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Published: October 22nd 2009
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Paraty Historical Centre
The cobbled streets of Paraty 29th September - Day 23
The bus from Angra to Paraty took 1 1/2 hours but this time we were on more of a local bus. There was no where to put our rucksacks and the seats were really not comfortable. As soon as we got to Paraty we were bombarded with different people trying to peddle their hostels. We looked at 1 place which claimed it had a pool but it was basically a paddling pool, full of dirt in their backgarden. We settled on this place called Family Hostel where we had a private room ensuite, double bed, fridge, tv all for R$130 for 3 nights (about 45 GBP).
Paraty is a small historical colonial town which caters for tourists. The historical centre is a maze of cobbled streets hiding bars, restaurants, galleries and museums. We saw one restaurant which was listed in the top 100 restaurants in the world...
We went for a drink in the evening and watched some live Brazilian music at a swanky bar.
30th September - Day 24
We walked round the historical town, visited the Cultural Centre which was recommended. It´s a museum full of videos of local people´s stories,
talking about the history and traditions of the town. It was interesting but you´d need a full day at least to listen to them all. Afterwards we walked for a couple of miles to the Fort accompanied by 2 stray dogs. When we´d finished we walked a couple more miles to the beach , along with the dogs, and sampled "Pirao de Peixe" which the nice landlord insisted was delicous. We didn´t quite know what to expect because the old man described it as ´cold fish soup´, or so we thought. Luckily for us it was hot and was more of a fish puree served with bread. It was surprisingly very nice.
On the walk back (stray dogs still in tow) we decided to have a drink before heading home for dinner. We sat in "Paraty 33" (the trendiest bar) as it was Happy Hour, the football was on and there was live music. We were on our 2nd large glass of red wine, about to head back for dinner when a couple of brits walked past who we recognised from Ilha Grande. We started chatting with them (Chris and Nat) and before we knew it we were on the
caipirinhas again! We exchanged stories from our travels so far and laughed at how similar they were. It was a great night and good to hear an English accent.
1st October - Day 25
Woke up late and hungover. We discovered 3 mosquitos flying about the room, all looked like they'd had a good meal through the night. It wasn't until Lizzy got out of the shower that she realised that she'd acquired 20 new mosquito bites during the night...majority of which were on 1 arm! Rick however didn't get bitten once.
After a quick breakfast/lunch, we hired a couple of mountain bikes and headed inland for the hills. There were several waterfalls to be discovered, the furthest being 8km away. Rick decided it would be best to head there first and on our way back stop at the others, in order to get the uphill part completed. Chris and Nat told us that it was an easy ride apart from it being really steep right at the end. Lizzy already had the hump from the mosquito bites and the hangover, so was off the bike the second it started to get steep.
We finally reached
Lizzy with the bike
Man and machine in perfect harmony! the waterfall after about 1 1/2 hours or so. There was an ricketty old rope bridge to cross. While Lizzy was right in the middle, Rick decided to run on and start jumping up and down, reinacting "Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom". Lizzy, doing a good job of damsel in distress, nearly cried through terror!
The waterfall was a massive smooth rock with a fast flow of water, resembling a large waterslide. We managed to cross at the top of the waterfall, nearly being taken down in the process.
The ride back was easy as it was all downhill. Rick was busy going as fast as possible, using the speed bumps to get some air.
When we reached the crossroads we decided to head to the next waterfall which looked about 1-2 km away tops according to the dodgy map we were given.
It was off road with lots of potholes, bumps and boulders on the track, much to the enjoyment of Rick and the displeasure of Lizzy, who had by now resorted to walking. In an effort to speed Lizzy up, Rick pushed both bikes up the hill like a true gentleman.
After an hour
of ceaseless searching it was close to 5pm and getting dark. By this point we'd gone 5km and had no idea how much further we needed to go or even if we'd missed it. We were in the middle of a forest. We´d already seen monkeys and heard snakes and decided to head for home.
Even though it was downhill, Lizzy refused to mount her bike, claiming that her hands weren´t big enough to operate the brakes properly and could no longer grip. The track was quite steep in places and riddled with potholes and boulders which Lizzy wasn´t comfortable on.
With such perfect mountain biking conditions for Rick, he couldn´t resist the urge to push on ahead, leaving Lizzy behind. So while Rick was enjoying himself, Lizzy was ready to curl up and sleep through sheer exhaustion. On her own, walking through the forest, not thinking that she can make it back to the hostel, Rick was no where in sight and the bushes were rustling all around. The mosquito bites were angry and very irritating...not only that but Lizzy had been bitten more times during the ride, despite applying lots of repellant. A very tired, dejected and
mosquito ravaged Lizzy, weakened by hunger, began to give in to paranoia. She could hear in the distance the harrowing cry of soon to be killed cattle (not nice), then a gun shot went off.
After about 1km of pushing the bike uphill listening to cattle being shot in the distance, Lizzy saw Rick waiting at the top of the hill...bored. By this point Lizzy was so fed up, broke down in floods of tears 😞 claiming she had no energy left to back to the hostel...Rick did his best to comfort Lizzy.
He resumed pushing both bikes and walked together until reaching the normal road again. Lizzy begrudgingly got back on the bike to complete the last 4 km back to the hire shop. We were both COVERED in mud.
In the evening we
laughed a lot about the day...Lizzy couldn't believe she actually thought she was going to be stuck in the forest! 😊
We decided to get an early night we were travelling the next day and needed to be up early. Besides...after the day we'd had we could barely walk...
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anonymous
non-member comment
i <3 lizzy and ricks adventures SO MUCH!! cannot wait for the next installment!!! all my love to you both xx