Journey

We set off from Rio at 8....well, 8:20 by the time the bus arrived and we'd stowed luggage. Again, there's a select group of new and old travellers. Rick and Laureen from Washington state, Thomas from Austria, Jenny and Doug from the UK, Jacinta from Brazil and Bruce and me are returned tragics from the Geoanalysis 2009 field trip. We have been joined by Marta from Spain, Nick from the UK  and Yuri from Russia. Other ocassional participants are Renate Schmidt from Brazil, Riccardo from Minas Gerais university and Marcello, Jacinta's husband. Pedro Paulo is our driver.

Geology lecture in a service station car park!

Tiradentes Church

To access inland Brazil, you have to cross a barrier mountain range, where we encountered misty, cold weather. As we dropped down onto flatter areas, it warmed up and the vegetation changed with beautiful araucarias growing in the paddocks. 6 hours later we arrived in the small town of Tiradentes (literally means 'pulling teeth, named after a revolutionary leader'). It is paved with cobbles and stone with narrow streets, windy and often steep streets. Its main claim to fame is a beautiful church, perched up on top of a hill. It's absolutely charming, but a bit theme-park. Arriving on a Saturday, it was packed with tourists (der, we're tourists). We stayed in Pousada Vivenda, a lovely little setup within walking distance of the main part of town. We has free time to do some sightseeing. There was a photo opportunity around every corner.