Chris & Jamie sailing the seas of Paraty
BRAZIL Trip #2: Carnaval, Ouro Preto, Paraty
My second trip to Brazil was even better than the first. Chris and I planned the trip ourselves, so this time there were no organized tours and hotels chosen by travel agents. I arrived in Rio de Janeiro on February 17th, the first day of Carnaval. My connecting flight in Atlanta was a few hours late, but I made it to Rio by noon. I stayed with my friend Chris, who I met on my last trip, at her apartment in Copacabana for the first four days. During Carnaval, we spent a lot of time walking around the city and going to blocos. Blocos are neighborhood street bands that parade down the street and can attract hordes of people. Usually the bands are performing on top of trucks that slowly travel down the parade route while thousands of people follow filling up the streets dancing behind and in front of them. I picked up a t-shirt from Banda de Ipanema, who has been perfoming at Carnaval in Rio since 1965. I also managed to catch a cold in Rio which stayed with me for about a week.
On the night of the 20th, we went to the Rodoviária (bus station) and took a 6-hour overnight bus ride west to Ouro Preto. The bus station in Rio isn't in the greatest neighborhood, but the bus system in Brazil is amazing. I took several buses on this trip and I found it cheaper, more comfortable and more reliable than any transportation system we have in the USA. We spent two nights at the Luxor Pousada, a beautiful hotel in the historic part of the city. We had an amazing room with a great view. Ouro Preto was beautiful (check out my pics) and was probably my favorite part of the trip. Even though there's not a lot to do there, I had a great time wandering the hilly cobblestone streets and taking pics of the historic buildings and churches. From Ouro Preto, we were able to take a few side trips... to the Minas da Passegem, the biggest gold mine in the world open to visitors, then the small town of Mariana, and then on to the larger city of Belo Horizonte which reminded me very much of a North American city. All of these cities are in the state of Minas Gerais, inland and much less humid than Rio. It was actually a little cool at night.
On the night of the 23rd, we got back on the bus for a 6-hour ride back to Rio followed by a 4-hour bus south to Paraty. It sounds bad, but I actually enjoyed the bus rides. On the bus to Rio we had seats that folded out into beds! From the bus station in Paraty, we had to carry our bags through the streets to the old part of town to the Hotel Coxixo. Why? Because the streets are completely closed off to vehicles... only horse drawn carts and bicycles are allowed. The hotel was very nice (except for the giant cockroach that visited us one morning). It's owned by Maria Della Costa, who was a famous brazilian actress and model many years ago. The hotel has lots of her photos and memorabilia. Paraty is a cool little town with lots of nice shops and restaurants, although I still don't understand their hours... it seems like some shops were only opened for a couple hours in the evening. You can also take schooner rides to many of the nearby islands and beaches. I will remember some of the great food I had there... giant farofa-stuffed shrimps, guava shrimps cooked in cachaça, giant pastels, delicious fruit juices, Açaí and passionfruit caipirinhas.
After three days in Paraty, Chris and I went our separate ways. She caught a bus back home to Rio, and I caught (another overnight) bus south to São Paulo which was the start of my 33-hour (door-to-door) trip back to Santa Monica. I had to go to São Paulo because I used frequent flier miles and I didn't have enough for a free trip home from Rio. But thanks to the miles, it ended up being a very inexpensive trip... only a few hundred dollars for hotels, food, and t-shirts. I can't wait to go back for a third trip!
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