February 20, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I did not sleep well last night. Perhaps a new hotel and the fact that it was a bit run down gave me a queasy feeling and kept me from sleeping. I woke up at 7 AM and finished breakfast by 8:15 AM. I saw regular folks (families) etc. at the breakfast table indicating that the hotel was not all that bad despite its appearance and weird insistence on paying before you stay! I paid up for one more night´s stay (R$45 - US$27) and headed to the Rodoviaria 10 minutes away. The place around my hotel was far more livelier now than it was last night.
The 8:30 AM bus to Ouro Preto had just departed and the next bus was at 9:30 AM. As there was no other bus company running a bus to Ouro Preto before 9:30 AM, I booked a ticket on the 9:30 AM bus to Ouro Preto and a return ticket from Ouro Preto to Belo Horizonte on the 6:30 PM bus as my guidebook had warned that return buses get full rather quickly. The round trip cost me R$36 (US$22).
I went to the Post office to buy some stamps for the cards I had to mail. WINDOWS 98 systems were being used and they were constantly freezing up! I finally managed to get the stamps and headed to the tourist office at the Rodoviaria and obtained a decent map of Ouro Preto.
I headed to the platform from where the bus was scheduled to depart. I saw guards all around. Security like this does make one feel safe despite warnings from locals. The bus pulls up to the platform at 9:25 AM. It is an executive style bus, with air-conditioning and reclining seats.
Belo Horizonte sits in a valley. As the bus headed towards Ouro Preto I could see lush green hills all around. We headed south towards RIO. The bus stopped occasionally to pick up folks. Due to the lack of sleep the previous night, I dozed off and woke up as we reached the Ouro Preto Rodoviaria at 11:15 AM (a tad earlier than the projected 2 hours of travel time).
February 20, 2008 - Ouro Preto, Brasil
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I walk out of the bus station and head to Igreja Paula. It is closed. An elderly gentlemen explains the lay of the land and points out the different churches and tells me that Igreja Paula would open at 1:30 PM. I thank him and take the steep cobble stone street to Igreja Rosario. It is closed as well. I take pictures of the exterior.
Ouro Preto is a UNESCO World Heritage site. While there are times where certain specific edifices are declared World heritage Sites by the UNESCO, in the case of Ouro Preto, the entire city has been declared a World heritage site. All streets in Ouro Preto appear to be cobble stoned and the houses are painted in bright colours.
I walk around a bit and after getting some directions from a policeman, I hit a Vegetarian restaurant (ADEGA). I am quite upset with my guidebook when it comes to vegetarian restaurants. Most of these folks think that a restaurant having a salad bar qualifies as an "Excellent" vegetarian restaurant and they recommend it "very highly". This place (ADEGA) had more meat dishes than vegetarian choices! I should become a writer and recommender of Vegetarian restaurants - after all, it takes a committed vegetarian to know what is a "Highly recommended" vegetarian restaurant and what is most definitely NOT! I made what I could of the lunch buffet.
I walked more of the cobble stone streets until I hit the centre of Ouro Preto and Praca Tiradentes. I ask the local tourist office for directions and a better map. I snap a few pictures of the Praca and Museo Inconfidencia. The single greatest artist associated with Ouro Preto and the adjacent town of Congonhas de Campo (which I plan to visit as well) was Antonio Francisco Lisboa - more commonly known as Alejadinho.
I visit Igreja Carmo next. No photography permitted. I accept and honour it. (Not so with many tourists - Left onto me, I would delete the entire memory card - just for disobeying!). Igreja Carmo is a very Impressive church.
I head next to San Francisco de Assis which contained an extraordinary ceiling painting (like the one done at the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo) that took 10 years of effort and was done by Athaide. The church also contained more of Alejadinho´s work. I headed next to Museo de Alejadinho. It was a long steep walk down and back up again on cobble stoned streets. It was HOT. The museum was not that spectacular.
However all this walking gave me opportunities to view Ouro Preto and appreciate its beauty from different places. Ouro Preto is also situated in a valley. With the exception of the Praca Tiradentes, all the streets either go up or down and all of them are cobblestoned. Quite extraordinary. Gold riches (no doubt plundered from some local tribe or area) has been used extensively to decorate many of these churches. The former name of Ouro Preto was Villa Rica.
I walk a long way to reach Igreja Pilar. I stop at a famous pastry shop (Beijinho doce) to "sample" stuff. Pretty good indeed. The weather has been glorious so far. All of the churches ban Photography outright. Carrying my tripod appears to have been a waste thus far. I reach Igreja Pilar and pay the R$4 entry fee. This is singularly the best Church thus far. However, Igreja San Francisco still has the best ceiling painting. One can belong to another faith or even be an atheist, but workmanship like this needs to be appreciated.
I walk to the train station. The last train to Marianna has left. I take a few pictures of the train station and take a different route to reach Praca Tiradentes. I get more excellent views of Ouro Preto during this walk. I visit the Teatro Municipal and pay the R$2 entry fee. I am finally allowed to take pictures and use my tripod! Teatro Municipal at Ouro Preto is the oldest theatre (1776) still having performances. The sound and lighting systems were being tested during the time I visited the theatre.
After I finished my visit, I headed out. There was a very light drizzle. I reached the governor´s palace at Praca Tiradentes and took a few pictures of the Praca. I walked to the Rodoviaria and am there by 5:50 PM. I am, however, not allowed to board the 6 PM bus as I have a "reservation" for the 6:30 PM bus. Advance booking happens to have put me at a clear disadvantage here!
I managed to kill 25 minutes and board the 6:30 PM bus. I observe that it is a full moon night. With some advance planning, I could have spent the night at Ouro Preto and taken pictures of these wonderful city by the full moon light. Oh well! I doze during the ride back. We reach Belo Horizonte around 8:30 PM.
February 20, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I head to the hotel, have a wash (they actually changed sheets - I know I am being a bit nasty here. But if you saw the hotel, you would come to the same conclusions and make the same comments as I do) and head our for dinner.
I take a Taxi and ask to be taken to Maharaja restaurant. (yes, this was one of the places recommended as a vegetarian restaurant by the tourism office folks). All I know is that with a name like Maharaja (or the Ubiquitous and Unimaginative 'Taj Mahal') the cuisine definitely has to be Indian. Although my hotel is very close to the bus station and is therefore very helpful for me to travel to other nearby cities, when it comes to restaurants, the downtown area (where my hotel is located) is a complete dump. The 15-minute taxi ride cost me R$10.
Maharaja appears to be a swank restaurant. I am ushered to my table by a Brazilian Hostess who speaks adequate English for us to communicate). I request and am seated in the non-smoking area. I am the SOLE person in this area - that can seat at least 50 people. Most folks are sitting outside listening to some live Sitar music and watching some Bollywood stuff on a 60 inch screen. Way too tacky for such a swank restaurant!
I order food (yes, as I suspected it is an Indian restaurant with ample vegetarian fare) and chat with the hostess, Sara Ananda Gomes. Her father is the Honorary Indian Vice-Consul at Belo Horizonte. The Indian Consulate is in the 2nd floor of this building. The restaurant has been open only for a month. It has an Indian chef poached from a Sao Paulo restaurant. I was introduced to the Sitar (and flute) player who was trained in Varanasi 15 years ago.
Sara is a 2nd year medical student. She needs to do 4 more years of college. She is hostessing until college opens. Being who she is, she does NOT need the Job. Her great grandfather migrated from Goa to Brasil. Her father was born here, practices Hinduism and is a vegetarian. All his children have the middle name - ANANDA - meaning happiness.
Dinner turns out to be quite decent and cost me R$50 (US$28). I would say it is definitely worth it compared to some of the bills I have had for lousy Italian crap.
Sara made sure I met her father - the Honorary Indian Vice-Consul himself. We chatted a bit. We exchanged cards. I may even get to meet the Consul when I visit Sao Paulo as he is one of my own - a South Indian by the name of Swaminathan. Who knows, if I am lucky I may even get some decent Idly and dosa at his place.
Mr. Gomes also acts as a business liaison between India and Brasil. He travels to India frequently. There are apparently 60 Indian families here (in Belo Horizonte). While some of those families are in trade, other families work for ACCOR-MITTAL (the Steel Giant whose office tower is right across the restaurant)
I may re-visit this place on Friday or Saturday.
I take a taxi back to the Hotel. Taxi drivers operate 12-hour shifts here. I write my diary and go to bed.
Ouro Preto is an extraordinary place. I would highly recommend staying overnight.
February 21, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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Try as I might I could not wake up early. I had breakfast at 9 AM and paid the hotel for 2 more nights. I might actually wind up staying all the 5-nights here as originally planned. I get to the Rodoviaria by 9:20 AM. The next bus to Congonhas de Campo is at 10:15 AM. I booked a ticket (R$15) as I did not have an alternative option. After all, I have travelled to Belo Horizonte purely to see Ouro Preto and Congonhas (pronounced CON-GON-YAS). I spent about 15-minutes checking my e-mail at an Internet cafe at the Rodoviaria.
I boarded the bus and dozed off. The bus route would more or less be the same as Ouro Preto. The two towns are 20 kilometres apart and they do not have a direct bus service! I woke up at 11:45 AM as the bus reached Congonhas. I headed to the tourism office nearby as the Tourist office at the Rodoviaria (Belo Horizonte) did not have any information on Congonhas. The tourist office lady spoke only Portuguese and she appeared to be telling me things without understanding the information I was seeking.
February 21, 2008 - Congonhas de Campo, Brasil
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I finally got the Bus numbers and timings to reach Cathedral Bom Jesus where Alejadinho´s greatest works rest. There was a bus at 12 Noon from the Rodoviaria to Cathedral Bom Jesus. waited and the bus arrived a little after 12. I paid the R$1.70 fare and took a seat. The bus traipsed all over town (really, it would be hard to find out if he missed passing a single street!) before reaching the Cathedral after 25 minutes (The distance - as the crow flies - from the Rodoviaria to the Cathedral is 3 Kilometres or 1.8 miles!) While the cathedral does not permit any Photos, the crowing achievement of Alejadinho are the 12 prophets (carved by him) who straddle the entrance to the cathedral. Magnificent works. I took as many pictures as possible. I did visit the cathedral as well and it had a good ceiling painting as well. Perhaps it was Athaide. I did not follow the Portuguese there.
The Cathedral is situated on a hill and provides excellent views of the town below. I had the SECOND worst lunch ever at a restaurant (Corva do Daniel) recommended by the Guidebook. The Salad I ordered had HUGE slides of carrots, beetroot, potato, Onion and cucumber and peppers. Granted it was a SALAD. I had expected the vegetables to be grated or thinly sliced. Not as big as the actual veggies!
I had "Dulce de Leche" for dessert and hated it. To those of Indian Origin reading this the following comparison might help - it tasted like mushy Jaggery! Coca-Cola was the best part of Lunch!
As I had just missed the bus to Rodoviaria, I spent some more time taking pictures. I had no interest in even looking at souvenirs. I took a bus back to the Rodoviaria around 2:50 Pm. The bus took a grand tour before reaching the Rodoviaria around 3:25 PM or so. The catch here was that I had to wait for the Bus (heading to Belo Horizonte) to pull-in before I could buy tickets! I had an Orange juice and waited. The bus from Sao Joao Del Rei that is headed to wards Belo Horizonte pulls up around 3:50. I buy the ticket (R$15) and board the bus. No Air-conditioning. I open the window and doze all the way.
February 21, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I reach Belo Horizonte around 5:30 PM. I visit the TIM (Mobile company) office next to the hotel. After a 30 minute wait during which my name, passport number and date of birth were collected, I am approved to make OUTGOING Calls! Yippee! I must say the customer service representative there was a very helpful young kid. I said Muito Obrigado (Thank You very much) many times.
I made a quick stop at the hotel, leaving behind the camera and accessories (in my larger bag and locking it) before heading out. I reach an Internet cafe after 15 minutes. The place is quite lively at 6:45 PM. I stay there for 90 minutes as I need to back up my memory cards to my portable hard drives (had not done it for a few days). I read the news and reply to e-mail messages.
I visit a hotel close by to check on their rates. Front desk tells me to call reservations before 6 PM to get better rates than what the front desk can provide. I spot a lot of young well dressed young girls. It is apparently a graduation party for Biology students. I ogle! They could be studying Astronomy for all I care.
I have dinner at an Italian restaurant located at this hotel. I have a Penne Arabiata along with a Brazilian Miolo Selecao 2006. It turns out to be a good combination. The Miolo is one of the few wines made in Brasil. The Miolo Selecao is a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. It has a light nose and is light bodied with a short finish. Dinner turns out to be a far better experience than the disgusting lunch.
I write some diary while waiting for the food to arrive. I head back to the hotel after dinner.
As I have seen the two places I had planned on seeing and as I have 2 more days in Belo, I may visit Sao Joao del Rei tomorrow.
February 22, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I woke up at 4:30 AM and was out of the Hotel by 5:30 AM. I was at the Rodoviaria by 5:40 AM and bought a ticket to Sao Joao del Rei on the 6 AM bus. This was to be a 3-hour bus Journey via Congonhas de Campo. It seems like the pilgrimage trips I did with my folks to various places when I was growing up! There was a thick fog and light rain as we left Belo Horizonte. I dozed on and off. We had a 15-minute break at Congonhas to stretch our legs, use the bathroom, get some food etc. The 1-way trip to Sao Joao Del Rei is quite pricey at R$34 and the bus is not an executive bus!
The Scenery from Congonhas to Sao Joao was unremarkable and I dozed some more to compensate for the 4:30 AM wakeup. We reached Sao Joao del Rei around 9:15 AM or so.
February 22, 2008 - Sao Joao Del Rei, Brasil
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I obtained the directions to city centre and took a local bus to see San Francisco de Assisi Church with a few works by Alejadinho. After spending some time there and taking pictures, I tried to head to the nearest tourist office. It was closed. As there was a pewter factory nearby, I wandered in to see the products. There was an artisan, who was using an old fashioned lathe to churn out all the pewter products on display in the shop. He took time off from his work to explain the process to me (in Portuguese, of course!). I promised to return later in the day (as I did not want to be carrying around these heavy souvenirs all day long)
I had a long (and clueless) walk and finally reached the train station. I reached there at 11:05 AM. Most offices open close at 11 AM and re-open at 1 PM. Man, I want to work in a place that forces a 2-3 hour lunch!
One of the train station employees saw me peering (helplessly) through the window and come up to ask what I wanted. She spoke decent English and directed me to the tourist office. I headed there and obtained good local maps and brochures in English. I headed to Carmelo, Pilar and a few other churches. All were closed for Lunch! I was hungry as well as I left way too early for breakfast! I found a decent food-by-weight (Comida-por-Kilo) place. They had good salads and fruits. I fill up my entire place and it still came up to 1/3 of a Kilo. Food-by-Weight places are quite common in Brasil. These folks will be bankrupted in no time if they opened similar places in the USA! Despite the abundance of food-by-weight places, the folks here are generally slim.
Post lunch, I headed back to the Pewter factory and purchased some souvenirs. I took a long and leisurely walk back to the train station. It was a gorgeous, picture perfect day. On reaching the train station, I purchased a round trip to the nearby town of TIRADENTES (10 Kilometres - 6 Miles away) along with a visit to the Train Museum at Sao Joao del Rei for $25 (US$13). This turned out to be a very good museum with a number of old coaches and locomotives. Folks in those times, did travel well.
The train departed Sao Joao del Rei at 3 PM and we reached TIRADENTES at 3:45 PM. I head to the centre of town - 10 minute walk away. There is a short downpour and I take shelter in a souvenir shop for 15 minutes. I bought candies and cookies to eat! I headed back to the train station and took the train back to Sao Joao del Rei at 5 PM. I had the entire last coach to myself. So was able to move from seat to seat to take different pictures :)
On reaching Sao Joao del Rei station, we came across a group of musicians performing on the station platform. I took pictures. As some of the pictures had come out well, I approached the station employee (who had helped me earlier this morning) to ask if I could get some contact Information about these musicians, so that I could send them the pictures I had taken of them. She talked to the group´s direction and got me her e-mail address. Will need to send the pictures once I am done with all my travelling.
I took a taxi to the Rodoviaria at Sao Joao del Rei. I had 45-minutes to kill before my bus to Belo Horizonte arrived. I had toasted bread and butter along with a cup of coffee for dinner! The bus departed at 7 PM. The seat next to me was taken up by an elderly gentleman who turned out to be an architect. Since he spoke some English, we had a decent conversation. He even bought me a can of juice at Congonhas de Campo (where the bus stopped for 15 minutes before heading to Belo Horizonte). He advised me to visit the early works by the famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the Pampulha neighbourhood of Belo Horizonte. He also strongly advised me to visit the MASP (Museo de Arte Sao Paulo) when I visited Sao Paulo. We exchanged e-mails and promised to stay in touch.
February 22, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I reached the Hotel by 10:40 PM. I wrote my diary, completed some Post cards and went to bed. As I have a free day tomorrow, I may visit Pampulha tomorrow.
February 23, 2008 - Belo Horizonte, Brasil
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I had a leisurely wakeup (compared to yesterday). After breakfast, I paid up for my final night of stay at the hotel. I met Vivianne (who was quite personable) with whom I had communicated numerous times, during the booking process through the internet. Most folks have used an online Portuguese-English dictionary to reply to my e-mail messages just as I had used similar online translation services to convert my queries from English to Portuguese before e-mail it to the hotel. So when we finally meet, the truth some out. I cannot speak a lot of Portuguese and they cannot speak English. We mime :)
I requested a Taxi at 3:45 AM tomorrow morning as I did not want to be dragging my bags to the bus station at that hour. I visited the post office next, to ensure that I had the correct postage on all my postcards (I had).
I took a bus to the Pamulpha neighbourhood (Located North east of the city). On reaching the area, I had a bit of a walk (15 minutes) before reaching the lake and the Museo de Arte. The entry to the Museo was free and there were some decent works. I needed to take a bus next to Casa Bailar (House of Dance) - which was another of Niemeyer´s works. I had to wait almost 20 minutes for what turned out to be a 7 minute ride :) There was nothing noteworthy here. I walked next to the Church. Although all these buildings (Museo, Casa Bailar and the Church) can be seen from each other, they lie across the lake from each other. The lake, despite appearances, is quite a long one and hence the long walks of 3-4 Kilometres (2-2.5 miles).
I was completely underwhelmed by all of Niemeyer´s works here at Pampulha. They seemed quite tame. One can see the Brilliance of IM Pei´s Pyramid at Louvre or Santiago Calatrava´s design of the Olympic stadium for the 2004 games at Athens. I can understand that the works at Pampulha were Niemeyer´s first works, but there is nothing noteworthy raving about (as most local guide books do) his works at Pampulha.
I head next to the MINERAO Soccer stadium which happens to have the second largest capacity (70K people) in Brasil after MARACANA. There were no games today. I paid the R$2 entry fee and visited the home team area and the upper tiers of the stadium. Pretty Impressive. There was the dank odour of the toilet as I walked down the stairs to head out. Hopefully they will get their civic sense together before they play hosts to the 2014 soccer world cup.
I took a bus back to the centre. I got off at Plaza Libertad and took pictures of the Plaza as well as Palacio Libertad. I found JOY RAMA - A vegetarian place - for lunch. After a 5-minute wait for a table, I had a decent plate of food comprising rice, curry, salad, and a falafel like fried dumpling and soup. The Soup was quite high on Cumin or turmeric or both! The Lassi was OK. I chatted with the owner - Ana Paula - a Brazilian who had lived in Texas for some time.
Post lunch, I stumbled across a mall and movie house. After confirming multiple times that "Sweeney Todd" was showing with ENGLISH Dialogues, I purchased a ticket for R$13 (US$8). It was in English (with Portuguese Subtitles). I loved it, especially the art direction, acting and Tim Burton´s directing. The production design was pretty good too.
The movie was over by 5:45 PM. I wandered close to 45 minutes thinking I will head to Maharaja Indian restaurant for a good meal. The restaurant was not scheduled to open until 7 PM! I walked back to the centre of town and spent an hour at an Internet cafe. It was close to 8 PM now and I did not feel like taking a taxi all the way to the Indian restaurant now. I headed instead, to the nearby Othon palace (where I had my first dinner at Belo Horizonte) and had a Brownie with Ice Cream for dinner!
I got back to the Hotel and spent time writing my diary and requested the night manager to ensure that I get a taxi by 3:45 AM as I needed to take a bus from the Rodoviaria to the Airport at 4:15 AM for a 6:15 AM flight to Sao Paulo. I am scheduled to reach Sao Paulo around 8 AM and will be up all day as I am scheduled to meet the travel writer (whom I had met on my flight to Rio - 3 weeks ago) who has promised to show me around.
Despite my misgivings, the hotel has been OK. However, if I visit Belo another time, I will stay in the SAVASSI Neighbourhood as there are far more restaurant and entertainment options in that area, and being a residential neighbourhood, it is also a lot safer at night.
Ouro Preto, Congonhas, Sao Joao Del Rei and Tiradentes have been excellent. Unsurprisingly, I did not see a single American either during my Stay in Belo Horizonte or during my travels to the nearby places.
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