of dawn and we drove the few clicks up to the start of the walk.  We could not really mess about as we wanted to reach the summit before dawn.  There was no need for ice axes, crampons and a team of Sherpas for us make the summit but we did have a local guide walking at the front smoking several ciggies to get himself warmed up first thing.  The air is noticeably thinner at that altitude so walking up the stairs felt a little harder than it would normally do, wearing head torches also added to the surreal nature of the ascent.  We made the summit in around two hours later to meet the sunrise.  There has been some debate amongst my BESIK colleagues about Mt Ramelau’s height, I measured the mountain’s height at 2960 metres using the handheld GPS unit (the unit is only accurate to +/- 10 m on the vertical axis and I was not going to carry Differential GPS up there either!).

(sun is starting peek over clouds in the east, looking towards West Timor, radio repeater station/house)

It was quite a surprise to find people living at the top of the mountain to collect money but I guess someone has to do it.  Although it was cloudy, we could see the north and south  East Timor coasts, all the way to Baucau in the east and into West Timor (Indonesia).  I could make out many of the features that I have passed on my work-related road trips to the Covalima and Ainaro districts.  It all looked so close from Mt Ramelau but the roads are so windy and in poor repair that it always takes a long time to get there; as the crow flies, Mt Ramelau is 40 kms away from Dili.

(the summiteers, statue of Mary, on the way back down (definitely not the Victorian Alps)

We managed to stay at the top for about an hour before heading down as it was very cold at the top.  At least we were able to walk down without needing torches and see everything that we could not on the way down.  The weirdest thing about it was that it felt like I was in different parts of Victoria depending on the altitude.  Some parts looked and smelled like the Victoria Alps, then the Grampians, others looked like the Stratbogies etc so much so that I was expecting to see a roo or a koala.  No critters like that to be seen or heard.  Everybody had the wobbly leg syndrome at the bottom, I think one or two us were concerned about the sore legs getting more painful later in the week.  We finally get back to the guesthouse for breakfast at 9:30 am, although my body clock was saying it was mid-afternoon (the price I paid for being up so early on a Sunday!).  

So again, we bounced, wended and wound our way back via the Ecolodge at Lekitek for lunch and tour of the village.  The tour was very interesting as they outlined their culture and ties with the land.  I cannot do their story justice, besides it is theirs to share.  As a way to show our respect before heading home, we "shared blood” through chewing and spitting Betel nut onto a stone located in the middle of the left hand picture below.  Betel nut is enjoyed by most Timorese, particularly women, who through many years of chewing acquire permanently red lips and red-black teeth for their efforts.  I will add Betel nut under the same category as drinking Kava, I am glad I have done it but I will not be doing again in any hurry….

(One of the ceremonial houses in Liketek, some work required on the access for the less mobile in the community, where we shared blood)

The heavens opened when we passed back through Maubisse, where many sections of the road were covered with sheets of water from blocked drains (now that sounds familiar).  We ended up driving slower than normal (if that is possible) as parts of the road were either washed away or minor landslides partially blocking the road.  These conditions continued all of the way to Dili.

(A big puddle on the main road before Maubisse – no lowered Commodores need drive through, flowing creek along the way)

It was a long day, so it was nice hit the hay at the Palació do Santa Cruz for another week of volunteering in TL.