Monday was our last day in Rio and exhausted from the tension of the city we did not do anything other than picking up my contact lenses at the optitions and going for a nice diner. We were very happy to leave it for the inland attractions. They are slightly off the beaten track as foreign tourists seem to rarely venture outside the beach resorts (and probably rightfully so). We went first to Teresopolis (a mountain town with the entrance to the Serra de Orgaos National Park), Petropolis (also a mountain city and former summer residence of the Brazilian monarchy) and then crossed the border to Minas Gerais state to Ouro Preto (a historic town and gold mining capital of colonial Brazil and home to its independence movement). Clearly foreign tourists are rare in these places so all the locals that we met along the way were trying to make sure that we visit all tourist attractions.
The only reason to visit Terespolis is to get to the Serra dos Orgaos. If you have enough time you can hike for 3 days through the park between Terespolis and Petropolis but if not it offers enough decent day hiking too and that’s what we did. We spent the day in the park, the hiking was not too strenuous but picturesque indeed, especially the path called Cartao Postal (postcard trail) where you get the view of the peaks of Serra dos Orgaos. There were only 3 other people hiking in the park that day; French/ Turkish couple that appeared to have been slightly lost (later we met them again in Petropolis) and a solitary hiker from Rio who accompanied us all day and with whom we conversed about Brazil, Rio in particular and the upcoming World Cup and Olympics. Interestingly enough, he told us that the general public in Brazil is not that excited at all about these events because Brazil has other more important needs than hosting the games and the organizers do not seem to invest much in the lasting project but focus on the stadiums only. The town itself does not really offer much but we had a spare afternoon after arrival so we ventured through the streets and ended up in the city museum where the young hostess was determined to walk us through its exhibition dedicated to the history of Carnival and we had to learn about all Terespolis samba schools. She was so excited telling us Carnival stories that clearly it did not matter to her that our understanding of Portuguese was limited and we did not dare to offend her by saying that we could have understood more if we read the explanations. All in all one and a half day in Terespolis was pleasant though not very exciting.
Petropolis bus station is out of town so we had to take a taxi to get to town. The taxi driver again oblivious to our limited understanding of Portuguese spoke all the way about all the places we have to visit and gave us a mini tour of town on the way to the hotel. On the way back the taxi driver was also enquiring to making sure if we have seen all attractions. Clearly another sign of how rare the foreign tourist must be in this town.
Ouro Preto was supposed to be our highlight of this week and the sightseeing in Brazil. The historic town is a UNESCO Word Heritage site. It boasts 17 (I think) Brazilian baroque churches featuring the work of the most acclaimed sculptor of that time Alejandrinho. The churches are indeed splendid and the town itself beautifully set among the mountains peaks around a historic square in the town centre. We were quite unlucky though with the weather though as it has rained almost all the time when we were there so the photos might not necessarily reflect how pretty the town was and it was not allowed to take any photos inside the buildings. We also visited one of the former gold mines, where our guide in addition to giving us the story of the mine and Chico Rei, enslaved African king who bought his and his tribe mates freedom and the mine, explained to us how Brazil is the best place on the planet: ‘Europe is terrorism, mafia and expensive place, Brazil is cheap, happy and has no problems only solutions’. Interesting opinion but how untrue, though one has to praise the guy’s rosy view of life. I guess it’s probably better that way in the country with extreme contrast between rich and poor and violence shaking the favelas!
Teresopolis
The only reason to visit Terespolis is to get to the Serra dos Orgaos. If you have enough time you can hike for 3 days through the park between Terespolis and Petropolis but if not it offers enough decent day hiking too and that’s what we did. We spent the day in the park, the hiking was not too strenuous but picturesque indeed, especially the path called Cartao Postal (postcard trail) where you get the view of the peaks of Serra dos Orgaos. There were only 3 other people hiking in the park that day; French/ Turkish couple that appeared to have been slightly lost (later we met them again in Petropolis) and a solitary hiker from Rio who accompanied us all day and with whom we conversed about Brazil, Rio in particular and the upcoming World Cup and Olympics. Interestingly enough, he told us that the general public in Brazil is not that excited at all about these events because Brazil has other more important needs than hosting the games and the organizers do not seem to invest much in the lasting project but focus on the stadiums only. The town itself does not really offer much but we had a spare afternoon after arrival so we ventured through the streets and ended up in the city museum where the young hostess was determined to walk us through its exhibition dedicated to the history of Carnival and we had to learn about all Terespolis samba schools. She was so excited telling us Carnival stories that clearly it did not matter to her that our understanding of Portuguese was limited and we did not dare to offend her by saying that we could have understood more if we read the explanations. All in all one and a half day in Terespolis was pleasant though not very exciting. Petropolis
Petropolis bus station is out of town so we had to take a taxi to get to town. The taxi driver again oblivious to our limited understanding of Portuguese spoke all the way about all the places we have to visit and gave us a mini tour of town on the way to the hotel. On the way back the taxi driver was also enquiring to making sure if we have seen all attractions. Clearly another sign of how rare the foreign tourist must be in this town. The major claim to fame of this town is a former summer residence of Brazilian kings that now hosts the museum with the royal family memorabilia. Interesting enough to visit and there is even information in English! The royals seemed to have spent all their lives posing for portraits as whole museum is filled with their paintings. The streets of Petropolis in the centre of town are full of period houses one of which is now summer retreat house for the Brazilian president. Even though Petropolis is mostly famous for the royalty, it also has the restored house of Santos Dumont, the inventor of the aircraft with the engine but also a guy who popularized the wrist watch and creator of the first hot water shower in Brazil (thank you Santos). He was very interesting character and the city has restored his residence; a small quirky house on the rock entirely designed by him, including the peculiar staircase that requires you to walk in the right / left foot order! We also stayed there in the very nice pousada (inn) that was dedicated to his life and inventions, not cheap but probably the best place we have stayed in Brazil.
Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto was supposed to be our highlight of this week and the sightseeing in Brazil. The historic town is a UNESCO Word Heritage site. It boasts 17 (I think) Brazilian baroque churches featuring the work of the most acclaimed sculptor of that time Alejandrinho. The churches are indeed splendid and the town itself beautifully set among the mountains peaks around a historic square in the town centre. We were quite unlucky though with the weather though as it has rained almost all the time when we were there so the photos might not necessarily reflect how pretty the town was and it was not allowed to take any photos inside the buildings. We also visited one of the former gold mines, where our guide in addition to giving us the story of the mine and Chico Rei, enslaved African king who bought his and his tribe mates freedom and the mine, explained to us how Brazil is the best place on the planet: ‘Europe is terrorism, mafia and expensive place, Brazil is cheap, happy and has no problems only solutions’. Interesting opinion but how untrue, though one has to praise the guy’s rosy view of life. I guess it’s probably better that way in the country with extreme contrast between rich and poor and violence shaking the favelas! With that preaching in mind on Sunday afternoon we left Ouro Preto to Belo Horizonte, its third or fourth largest city. Maybe here we’ll see the Brazil with no problems just solutions that we could not see in Rio.
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