Aileu | Ainaro | Atauro Island | Baucau | Bobonaro | Covalima | Dili | Ermera | Lautém | Liquiçá | Manatuto | Manufahi | Oecusse | Viqueque
Why visit?
One of two landlocked municipalities (along with Aileu), Ermera is best known as one of the major coffee growing centres of Timor-Leste (along with Ainaro). During the harvest season between May and September is a popular time to visit plantations to see coffee beans being picked and processed. Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roaster is probably the best known. Ermera is also home to some spectacular scenery and on a clear day views of Mt Ramelau / Tatamailau, along with the Bandeira waterfall, the highest in Timor-Leste. Outside of Dili, Ermera is the most densely populated area of Timor-Leste, with villages and hamlets scattered around the many hills.
Top three experiences
- Visiting Gleno’s beautiful Catholic Church
- Enjoying the mountain scenery and cooler climate of Letefoho and Atsabe
- Visiting a coffee plantation during harvest season (May to September)
Top places to stay
- Guest House Basarema, Atsabe (+670 7729 8226)
- Gomes Community Farm Guest House, Railaco (+61 468 386 546)
Top places to eat and drink
- Alkemis Kafetaria, Gleno (+670 7770 7262)
Sights
Gleno – The capital of Ermera, and by far the easiest place to get to in the municipality, Gleno is a relatively bustling town of 9,000 people. Lying nearly 900m above sea level the climate is quite different to Dili, cooler and wetter. The main markets are held every Thursday. The most impressive sight is the huge Igreja Nossa Senhora Da Graca Gleno, built sometime after 2016, which inside feels as large as Dili’s Cathedral. Just down the road is the much smaller and in need of repair Igreja Protestante Gleno, which has a traditional Timorese roof at the front. Gleno Stadium is colourful, and there are a number of murals to Timorese independence heroes on one of the walls.
Railaco – An attractively located village on the main road from Dili to Ermera, Railaco is home to the well regarded Gecko Kafe, coffee producer Timor Global, and Gomes Community Farm Stay (+61 468 386 546). The later can help organise walks of varying difficulty in the hills behind the village, with views of Mt Ramelau on a clear day, as well as to sacred / cultural sites.
Letefoho – One of the most scenically located villages in the country, with great views of Mt Ramelau / Tatamailau and the surrounding landscape on a clear day. It is home to an interesting church, with an unusual clasped hands steeple. Further up the hillside behind the village, along a 4WD road is Statua Cristu Liu Ray. This is a huge statue of Jesus standing on top of a fork tongued serpent, whose tail forms the steps to the summit. In 19 July 2019, the Catholics of Letefoho, along with Father Domingos of Bekora Parish Church, initiated its construction. As you climb the steps on the back of the serpent you are meant to look ahead and leave your bad thoughts behind, and return down the other side of the hill.
Atsabe – Another beautifully situated town, with huge mountain views, and a pleasantly cool and refreshing climate. Atsabe and Letefoho are known for being particularly religious (in an already very religious country), illustrated by the sizeable new church, a Virgin Mary cave shrine, and large statue of a kneeling worshipper in front of the church. Atsabe Mercado has particularly good views of the surrounding landscape.
Tiarlelo – 20 minutes drive west from Atsabe along a rough road, this village is well off the tourist trail but is one of the most beautiful that the author has visited in Timor-Leste. They grow rice and coffee, and enjoy magnificent views. There is a church at the top of the village, next to a sizeable cemetery.
Bandeira waterfall – Between Letefoho and Atsabe is the highest waterfall in Timor-Leste, with a fall of around 200m. It forms part of a minor tributary of the Loes River, the largest river system in the country. It is particularly impressive in the wet season, though the roads to reach it may be impassable then… Allow at least an hour to walk to the base and return from the main road, with decent footwear recommended plus a local guide as the way isn’t obvious
Hiking
The first day of the epic Timor-Leste Coast2Coast hike out of Dili winds through the Ermera hills, from close to Fatisi to Seloi, with Aileu visible on the other side of the valley. The 2,369m high Mt Maubo lies on the border between Ermera and Ainaro. It is topped with a huge concrete cross and on a clear day offers excellent views of Mt Ramelau / Tatamailau.
The summit of Mt Ramelau / Tatamailau is actually in Ermera, but is almost always approach from Ainaro.
A couple of tour operators (Eco Discovery and Mad Dog Adventures) run multi-day hiking trips through Ermera.
Getting there
Gleno is a reasonably smooth, if a winding, 90 minute drive from Dili. Beyond Gleno the roads are uniformly awful, some of the worst in the country. Despite being less than 100km to travel, driving to Atsabe from Dili will take close to 5 bumpy hours. The road is generally narrow, steep, and unsealed, if rather scenic with coffee planted everywhere. Local buses leave Tasi Tolu bus station in west Dili, and are plentiful to Gleno, with fewer venturing beyond.
Getting around
The roads in Ermera are notoriously bad, requiring 4WD vehicles to progress much further than Gleno. On paper travelling through Ermera should be the shortest way to get to Maliana, but the coastal road is far quicker. Travel in the wet season can be challenging beyond Gleno.