Day 7: Tiradentes to Sao João del Rei

We were sad to leave pretty Tiradentes but looking forward to hitting the road again and most of all, meeting our next Couchsurfing host and friend, Jonas. We had contacted him a couple of days before leaving Rio and he had called us immediately to let us know that we were very welcome at his place and we had stayed in contact since then. We had read up on Sao Joao del Rei, its rich history, many churches and historic buildings and it seemed very promising to stay one day at a place like this, hosted by Jonas and his family.

We arrived at Jonas office - he is a dentist - around noon. We left the bikes and bags there and went to his home in his father´s amazingly shiny and super wellkept VW beetle - I have never seen as many old but wellkept beetles (´fuscas´) as in Brazil and had fallen for. Finally I go to ride in one of them - and it even had a badge with a German flag on the rear window - ´que delicia´! When we arrived at Jonas´ house it was a joy to meet his lovely parents - they welcomed us with open arms and typical mineiran food. It was Flavio´s first couchsurfing experience and he had been a bit sceptical - but after meeting Jonas and his family and indulging in what turned out to be the best food on the whole Estrada Real - I could see that he had been convinced :-)

Unfortunately Jonas had to work in the afternoon (in a couple of days he wouldleave for his first long backpacking tour through Europe, so of course he was especially busy) and we went to explore the city.

Day 6: A day off in Tiradentes

Day 5: Lagoa Dourada to Tiradentes

After a big but very sweet breakfast (different cookies, cakes, sweet coffee) prepared by the equally sweet Dona Aidé we took off in the direction she had showed us. But we didn´t get very far - after about 15m Flavio stopped to get all his sweaers, jackets, gloves and everything else he could find to protect him against the cold out of our big backpack. He was convinced that he was going to die or a least lose his nose or ear or other vital parts of his body. I tried to assure him that as far I knew nobody had ever died from cold at 12°C, but he wouldn´t listen. So with Flavio still cursing and complaining and swearing that he´d never come to visit me in Germany in winter we finally set off in direction of Tiradentes.

A couple of km after Lagoa Dourada we saw the first signpost and left the main rain. The ´Estrada Real´ at this point turned out to be a overgrown singletrack going down a steep mountain. A local who was just coming back from his morning run let us know that it would get ´muito peor´, much worse. Very promising. And indeed, it did. Just like Dona Aidé had told us the night before it had rained a lot during the last months and the ground was muddy and slippery. The puddles made it hard to follow the track and eventually we lost it alltogether. We guessed the direction we had to go - and had to cross a little creek in order to reach it. The water was cold but we decided to take off our shoes and wade through it - the water was much too high for cycling. when we reached the other site I sat down to clean my feet but Flavio who had put on his socks and shoes in about 1 second let me know that this was not a ´salao de beleza´ and no time for pedicure. I have never seen him that impatient and grumpy - the cold weather definately had a strong impact on my spoiled carioca.

Thank God the sun came out around 9-10am and with the temperatures rising Flavio´s mood improved, too. By the way we reached colorful Prados he was already back to normal. Prados is Minas Gerais´ carving capital, it seems! The main street is lined with shops and studios manufacturing and selling all kinds of wood carvings and craftsworks. We were really lucky that we didn´t crash into a car or fall off our bikes as we were constantly turning heads to see the life-size carved jaguar, colorful namoradeiras or wooden bananas which just looked too goo to be true! You could spend days in Prados just strolling the main street and visiting the crafts shops. I especially enjoyed that most workshops are open so you could see how the work is done, the various states of development and how the beautiful pieces come together step by step. Amazing!

We found a simple but very good ´lunchonete´ where we had a typical mineiran lunch: all you can eat directly from the iron pots on the wood stove - wow! As usually we attracted curiosity and the owner of the place joined us for lunch to chat about our adventure, the Estrada Real and of course about Prados and its treasures. He came from a little village nearby, famous for its weavings. He told us that there was nearly no unemployment in the region and the economy was going really well. He also told us that on the weekends many Paulistas and Cariocas would come to Prados, buy weavings and woordworks and sell them for the double price in their shops. He himsef was a carver, too, and had just sold a life-size carved ´slave´ for about $R 12.000. Oh yes, I haven´t mentioned those ´slaves´ yet: life-sized carved servants in traditional colonial clothing that are usually holding a tray - a beautifull piece of art of furniture, especially popular in restaurants and hotels.

After the hearty lunch and interesting conversation we set off in direction of Bichinho (´little animal´). There was a lot of road work going on on the way - it seems that Prados is doing so well it will get its own paved road all the way to Tiradents! Houses are well kept, colorful, creative architecture and even the gardens are in great shape - very uncommon for Brazil, from what I´ve seen so far. In some places Prados looks even Swiss or German, so tidy and well kept :-)

The way to Bichinhos is very easy to find -just follow the street signs. There is no way to miss it. Bichinhos is much smaller than Prados but equally charming and also famous for its art works. We saw lots of wood works, carvings, paintings, but also some metal works and weavings. Cute pousadas, cafés and restaurant make it a sweet and lively place. Being very close to Tiradents, on weekends it must get pretty busy here!

We stopped at the sweet little corner store that served as shop, coffee place, ´salao de beleza´ and general trading place of goods and news. We bought some fruits and ´doce de caju´, cashew nut sweets and were surprised to find the lowest prices for fruits since leaving Rio de Janeiro! We had to tell our story, where we came from, where we were going to, how we survived the mountains and got a lot of respect from all sides. When we finally left we could still hear them say ´Que corajem!´ - how corageous! :-)

From Bichinhos to Tiradents we didn´t have to face many climbs - but a lot of cobble stone! After a certain time your ´bunda´will go numb and according to Flavio the unwanted massage will blow your cellulite away ;-) So we arrived in Tiradentes, shaken, not stirred and started looking for a pousada. Even though it was low season it was hard to find a pousada under R$70 for the two of us. We found one that allegedly only charged R$35 per night and breakfast included - but per person, as we found out on the next day. Anyhow, the room was ok and had a big balcony where we could leave our dirty shoes and tent and stuff. We sent our clothes to be washed and took off to explore the historic heart of Minas Gerais!

Day 4: Entre Rios to Lagoa Dourada

Intimidated by the moto-crossers and their sotries we hit the road very early that day to have more time to get lost and still make it to Lagoa Dourada. A guy from the gas station and some truckers gave us some last advises and following the map of the moto-crossers we set off in direction to São João del Rei.

Surprise, surprise - when following the drawing we turned left - there was a signpost of the Estrada Real! My theory that at 80km/h and covered in a cloud of dusts it is hard to see an earth-coloured signpost seemed to make sense. A second singpost followed, a third one...
Without getting lost we made it to Casa Grande.

About half an hour from Casa Grande we stopped to let some trucks pass and eat some fruit (you better hide and let them pass if you don´t feel like swallowing a bucket full of Brazilian dust!). An old man who had bought some cookies in the next village and was on his way home stopped to chat with us. He asked where we are from and said that Rio must be really ´lindo´, he had seen it on tv. He had never been there and would love to see the beaches but crime and violence scared him. Flavio who still believes that Rio is not more dangerous than any other place asked him if there was no crime in Minas. Oh yes, there is, the old man said, in Casa Grande there is! Three years ago they stole a truck full of corn and sold it in São Paulo. They left the truck and escaped. And have never been found. And it was a really pretty truck, he added, ´muito lindo´... Unfortunately we changed the subject and I never got to ask Flavio if the theft of a corn truck could keep up with the drug wars in Rio to sustain his theory.

The only thing ´grande´ about Casa Grande is its name. It has a main road, a post office, a school, a corner storne... and a restaurant. The restaurant has rice, beans and meat - or for those really strange people who refuse to eat meat, eggs ;-) We were really hungry so we didn´t really care. And the homemade sweets definately made up for the simple menu. Nott o forget the great company! A sweet old man joined us for dinner. He told us that he was 75 years old and widower. He told this a couple of times and everytime he raised his hat to show us his full hair. It seemed that he hasn´t lost a single hair since his twenties - must be the fresh air in Casa Grande or the homemade sweets! I would have loved to chat with him some more, especially since he called me ´muito linda´, but unfortunately he hasn´t had as much luck with his teeth as with his hair (this supports the sweets theory) and it was impossible to understand more than his age and his being a widower.

Without getting lost, not even once, we made it to Lagoa Dourada. We were lucky to find a nice and cheap pousada - the ´Pousada dos Vertentes´, located in a 250 old mansion right across the church. It is run my lovely Dona Aidé and her family. The price of R$25 for the two of us included a great (but very sweet!) breakfast and Dona Aidé did everything to make us feel at home. She was one of the few people we met who knew exactly were the Estrada Real was, how to find the signposts and were we would have to expect some ´subidas´ or ´descidas´.

Lagoa Dourada is famous for its ´rocambole´, a biscuit roll with different fillings - chocolate, caramel, nuts.... We had read about it in our guide book and it is hard to miss it - every second building houses a bakery serving rocambole. Some of them even roll them fresh for you! We tried about 3 different fillings - all of them delicious! Unfortunately eating rocambole is the only thing you can do in Lagoa Dourada so after stuffing ourselves with rocambole we went back to our pousada, watched tv with our lovely hosts and went to bed pretty early.

Day 3: Congonhas to Entre Rios de Minas

When we got up in the morning and looked out of the window - we could barely see the next buildings. It was grey and foggy... just like the day before. Not very motivating! So we decided to enjoy the great breakfast at the ´Hotel dos Profetas´ (http://www.hoteldosprofetas.com.br/) and walk up to the Basílica do Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos at the top of the Morro Maranhão and greet the twelve prophets.

The twelve prophets can´t be found in heaven - but pretty close. A steep cobble stone street leads up to the Basilica and six chapels making up the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, a World Heritage site. When we arrived it was still very greay and foggy. We started visiting the six chapels, each one showing a scene from the Passion of Christ - containing more than 60 life-size figures carved in wood by the legendary Aleijadinho, the ´little cripple´ from Ouro Preto. When you look into the chapels via the small windows of the doors the scenes seem to come alive - its incredible! The mean faces of the Roman soldiers, the suffering of the two criminals who were to be cruzified with Jesus, ... it seems that Aleijadinho gave a special personality to every single carved figure. In a time when few people could read and write and mass was still dominated by Latin, these tableaux must have been a great revelation for the population!

The twelve prophets carved in stone and surrounding the Basilica are equally amazing. By the way we climbed up there the fog was clearing up and we got some very mystic shots of the prophets looking down on the city, still some clouds of fog hanging between the huge palm trees of the Sanctuary. We also visited the Basilica itself, where tiny but very loud little bird was singing from the side altar and adding to the magic of the place.

Flavio asked some little boys for the way to Alto Marnhão, our next stop, and they told us the way started right behind the Basilica! What a pity we had left our stuff in the hotel! We had to walk down the steep cobble down street, get our stuff, and climb again...

It was easy to find the way to Alto Maranhão and the dirt road was wide and level... it could have been perfect if not for Flavio´s pedal! It was moving in all kinds of directions and finally fell off! We had all kinds of screw drivers and wenches with us - apart from the one for the pedal. So we pushed the bikes all the way to Alto Maranhão and Flavio asked some kids if they new someone who could fix a bike. They pointed across the road - and we saw a garden full of bikes and bike parts. We couldn´t have been luckier! In a couple of minutes our new guardian angel had found the right wench, helped Flavio to fix the pedal and explained us the way to Pequeri, next village on the Estrada Real.

The way to Pequeri was one of the most beautiful ones - it is pretty level and goes through woods and fields... By now the fog had made way for a warm and sunny day and I saw this huge green snake taking a sun-bath in the middle of the road! I told Flavio but he didn´t share my joy, he just kicked the newly adjusted pedal a bit harder!

A few km from Pequeri we filled our water bottles at a little farm. The water tasted good and the people living on the farm said it was ok... so once again we decided against using our water purifying tablets ;-)

Pequeri is a charming little village on the top of a hill. There are a few bars and lanchonetes but we decided to keep going as it looked a bit like it was going to rain... After Pequeri the Estrada Real becomes an overgrown single track, very hard to cycle. Thank God we met a local collecting firewood (many people in rural Minas still use woodstoves) and he showed us how to get to our next stop, São Bras, on a better trail. On this trail we met some more locals... got some more advise... and ended up taking the tarmac to São Bras and from there to Entre Rios de Minas.

São Bras is a lively village or little city, a good place to stop for lunch or even for the night. We had ´bolo de cenoura´ (carrot cake), ´bolo de aipim´ (manioca cake) and coffee and got the great advise to stay in the ´dormitorio´ of the gas station in Entre Rios - one of the best and cheapest places we stayed on our trip! Anyhow, before eating more bolo and getting a good rest in Entre Rios we had to pedal some 17km more. São Bras is 17km from Entre Rios - this seems to be very important for the locals because everybody we asked for the way ended his explanations with ´Entre Rios is 17km from here´.

On the tarmac the 17km passed pretty fast - even though very stressfull, too. A couple of times the huge busses and trucks made us jump into the brushwood next to the road. The cars usually were much more friendlier - hooting, waving, giving the thumbs up - sometimes it got so much we felt like Tour de France winners ;-)

The ´dormitorio´ in Entre Rios turned out to be perfect - cheap, (R$15 p.p. breakfast included), save and clean. After a good shower and great mineiro dinner we set off to find more information on the next lap. Many people we´ve met on the way had told us that there was no way we would find to Lagoa Dourada via the trails of the Estrada Real - we would have to take the tarmac. They said that the signposts were very scarce or missing altogether... Flavio already suggested taking a bus and I was getting annoyed by him giving up so easily. Thank God a couple of km from Entre Rios we had met a guy who said he had a friend who likes to cycle and would be able to give us some advise. We would meet them in a bar later on...

On the way to the bar we saw three guys in full motor-cross outfit. All of them a bit on the ´horizontaly challenged´ side and with beer cans in their hands. Flavio decided that if anyone knew the trails then it would be these guys. I don´t have to mention that they loved the attention and in their narrative let the trails of Minas sound like a path through the Congolese jungle Indiana Jones would think twice before doing ;-) They told us that there were no signposts whatsoever and because of that they drew a map for us. It took hours, we never got to meet the bike guy and went home with a piece of art drawn by a primed but goodhearted motor-crosser.

Day 2: Chapada to Congonhas

When we looked out of the tent the sight was all but motivating - it was drissling slightly and the fog was so thick we couldn´t see the mountains on the other side of the valley. We packed our stuff together, trying not to get it too wet and started into the direction of Chapada. Having reached a kind of plateau the wind was so strong that it cought our bagpacks like a sail and pushed us forward. So more or less sailing we arrived in Chapada. The information on the first signpost told us that the area between Lavras Novas and Chapada had been much more arboreous in the past and had served as a place to hide for escaped slaves.

In Chapada we found a well with fresh water and filled up our water bottles and refreshed a bit. We had brought water cleaning tablets but being told by locals that the water was perfectly fine to drink we relied on them - and didn´t experience any unusual bowel movement :-)

Before leaving tiny but charming Chapada, a colonial village build around a simple church, we had breakfast and planned the next leg. We would leave Chapada in the direction of Itatiaia and Ouro Branco. In Ouro Branco we would leave the Caminho Novo and take the BR to Congonhas where, hopefully, we would find a camping ground.

Day 1: Ouro Preto to Chapada

Finally the day had come to start our big adventure! Thanks to the book on only book on the Estrada Real we had found in a library in Ouro Preto, we knew where we would find the first signpost.

From the Pousada dos Bandeirantes we left the city in direction of the Morro do Cruzeiro / campus of the UFOP. The ascent is pretty steep and neither being used to the weight of the baggage on the carrier rack nor the cobble stone streets, we ended up pushing the bikes for a bit. Passing the campus of the UFOP we followed in the direction of the hospital, Santa Casa. Right across the street is the entrance of the National Park of Itacolomi - and the first pilar of the Estrada Real! So now we where officially on the right track :-)

In the National Park we had to pay an entrance fee of R$1 and received further information. Even though we would follow the Caminho Velho, we decided to cycle the first day on the Camino Novo to spend more time in the National Park and then cross over to the Caminho Velho from Ouro Branco. A bit confused by all this we followed a signpost for the Caminho Velho. After a couple of km I somehow remembered this - we went back - but it turned out that we where right. The similar thing happened about 7km later. We followed the signpost of the Estrada Real keeping in mind some instructions of the park staff. They had told us about a big lake, so when after 3-4km after the signpost we neither found a lake nor another post, Flavio convinced me to go back. Once again it turned out that we were right. By now we had made about 10km extra. The Estrada Real inside the park is a wide dirt road winding up and down the typical waves of the Mineiro landscape.

From Ouro Preto to Paraty - the signpost of the Estrada Real show you where you are, the distance to the last and next point of reference, the altitude and some extra information on the region.


About 7km from the last signpost we finally arrived at the lake. Here we met a couple of hippies who were also traveling by bike. The guy, a mid 20-ish Argentinian was typing on his huge typewriter (!) when we arrived. They said they where on the way to Rio but had come from the direction we where going - as Flavio said, they seemed to live ´halfway to the moon´. We asked them about the way to Lavras Novas - 4km further up, as the signposts indicated. The Argentinian warned us that the road was very sandy - but somehow forgot to mention the steep ascend and the rocky road. Even on foot the ascent was pretty steep and there was no way to cycle up the rocks, especially with all our baggage, so once again we pushed our bikes. The odometer showed a frustrating 25km and our aim of making at least 60km per day seemed far away. Finally we made it to the charming little village of Lavras Nova. On the top of a hill it offers great views over the national park - and even better, the best food we found in Minas! At the ´Serro do Luar´ you can eat as much as you want for just R$9! The iron pots are simmering on the woodstove and you have to walk into the kitchen to get your food right from the pots! Perfect! We filled up our water bottles, bought some fruit and nuts in the small but amazingly well-stocked corner shop and left Lavras Novas in the direction of Chapada...

Leaving Lavras Novas we discovered the by know familiar signpost of the Estrada Real on the right and turned in the small trail. Once again we had to push our bikes on rocks and sandy paths. Being prepared to cycle but not to push the heavy bike I was really tired and my arms and shoulders started to hurt. When we found a place surrounded by big rocks, about halfway between Lavras Novas and Chapada, we decided to set up the tent and stay for the night. The rocks protected our small tent against the wind - but nothing protected us against the mosquitos! They were tiny, much, much smaller than in Rio, but much more ferocious, too! Only on the next days we should discover how lasting their bites where. So we descided to stay inside our tent and after playing a round of Shithead we went to sleep.