14 - One Long Bus-Ride Too Many (Ouro Preto)

Caravelas to Ouro Prêto, BRAZIL - 03 october 2002

I paid for the night. These people were simply too nice to take advantage of.

At breakfast, I met Tony from England. He was heading off today too. I mentioned I was going to Ouro Prêto, which meant I had to go to Belo Horizonte. Since the only bus to BH left at 9pm from Teixeira de Freitas, I had the whole day to wait here.

He suggested going to Vitória which was perhaps 3 hours away and there might be buses to BH. He himself was heading to Rio from there. Vitória is the capital of the next state Espírito Santo and he figured we could spend the afternoon wandering around the city for a while, see something different, before catching the night-buses. Hmmm… that sounded like a great idea. So, we left together for Teixeira de Freitas on the morning bus.

The ride to Vitória was not 3 hours. The ticket guy told us 6 hours. But it actually took 8 hours. We arrived after 8pm. There was no chance whatsoever to wander around town.

After all the small towns I had been to, where after a short drive through some dusty buildings, a quick turn and we were in the Rodoviária, here in Vitória, being a huge city, it took about 1 hour of driving through traffic before we finally pulled up at the Rodoviária. Gosh. Another long tiring day on the bus.

To my surprise, there was a bus straight to Ouro Prêto and it was leaving in 45 minutes’ time. Excellent timing, I thought.


Ouro Prêto, BRAZIL - 04 october 2002

OK, I was feeling a little sick and tired of all the long bus-rides. But such is the size of Brazil. The interesting places are spread out way too far. I had limited myself to Salvador as the northernmost city I would go because I wanted to be back in Rio de Janeiro in three weeks. Loads of people had sung praises about the places further north like Natal, Fortaleza, Jericoacoara. But I knew it would be very expensive and time-consuming to head up there and back in three weeks.

After the coastal towns, I made a token stop in a colonial-flavoured town in the interior of Brazil, with a gold-mining history. Ouro Prêto is set in the cool mountains. The Rodoviária was at the top of a hill and walking down, I was accosted with a superb view of lovely red-roofed colonial houses on undulating streets, pretty mountain scenery and rising clouds.

It was 5am, very early. A guy who was opening up his shop greeted me. He immediately followed me, suggesting this hotel and that. While I was polite, I was a little wary of such offers, as I heard that they earned commissions from bringing guests to certain hotels and the commissions came from me as I would be charged a higher price for the room.

I declined politely but he was all smiley and insistent. The first hotel he shouted up to replied that it was full. I told him I was heading to the Youth Hostel. He needed not to tag along as I knew the way.

He was not easy to dissuade. He followed me to the hostel and rang the bell, woke up the guy and only left when he got me settled in the room. He even introduced himself and shook my hand. Gosh, he could not have earned any commissions as the room prices were stated clearly on the wall. So, he simply wanted to get me settled in a place. Now, that was really sweet of him. I was really very touched by all the wonderful Brazilians who had treated me with so much kindness and hospitality.

I was the only one in the Youth Hostel. When I woke up at 10am, I saw a huge spread of breakfast waiting for me. They had prepared three flasks - one for coffee, one for milk, one hot water for tea - and a huge jug of orange juice. I know it was their job but I felt rather bad they went through all the trouble just for me.


Ouro Prêto, BRAZIL - 05 october 2002

Ouro Prêto is quite a touristy town. But so so so pretty. At first glance, it reminded me of Taxco in Mexico, with the steep cobble-stoned roads, the charmingly-restored colonial houses, the churches standing at the top of the hills in the distant. Most shops around the main square sold tourist souvenirs.

My room faced one of the most beautiful churches in Ouro Prêto, no less - Igreja de São Francisco de Assis and overlooked the downhill part of town. Gorgeous, enchanting view everywhere.

A soapstone market was right next to my hostel too. There is a soapstone quarry nearby, hence the souvenirs. They were heavy but were different from those kitsch, colourful, useless souvenirs I had seen in Salvador and around here. I loved them. I bought a few items. Yes, they were heavy and fragile. I would have to post them home once I get to Rio.

I visited a gold mine, Minas de Passagem, a section of which was now opened to tourists. To get down, we had to sit in a rickety trolley-car that plunged down deep into the tunnels. The guide earnestly gave me a tour in Portuguese. I was the only tourist with him. He rattled on and on about how gold mining was done. I actually understood him a little and even managed a question or two in my ‘Spanguese’. There was an eerie blue subterranean lake in the mine. No swimming or drinking allowed though, due to the minerals in the water.


Ouro Prêto to Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL - 06 october 2002

Today was Brazil’s Election Day. As it was also a Sunday, apart from the tourists shops, almost all the other shops and restaurants were closed. I wandered around town and actually came upon the office where the election was being carried out. It was not busy, though.

Ouro Prêto is not very big, but hilly. Walking around required quite a bit of effort but the views offered were usually impressive. I had almost covered every street on the LP map by afternoon.

For want of somewhere else to go, I took a local bus to Mariana, a town 12km away. It took me 35 minutes to get there. It was even more dead than Ouro Prêto. As it was not set up for tourists, absolutely nothing was open. The election fever there was more apparent here. Tiny campaign papers, printed with the numbers the politicians wanted them to punch in, were strewn all over the ground. Sweepers were busy today. It took me 20 minutes to decide this was a really boring town. But the bus back to Ouro Prêto came only after a 30-minute wait.

Yet another night-bus to Rio de Janeiro. It was almost three weeks already. I hope I sleep well tonight. I also hope I get my Bolivian visa.