Brazil '08 - Ilhabela, SP, Day 2

The fantastic owners of Manga Rosa, Paulo and Mariley, got us some bikes from a rental place in Perequê called Juninho (outrageously expensive considering the sad quality of the bikes - R$30 per person per day for a one speed bike, mine with a broken handlebar). Consider that each night at the pousada costs R$110 and comes with a fantastic breakfast - coffee, tea, fresh juices, cold cuts, cheeses, many kinds of bread, fruit and even cake!!
The plan today was to bike north to the northern most beach of Jabaquara, which is supposed to be beautiful. The only bad thing was that my cough has now acquired a runny nose companion. So drippy, we set off.
The road was alternating cobble stones and pavement, up and down hill at very consistent intervals. Because of the broken handlebar I could not go uphill at all so we pushed our bikes up all the hills and then rode down, and on and on like this.


The first beach we came to was Barreiros. It was, like many of the beaches we saw today, deserted but for one man who was just chilling.



Soon the little biting flies that the travel books warn you about began to attack us, so we put on bugspray by this interesting abandoned-looking house. Note the fruit, which is edible and the size of my head.


Up until the beach of Sino there were quite a few pousadas and restaurants but eventually they began to disappear and the residences became less posh.


As we left Sino we saw a campground (apparently there are four on the island: two in Perequê, one in Sino and one in Grande). We stopped to check it out and it's quite a deal - R$20 per night per person if you bring your own tent and R$60 if you want to rent one of their little trailers. There are bath houses throughout, a restaurant or kitchen and mango trees loaded with mangos for the picking. We grabbed a few!



On we went passed where the bus has it's last stop and the road turns to sand and gravel (from here 3km to Pacuiba and 8km to Jabaquara). By this point you have also increased in elevation so the beaches are somewhere below you. It was hot and a bit muggy, so we decided to cool off at Pacuiba beach. It was completely empty and beautiful. Gorgeous black rocks and the occasional black sand, the cool ocean, definitely welcome in this heat, and then it rained for a while, which I love when I am out swimming. There was single house on the beach, with a garden and chickens, but no sign of people. For lunch we ate the mangos we had picked up along the way and a coconut that we found on the beach.



At this point we decided not to go on to Jabaquara, but head back. It was getting on in time and we still had to bike back and then go even further back all the way to Perequê to return the bikes by 5pm. On the way we stopped in Sino once more, but this time to check out the famous rocks. The place is not actually called Sino officially (surprise!) but is nicknamed thus because it means "bell" in Portuguese. The rocks on this beach, when hit with a hammer, produce a sound just like a bell. Wicked cool! So we went up to the little bar/restaurant and asked for a hammer, and banged away. Good times.


By the time we reached Vila I was so exhausted I did not know how I could go on. What with the cold (disease not temperature) and the heat (ambient temperature) I had a raging headache, and my arm fat was hurting wicked bad from being shaken to and fro on the downhill cobblestones. Not to mention that they don't make those bike seats cushy! So we stopped at Manga Rosa to take an advil and leave the remaining mangos and headed for Perequê still 6km away (total trip today ~24km). Fortunately the road from Vila to Perequê is almost completely flat and even has a handy bike path, so we got there just in time for 5pm and handed in the bikes. It was a struggle once again to get them to accept a credit card but in the end we persevered. Then we tried to find a place to eat and settled on one of the few open places (and rather expensive I have to say), Pier 18 right there in Perequê. There we had fish for two, once again smothered in butter. Just as we were leaving a bus passed by so we had to wait for 30 minutes to catch the next one, which we passed people watching. There are a lot of scooters on the streets, an efficient but scary mode of transportation. On the beach a bunch of teens were playing volleyball. Must be a nice life...
After dark, around 9pm we ventured out again to say "bye" to Vila and maybe see more squid fishing. Unfortunately, the pier was much less lively today, but as we walked along the promenade we came upon an exhibit of a local artist who makes sculptures from old car and motorcycle parts, as well as tools and other scrap metal. We even got to meet the artist!



Tomorrow we move on but we'll be sad to leave Manga Rosa.

Brazil '08 - Ilhabela, SP, Day 1

We did it! We did it! Obama won! Am beside myself!!! At 2am Obama was leading McCain 170 to 89 or so which gave me some hope but we had to go catch the bus. Let me just tell you something about buses in Brazil. I have never been on more luxurious transportation than a Brazilian bus. They come in several 'classes': conventional, executive, double service and leito. I havn't experienced a leito, the fanciest and most expensive of the bunch, but all the rest of them are like traveling on a sofa. Seats recline almost entirely and there is a leg rest that comes down to support your legs, so you are literally almost horizontal from head to toe, not to mention that the next person is still far enough away from you that you do not travel with their head in your lap.
Anyway, we arrived in Tiete (Barra Funda), which is the main bus terminal in the city of Sao Paulo at around 7:30am and immediate went to find a newspaper stand. When I saw Obama on all the front pages, I have to tell you, I cried from joy. I can't emphasize enough how scared I was of a McCain presidency, and I am so proud of Americans right now. I hear Minnesota and Georgia are still having trouble, and I am rooting for Al Franken and Jim Martin. The fly in my dessert is that proposition 8 passed in California, which I think frankly is unconstitutional. Also, bizarrely Michele Bachmann won, not sure what to make of that.
Back to the travels at hand though. We got tickets for a 9am bus to São Sebastião, which could only be paid for with cash for some reason, and slept through at least 2 hours of the three and a half hour trip. When I woke up I realized that we were on some kind of mountain range, making our way down through the beautiful Mato Atlantico rain forest. I haven't been to a rain forest since Costa Rica back in 2003 so it was all fresh and new and absolutely gorgeous. We could see the city of São Sebastião on the small stretch of land between where the mountains ended and the ocean began. Driving along the shore we saw some of São Sebastião's suburbs, which looked more prosperous than any part of Brazil I had seen up to this point. I was also pleased to see that the fences around the properties where only waist high, rather than the full-on prison-like walls and barbed wire of Husband's hometown.
The bus dropped us, and only us, at a deserted looking place by the ocean, and moved on towards the city. Upon closer inspection we found the ferry, which is free for pedestrians, and headed for Ilhabela (travel time ~30 minutes, no motion sickness, in case you are interested.)
We had no prearranged plans or any specific notions of where we were going or what we were planning to do, so first thing we did was visit the tourist booth just a few feet from the ferry dock. The lady there, who spoke English, told us all about the various attraction on the island and made many phone calls on our behalf to pousadas (bed and breakfast type hotels). The island, which is actually called Ilha de São Sebastião, but is referred to as Ilhabela at all times, has two roads. The main road, which is paved, runs along the western coast of the island from north to south, and a second road, passable only by 4-wheel drive vehicles, crosses the island from west to east, connecting Perequê with the Castelhanos beach. Some hiking trails exist as well but beware of the snakes! The ferry arrives in Perequê, which is also the dividing point between the "north" and "south" part of the island. The northern part is more developed and a bit fancier. When I say developed however, it is in this case not a negative. There are more restaurants and pousadas, and there are also more and nicer houses, but it is not unpleasant and plenty of nature, beaches and beauty is preserved. The southern part of the island is supposedly more wild and has the more deserted beaches.
For transportation it was recommended that we should use the bus. Taxis are extremely and unreasonably expensive, while car rentals are absurd. Buses run regularly (every 30 minutes) from Perequê north as far as Armacao, and a different set of buses runs south from Perequê.
While looking into pousadas we met two girls from Holland, one originally from Honduras and the other from Thailand, who recommended to us their pousada in the south part of the island. So our plan became thus - stay one night in the north, and then one night in the south of Ilhabela. We decided to do north first because being tired and starving we thought the north would offer more comforts. We found an excellent pousada - Manga Rosa - run by a husband and wife. They came and picked us up from the tourist office, they accept credit cards (most pousadas don't) and the place is just beautiful. Check out the view from our room!



Manga Rosa is in one of the few real 'towns' on Ilha de São Sebastião. It's called Ilhabela but everyone calls it Vila. I am not sure how townships are established here but each beach appears to have a name, and all businesses identify themselves by the beach. There are signs along the road which indicate the name of the beach area you are in, and how far to the next beach.


After we took a shower and freshened up we wondered off into Vila and had some lunch at "Cheiro Verde", a place that serves local and fresh salt water fish, sadly deep fried and smothered in grease. It is, however, recommended by locals and Lonely Planet alike. I had some fresh squeezed lemon juice, which is made with tap water I presume, so here's hoping I don't get sick. Now really sleepy we stumbled back to the pousada and passed out for 3 hours. When we got up it was dark. We wondered outside again and went for a nice walk, had some self-serve ice cream and watched locals fishing off the dock for squid. It was the weirdest thing. They fish with these lit bobby things (you can tell I am so not a fisherwoman) and the squid are so funny. There was a grandpa there who caught at least 3 while we watched. There were kids there too, really people of all ages, fishing for breakfast squid. Wicked!

Brazil Adventure 2008: Week 1

Totally yeah! I have now joined Husband in sunny beautiful Brazil. Since the first week of my visit was mostly uneventful I will simply summarize it for you. I arrived in Sao Paulo after about 22 hours on the road. A lot of that time was spent hanging out in the US airport as I arrived their quicker than expected. It wasn't all bad though because I had some nice food (weird in an airport) and bought a book to read, "Son of a Witch" by Gregory Maquire, which proved quite entertaining. During the ~9 hour overnight flight I was sandwiched between a businessman who slept literally the entire time (oh how I envy him), and a strange fella about my age who was going to Iponema and who was "self employed" and had "business" in Sao Paulo, though he adamantly refused to discuss any of this and just gave me meaningful looks. He probably thought I was a nutcase though, for the closer we got to Husband, the more restless I became, until my nerves gave out completely. I was in such a state I had to ask to cut the line at customs claiming I did not feel well. Still not sure what that was all about - the anticipation of the reunion, jet lag...?
Anyway, now I have been here for over a week, mostly chilling, or rather sweating as the case may be. The temperature is in the nineties (Fahrenheit) and though it thunderstorms occasionally, it is not much relief. The big thing going on here is the wall Husband has been building. I must say I am very impressed with what he has done, because he had never built a wall before.

This is before...


... and after.

The wall is 10 meters by 2.5 meters, with a 1.5 meter deep cement and steel foundation. It has further protection in the form of glass on top and a steel door not pictured.


One of the reasons for building the wall was to protect all the delicious fruit goodness that grows in their yard from hungry passerbys. Among the trees is a cashew. I had never seen one before. The nut is hanging out below the fruit, how odd! I can't say I am a big fan though. It sucks to be a picky eater.


The other big news is that my sister got engaged on Halloween. It's still sinking in a bit. My baby sister! Her fiance made the ring himself and it has a black diamond in it, but that's all the details I know at the moment.

Also I have caught a cold. It is a weird one, just a cough right now and a very unproductive one at at that. Mãe (my mother-in-law) made me some sort of native draught, a tea from local plant life, garlic, ginger, honey and lime. It's dreadful but perhaps it will help. Tonight we will be heading out on our small adventure to explore Southern Brazil. Tonight is also a very important occasion - THE ELECTIONS!!!! I will not know the results until tomorrow morning, because our bus leaves at 2am and with the time difference the polls on the Pacific coast will just be closing. I suspect you all know who I am supporting so here is hoping Obama licks McCain.

The Virginia Curse

My parents moved to Virginia just over a year ago, which means that they are now 9 hours driving distance from me, which is about 460 miles, most of them in the endless state of Pennsylvania. Needless to say I don't make it down there often. Additionally, the few trips that we have made usually end up with one or both of us getting sick with something or other. Nevertheless we decided to undertake our semi-annual journey to see them last weekend, to admire the dogwood and red bud blossoms and to celebrate my upcoming birthday. The plan was to leave on Saturday, April 12th, and come back on Tuesday, which was a nice plan that sadly failed because as per usual I came down the day before with some indeterminate cold symptoms. Fortunately parents were also sick at the time, so they did not protest too much when I told them we would come down on Thursday the 17th instead and stay till Sunday.
The plan was to be ready to go first thing Thursday morning and get to VA by dinner time. Naturally it was all much more fascinating that that.
To start of I got food poisoning on Wednesday. If you have read my previous post here, you know that I have emetophobia, which is the fear of vomiting. So when I woke up at 3:37am Wednesday morning and just KNEW that I was about to loose my dinner, I was very surprised to find myself the epitome of calm. I got up, took a sip of Emetrol, which is an anti-nausea liquid like cola syrup, and began to plan my eminent dilemma. I decided in favor of a bucket, got a nice little trash can liner, picked the kitchen with it's easy-to-clean-in-case-of-accident floor, sat down on said floor and announced (out loud) to the universe that I was ready to vomit. And didn't. That went on for about two hours, in which I waited until eventually whatever it was that I ate came out by other means. At one point I got really cold and went to get a sweater from the bedroom, and Husband asked me what I was up to. "I am going to throw up", I said to him. "That's great!" said my Husband, "Good for you!" Eventually I gave up and went to sleep for a few hours, annoyed with the universe for not letting me be sick.
Since I was still nauseated and feeble in the morning we got a late start, but at least we were on the road. The weather was gorgeous and as we drove we passed through spring into summer, which improved our moods considerably. Until the car died that is. We had been driving for about 7 hours at this point and the battery just died at a red light, in the middle of Nowhere, VA. I called AAA and tried to explain to them that I was on Route 15 in VA, that I was surrounded by fields and therefore did not know what town I was in. I told them that I was so many miles from Culpeper, that I could see an intersection with such-an-such a road up ahead, at which point the very rude AAA guy asked me whether I was perhaps in North Carolina. People drove honking by without bothering to stop, until I finally chased down some woman who was idling at the intersection and she told me I was probably in Haymarket.

While we waited for the tow truck to show up we tried to make the most of it, grabbed our cooler and had a little picnic in the unmarked field (managing to get ticks on us, which, however, we did not discover till next day). Since it was late in the day, the tow man had to drive us to another town ($), where a Goodyear 'mechanic' told us that we needed a new battery in order to run diagnostics tests ($$). In the meantime, I began to suffer from a sharp shooting pain in my ear. Gratefully once the diagnostics tests were run the alternator was given a clean bill of health, so we got back on the road and made it to Charlottesville just before midnight. It all seemed quite worth it to see my parents again.
Mom had to work the next day and we slept in a bit, but upon awaking I discovered that my ear had gotten worse, was hurting now all the time and was loosing hearing to boot. The executive decision was made that I should go to Urgent Care and have someone take a look at it ($$$) in case it was infected, which it turns out it wasn't, just very full of liquid. The doc suggested using Afrin, a highly addictive nasal decongestant to try and drain the ear naturally, and I found a remedy online of placing heated salt in a sock against your ear to draw out the moisture. Thus passed our Friday.
On Saturday we went to see the historic Morven gardens. I felt very British, going to tour an estate that sits on ~7400 thousands acres of land and garden. I swear, it was like something out of "Pride and Prejudice". This garden is only open to visitors about once a year, and since it is now owned by UVA, they are talking about starting a farm on it to grow food for the school. The gardens were lovely, the tulips in bloom, and the little cobbler's cottage was my little dream house. Then I came down with a mad fever. When we got home I just passed out on the couch, and my mom, a true Russian, poured vodka in my ear, which oddly enough helped! In fact I was able to rouse myself and participate in a lovely dinner party with my parents' friends, all of whom are fantastic characters. It was just a blast.


Leaving was slow, as my parents inexplicably decided to talk in earnest about investments and retirement plans, but we finally got on the road, this time in a downpour. It rained annoyingly and heavily, but stopped five hours into the drive, which is exactly when the car died again. This time we did not muck about with tow trucks but walked over to the nearest store and bought two new car batteries ($$$), figuring that they were bound to get us home, and they did. As a bonus, we both came down with a cold next day, from which we are both still recovering. So ends another trip to VA. But at least I got to see my parents, which was really all worth it in the end.

The Myth of Stremnaya Road

This little 'mystery' was solved over a year ago now, but it is still making it's rounds on the internet. I just received one of those mass forwards from a co-worker of mine entitled "Stremnaya Road in Bolivia - The Road of Death" or something like that. The most interesting thing is that these mailings often include images of several different roads, which are actually on different continents. So I will try to sort out which one is which but do not trust me to get it right.

First: Yungas Road in Bolivia

It is in fact called the Road of Death by some, but has many other names. It runs approximately 65km from La Paz to Coroico. It was built by prisoners in 1930s (though some sources say it was built in the 70s by some company called 'Grove') and claims 100-200 lives each year. One of the worst accidents took place in 1983 when a bus carrying 100 passengers went over the edge, killing everyone. A new road has been in the works for years but at the moment this road appears to be the major truck route between the capital and the Yungas region. It is also very popular with adrenaline junkie bikers.












Second: Guoliang Tunnel in China

Located in the Taihang Mountains of the Henan Province in China this tunnel is 1200 meters long, 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. It was carved by the people of the Guoliang Village between 1972 and 1977 to create an alternative to Tianti, a stairway carved into the mountain rock and the only means of travel to the village until the Tunnel was made. This tunnel is perfectly safe and attracts many tourists each year because of its quiet tranquil beauty.
















Not included in the emails but equally impressive:
Federal Highway from Moscow to Yakutsk in Russia

I guess it is sometimes called Lena (it's the Lena River region over there), and is said to be the only way of getting there by car. In the winter it is quite passable because it freezes solid. In the summer months however, rainfall turns it to mud. At one point 600 cars became stuck on the road, without food, water or any real shelter. Authorities did not want to go into to help because previous attempts had led to violence towards the rescuers by the stranded motorists. It is actually a bit of a tragic story, I think.









and in the winter:




And finally, the most ridiculous hiking trail ever: Mount Hua (Hua Shan) in Xi'an, China.

There are five sacred mountains in China and this is one of them. The mountain itself has five peaks, North, South, East, West and Middle (they all have more imaginative names in Chinese). You can get up there in cable cars but you can also hike on steps carved in stone and these insane board walks! This path is between the North and West peak (Changkongzhandao) and is basically planks, nails and some chains. You can apparently also rent a harness. There is a great account of the hike by a blogger here.