Road to Diamantina, MG
Another entry finds us in Lensçois, Bahia. After our uneventful first camping in Itutinga it was time to head to Diamantina. I had read about Diamantina in various books, and it was billed as an ideal example of the early mining towns on which Brazil flourished during the 18th century. Not only that but I liked the name, so off we went (another draw was the fact that it is a World Heritage site). To get there we rode through what I can only describe as some pretty desolate small towns. Maybe it was the time of day that we rode through, but there certainly wasn't much going on. A dog or two and maybe a stray donkey was all that was to be seen in many of the small out of the way places. When there were people, everything stopped as we rode through, and people gave us their full concentration. (I am skipping getting through Belo Horizonte, which is pretty much the same chaos as any large town anywhere). Once we neared the Serra Do Cipo national park we rode some of the way along the Camino Real, which is a rode built by slaves to bring the riches of the interior to the coast, and as far as I could tell, is in the same condition as it was 200 years ago.
The Park and the nearby towns were totally deserted, and eventually we found an open campground which didn't charge an exorbitant price and stopped for the night. The area is gorgeous, low lying mountains, with some nice forests and rivers nearby. Great area for camping, and hiking, as well as some climbing apparently. No time this time around but it might be worth coming back some day and enjoy the natural wonders (in the low season, as I have a feeling it is over-run in season).
From here it was an awesome ride along the Serra do Cipo to Serro. The road along the mountain was both curvy and in good shape, and to top it off nearly empty of traffic. From Serro, it was a short hop to Diamantina. The first thing that you will notice in Diamantina is that the roads are the same as the ones the Slaves built 200 years ago, literally! Huge stone blocks make up the roads in the town, and make for a very bumpy and slow ride, and to make it more eventful, the town is built on some very steep hills. The second thing is that there are a lot of churches everywhere. We spent a few hours looking for accommodations which fit our budget, this being a tourist town, something that wasn't all that easy. In the end we gave up for the day and headed out of town to try and find a good wild camping spot. Our research had told us that there was a camping spot somewhere near town, but no-one had heard of it. The other camping spot a bit outside of town was closed and deserted, so wild camping was the only option left. We found a nice spot overlooking the town and had a nice evening.
The following day we checked out a couple of other Pousadas and finally found one that was relatively affordable. Then it was off to check out the town.
Main Plaza, Diamantina, MG
Diamantina turned out to be a charming if a bit soul less town. Maybe because half the town was closed (low season), and there was a deserted feel to it. Nevertheless the architecture was interesting, the area around the town was also pretty interesting. Of particular note was the "shanty" town on the Camino Real out of town, somehow it seemed completely out of place with the tourist center a few hundred meters away, where tourist pay to get into see the churches. While here we also went out and had a look at one of the caves nearby. This was a near total waste of time, a small hole at the end of a hundred meter walk was all that we found. Guess they have to try and find something to keep the tourist around and entertained?
The one thing that the area was good for was rock climbing. I clambered around some rocks and to my surprise found some climbing routes. I miss not having my climbing gear with me. The rock being very porous it was possible to do some simple climbing without gear.
A view across the valley, Diamantina, MG
All in all we found it to be worth the ride there, and gave us a good impression of what the towns of the period were like. I could do without the strenuous climb to get my daily Pizza though, it seems to me that no matter where I wanted to walk I had to climb a 30° hill, and on my way back the whole town would rotate so that I had to do the same climb again!! Does wonders for your condition though.
From Diamantina we headed for Sao Francisco, which we had picked out on a map as being an interesting place to visit. The ride there was long and strenuous as the road in places was pretty bad, but we eventually arrived.
Sao Francisco river, Sao Francisco, MG
The Sao Francisco river is the third largest in Brazil, and the town must be among the smallest. There isn't much there, apparently people come here on their vacations and weekends to fish. After riding around town and not finding any interesting accommodations we headed to a fish camp outside of town where they let us camp on their volleyball court (what do you think the kids are going to be occupied while daddy is out on the river fishing?).
Dinner, Pousada Do Peixes, Sao Francisco, MG
The person in charge was incredibly friendly, first he refused to take money for the camping, second he insisted on feeding us dinner (twice), and breakfast, all at no charge. I love Brazil! The views over the river at sunset and sunrise were incredible, well worth the ride here.
The road out of Sao Francisco, MG
From Sao Francisco, we headed along the river on some of the nasties roads yet, bar none (between Sao Francisco and Januaria, and then again between Itacarambi and Manga). Dust, sand, rocks, the only thing missing was mud, which would have made it impassable for us. So we had to take it very slow and easy and eventually reached Manga where we re-crossed the river and got back onto some decent roads.
The towns and region we passed through were mainly cattle ranches and small towns associated with these activities, with no touristic activity other than seeing the true Brazil. There isn't much mention of these areas in the tourist literature, making it a true adventure and a paradise for individual tourists (at least my kind). One thing that was universal was the friendliness and openness of the Brazilians everywhere we went, which was really enjoyable.
Once we left the river region the area turned drier and drier, as we neared Lençois it was a virtual scrub desert.
Near Lençois, BA
Then we hit the mountains. Everything turned green again, and there were rivers and forests along these low lying hills (sorry guys there are no "Mountains" in Brazil..) In one place we hit rain, and were freezing for a while until we came down again and the rain stopped. Two days after leaving Sao Francisco we made it to Lençois.
Main plaza, Lençois, BA
Lençois was recommend to us by Dom (the owner of the Pousada Dos Frances in Sao Paulo), as being a place he had visited years earlier and found very nice. Noting that people didn't even have locks on their doors. Well, times change, there are no door without locks in Lençois any more, and today it is the center of all tourists activities in the national park next door. Rightly so, the area is gorgeous, and the town is a cozy little place (if a bit packed on the weekends). In many respects it is very similar to Diamantina, but lacks the obvious shanty town and is a smaller and more touristy.
The atmosphere is very laid back, and since it had a camping we could afford to spend a few days, which we then did. Not really being in the mood for hiking or trekking or any of the other tourist activities we spent time checking out the town, honing out camp cooking skills and doing some tours around the area on the bike. Before heading north to Xique Xique...
Just outside Lençois, BA
Technorati Tags: Bahia, bmw, brazil, Diamantina, Lençois, Minas Gerais, motorcycle, Sao Francisco, south america, travel
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