The weirdness continues… but now it’s mysticism and extraterrestrials!
From the Valley of Dawn I had a 120km cycle north on Monday and clearly I’d lost my edge during two weeks off the bike as it was a really tough ride, not helped by the persistent drizzle and wind. My legs were feeling the strain after the first 50km of mostly uphill and at halfway I knew the afternoon would be a battle to keep pushing myself along at the required pace to reach São João d’Aliança before sunset, but I did and made it with 20 mins to spare.
A bit grim
Atos Hotel
Got my water filter pump out for the first time in a while
I was glad that Tuesday’s ride was ‘only’ 70km and also that it was a brighter day. Soon I was enjoying cycling through the beautiful green rolling hills that reminded me a little of England, which was ironic because…
…at 2pm I arrived in Alto Paraiso and checked into the Camelot Inn with its so-bad-it’s-good medieval décor! When I found this place on TripAdvisor I just had to book it, and it’s hilarious; I’m currently lounging in the Galahad suite as I type this.
Back to the town of Alto Paraiso, and here’s an excerpt from the Wiki:
“there are more than 40 mystical, philosophical, and religious groups, transforming the town into what locals like to call The Brazilan Capital of the Third Millennium. According to believers, the fact that latitude 14, which crosses the legendary city of Machu Picchu, in Peru, also crosses Alto Paraíso, has caused appearances of flying saucers and extraterrestrials.”
So I was expecting to see more crusties/hippies here, but only found a few at the farmers market, otherwise the place was pretty dead – I guess they can sell more healing crystals to tourists at weekends. I did see a nice footy pitch/stadium though, and of course spotted a UFO landing on the lawn at the Camelot Inn during the night…
