Hoaaah sexy readers! Let's cover the last days of adventure on the Estrada do Inferno.
Boooooooom-shaka-laka, I'm back to the keyboard after a week of crazyness around the Steemsphere. During the past week a lot has changed with the indroduction of communities, making my mind almost explode trying to learn how to handle it - I still don't. To make things worse, I got sick yet agaaaain... right when I was regaining momentum to post more and more crazy stories.
But.. leaving all the mishaps aside, let's focus on the adventure and concentrate our energies to go through the last two days of the Estrada do Inferno - a 380 km bicycle trip in southern Brazil. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I strongly suggest you checking my previous posts on the subject, as they'll introduce you to the region, the cities I crossed, and most importantly, you'll get to know some inspiring characters I encountered on the way.
On this final post I'll compact the last two days in one post and we'll travel between Porto do Barquinho - featured on my last article - and the capital Porto Alegre, which was the final destination. The high point of today's post is the Lagoa do Bacupari and its cristal clear waters along with some thoughts and curiosities. Enjoy!
January 29th, 2020. The whole village seemed to be asleep on that chilly morning after I slept in the wooden cabin. My strategy of pitching only my tent's mosquito net inside the hut worked beautifully to keep the vampire mosquitoes away from my sweet blood, also, by having the door openned overnight, I had the pleasure of sleeping with the natural breeze that came from the lagoon, a dream I must say.
There are no rules to use an abandonned wooden hut as the one I was using, but subtle details will guide you through the unwritten rules of common sense; on a corner someone left a broom, and the fact that I found the hut without a single bit of sand inside, suggested that, eventhough abandonned, the hut should be left clean for the next user. Thus, I cooked my breakfast with the rest of the water I filtered from the lagoon, packed everything and took the time to sweep the good 'ol hut.
On that day I had a planned to cycle to a natural lake called Lagoa do Bacupari, somewhere 90 km north-east of my position. The winds had shifted to north-westerish, meaning It wouldn't help much on the road, but still better than facing the strong north-east that is predominant on that region.
Fortunatelly, I was not worried about the weather, it might have been the power of nature that stole my attention on every kilometer; those vast and flat fields just guide your eyes, making it hard to cycle in a straight line. Sometimes it's impossible to keep the cadence, forcing us to stop the bicycle and look.
At some point I was cycling in between the hot asphalt and the sun; othertimes I was cutting through forests of Pine trees, which provided some fresh breeze and a nice shade. I've always though people planted these trees to produce wood, until I noticed something different hanging from the tree.
They use this ingenuity to extract resin from thousands of trees, a really sticky process indeed, that later becomes raw material to produce loads of different products, from rubber to deodorant - at least it's what the news report said.
After some further research I discovered that this method goes back to what's called the Amazon Rubber Boom, when Brazil led the way in extraction of rubber, which provided the great expansion of our economy in the XIX century.
It was curious to see such a process so far from the Amazon, and even more interesting seeing how it's still done by manual labour, tree after tree, employing probably a few hundred people every year.
Our Fancy Bus Stops
Apart from the eventual stop to inspect the surroundings, I also stopped to strech the sticks legs and eat one of the brazilian classics - the Bananinha - a sweet made of banana and sugar, which provides some well needed energy.
This time I stopped at one of our fancy bus stops with its diverse restaurants to choose from and a freezing air-condicioner to help with the burning heat of a coastal sub-tropical summer. As you can see all the facilities are clean and accesible and the buses going in and out non stop makes it a frenetical mess.
With all jokes aside, I decided to share this picture to ilustrate how simple some places can be; same goes for the people who live here, who are the most fantastic I've ever encountered.
It is funny how, the simpler the people, the more heart openned they are; I write this from my flat, where my neighboors barely say good-morning.
That little bus stop might not be beautiful, nor particularly clean, but it provided a nice shade. The people whom I interacted throughout the journey might not be beautiful, nor particularly wealthy, but they gladly stopped for a conversation and provided with fresh water. How many people travel this same route by car? How many won't have the chance to interact?
From that day I don't have much to share, but leave some reflections for those who actually have the patience to read my long texts. Do you pay attention to the surroundings? Or do you focus on that touristic attraction that everyone goes?
After that I kept cycling to get to the Lagoa do Bacupari, where I spent the night on a campsite called Chico.
I went for a well deserved swim, followed by a hot shower and an amazing meal - potatoes with rice and sausage. From there I wouldn't have anything amazing to share as I entered into more civilized regions.
The next kilometers from Bacupari to Porto Alegre would be cycled squeezed in between heavy trucks and a terrible road shoulder, my only thought was that I wanted to go back to the remote areas.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this series, even though I feel like my quality has decreased rapily, something that I'm looking forward to regain. 'Till the next adventure!
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~Love ya all
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 3.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
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Super awesome, thank you!
Hahaha, me neither. But the platform does move in the right direction!
Pines are magic trees - healers of your soul!
By the way, sugar&banana is like double sugar
Gibbe double everything! But you gotta try, I'm not sure if the sugar comes from the banana itself, but it's a great snack for hiking and stuff.
If I ever go back to the UK I'll pack a bunch of brazilian snacks!
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Super master blaster! Thank you very much!
I always enjoy your long text and unique storytelling which I find inspirational. Beautiful trip, thank you for sharing this picturesque region of Brazil with us.
Super honoured to hear that! It makes me super motivated to continue working on my book about the Patagonian adventure. Thank you so much!