Brazil!
Hello Brazil!! Or perhaps 'Oi' Brazil?
When we first arrived in Rio de Janeiro, (after an epic 36 hour journey with brief stops in Miami and LA which was a bit like watching a bad american sitcom), we hadn´t quite envisioned it to be the way it was. Admittedly we were jet lagged and slept most of the 3 days in the city however it was also very cloudy and rainy which meant that we couldn´t really go and see the big jesus on the hill or chill out on the beach in my newly purchased naughty bikini (nb: a modest outfit compared to the dental floss worn by the majority of the women around here). We then decided to leave Rio until Carnavale time in February and headed for a beautiful Monastery in the middle of a national park called Parque de Caracas up in the mountains 10 hrs inland in a region called Minas Gerias. The monastery is still run by the catholic church who hold regular services every night in a gorgeous 17th century church (also nb: perfect for 2 religious types like us). We spent two nights here eating in a huge banquet room full of locals, hiking and swimming in waterfalls by day and drinking wine whilst watching for wolves by night with the padre.
From here we moved to a small UNESCO world heritage listed hill town, which had been the centre of the brazilian gold rush (apparantly one of the largest). The bus ride was interesting - 75 kms in 3 hours through various beautiful and colourful villages with us reaching Ouro Preto by 7pm. We stayed in a wonderful old mansion full of antiques in the middle of town facing one of the 25 churches looking out over the valley. By night the locals would sing and play instruments in the town square which only got better and better with each Caiprihina (A$1 each here and very strong). Virtually untouched since 1730, the town was full of cobbled streets and hills so steep you fall down them and sweat up them.
After a few days here we caught another bus for some 8 hours (travel is very slow here - the country is just massive) to another Unesco listed hill town called Diamantina. Although similar to Ouro Preto this town is less visited with few or no foreign tourists, same deal with the hills too. By this point the training for Carnavale was fully under way with practise runs every night from 8pm until 11ish. Last night we went for a 6pm beer in the main square and then sat there until 11ish watching amazing drumming and the locals dancing with free abandon. Brazilians seem so full of passion without any pretention. While here we saw an activity which involved 5 local students shaving bits of their head, getting covered in eggs, food dye and paint and then begging money from anyone near them to fund a massive all day drinking session with them and all their friends. This then progressed to tearing each others shirts off and then underwear while still wearing their trousers (similar to a melvin in bill and teds excellent adventure) - all very messy.
From here we are catching a 20 hour bus to Salvador tomorrow, the heart of the brazilian african culture for a few days and then heading off to a few beach areas before returning to Rio on the 3rd for 5 days and the Carnaval (all signs are that this will be unbelieveable and far better than we even imagined - the locals view carnaval a bit like xmas but celebrated in all night parties for a week). We have decided to see the Amazon and Pantanal regions when we are in Peru and Bolivia as the distances are so great and we are bit strapped for time with Carnavale looming.
Tchau tchau until then..........
When we first arrived in Rio de Janeiro, (after an epic 36 hour journey with brief stops in Miami and LA which was a bit like watching a bad american sitcom), we hadn´t quite envisioned it to be the way it was. Admittedly we were jet lagged and slept most of the 3 days in the city however it was also very cloudy and rainy which meant that we couldn´t really go and see the big jesus on the hill or chill out on the beach in my newly purchased naughty bikini (nb: a modest outfit compared to the dental floss worn by the majority of the women around here). We then decided to leave Rio until Carnavale time in February and headed for a beautiful Monastery in the middle of a national park called Parque de Caracas up in the mountains 10 hrs inland in a region called Minas Gerias. The monastery is still run by the catholic church who hold regular services every night in a gorgeous 17th century church (also nb: perfect for 2 religious types like us). We spent two nights here eating in a huge banquet room full of locals, hiking and swimming in waterfalls by day and drinking wine whilst watching for wolves by night with the padre.
From here we moved to a small UNESCO world heritage listed hill town, which had been the centre of the brazilian gold rush (apparantly one of the largest). The bus ride was interesting - 75 kms in 3 hours through various beautiful and colourful villages with us reaching Ouro Preto by 7pm. We stayed in a wonderful old mansion full of antiques in the middle of town facing one of the 25 churches looking out over the valley. By night the locals would sing and play instruments in the town square which only got better and better with each Caiprihina (A$1 each here and very strong). Virtually untouched since 1730, the town was full of cobbled streets and hills so steep you fall down them and sweat up them.
After a few days here we caught another bus for some 8 hours (travel is very slow here - the country is just massive) to another Unesco listed hill town called Diamantina. Although similar to Ouro Preto this town is less visited with few or no foreign tourists, same deal with the hills too. By this point the training for Carnavale was fully under way with practise runs every night from 8pm until 11ish. Last night we went for a 6pm beer in the main square and then sat there until 11ish watching amazing drumming and the locals dancing with free abandon. Brazilians seem so full of passion without any pretention. While here we saw an activity which involved 5 local students shaving bits of their head, getting covered in eggs, food dye and paint and then begging money from anyone near them to fund a massive all day drinking session with them and all their friends. This then progressed to tearing each others shirts off and then underwear while still wearing their trousers (similar to a melvin in bill and teds excellent adventure) - all very messy.
From here we are catching a 20 hour bus to Salvador tomorrow, the heart of the brazilian african culture for a few days and then heading off to a few beach areas before returning to Rio on the 3rd for 5 days and the Carnaval (all signs are that this will be unbelieveable and far better than we even imagined - the locals view carnaval a bit like xmas but celebrated in all night parties for a week). We have decided to see the Amazon and Pantanal regions when we are in Peru and Bolivia as the distances are so great and we are bit strapped for time with Carnavale looming.
Tchau tchau until then..........
posted by W at 3:37 pm
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