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North of Rio, the name of the state Minas Gerais means "General Mines" on account of all the gold and gem mining in the area. The colonial Portuguese didn't discover the area's potential there until the 1690s , they exploited the area and those African slaves knowledgeable in mining from the 1700s. By 1822 they had exhausted the gold reserves.
It's a beautiful region, green and lush but less 'tropical'. We stayed in Ouro Preto which means black gold, which is equally lovely. Like many of the region's old colonial towns, it has cobbledy streets, main squares with town halls (former justice and prison buildings), pretty churches and jewellery shops.
We stayed in the Hotel Grande, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the 50s, and quite ahead of its time we say, though the locals hate it as it doesn't blend with the colonial architecture. We liked it, we got a deal on booking.com and then a free upgrade to a suite! We'd recommend the almost next door restaurant for great pizza and jazz on their upstairs terrace.
We went down a nearby gold mine a la Indiana Jones in a rickety old cart. Ben was Indie and I
was Shortround. We survived and secured our own treasure later on ....
They used to mine for gold dust here rather than chunks here, with large underground chambers. There was a shrine and lagoons of water down there too, we declined to swim in one on account of the arsenic in the water.
We also visited nearby Mariana by local bus. It's the oldest city (town) in the state (1696) and has pretty baroque architecture.
In the countryside around Ouro Preto are many hills and waterfalls. We took a hike with an ageing 'guide' called Marcelo. As the oldboy led the way, we observed one of the lesser known and lesser loved views, his arse crack from behind. And of course the flora and fauna, most notably wild orchids, vultures and giant termite mounds. Marcelo was fond of a shortcut or two, and we scrabbled through vegetation and around rocks to climb the standout rock feature of the area, Pico de Itacolomi, named by the indigenous peoples as it "son of the mountain" as it looks like a big parent rock and a baby one. It was a pretty spectacular walk, and thanks
to Marcelo's carefree route we did it in exceptionally good time.
So Indie and Shortround's other adventure was touring the town's gem / jewel shops, to find me exactly the right emerald. Fortunately for me, legend has it that travellers are meant to leave Minas Gerais with a gem, and fortunately again it was Valentines Day and Ben was feeling super generous. We went to every shop 3 times and finally struck a deal with a Delboy-Lovejoy and got a big shiny one at wholesale price! Thanks Indie!
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