Scorchio

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So.. .(only kidding) We caught the boat back to the mainland yesterday, then travelled a couple of hours on a packed local bus down the coast, past a nuclear power station, and on to Paraty - an old colonial town with brightly coloured windows and doors, and roughly cobbled streets that flood at high tide. I say flood, but I guess that´s more at the Spring tides - it did come in a bit yesterday, and I went back to one of the churches last night to see if I could get a nice photo at the top of the tide, only to find that I was at the top of the tide the fist time... a slightly dejected walk back to the hotel...
We all went out for a shrimp supper last night, then managed to find a group of students who had just been to the power plant, and followed them to the beach - they humoured us by practising their english (none of us speaks much portuguese) and we got to watch them dance in to the small hours.
While yesterday was cloudy, this morning there isn´t a cloud in the sky, and it´s roasting hot; the streets are dry and dusty, and there are horse drawn hansom cabs passing by every now and then. There also seem to be a lot of fishmongers... or perhaps that´s just the street we´re staying on. We have another night here, then it´s on to Iguassu falls - a 5 hour bus ride to Sao Paulo, then a similar lay over, and a 14 hour bus overnight to Foz. The tour seems to be a very laid back affair - there´s not much organised, so if there´s something to do we have to suggest it and the guide will arrange it - it´s a case of ´we´ll take you there, but what you do while you are there is your problem´ - bit of a shame, but at least we get to see some of the country

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Photos

on the bus
standing room only.... bet they loved us, with all our huge bags!

I hope there's a pump there
otherwise it's a lot of buckets to be poured down the tube

brightly coloured beans
not for eating - for necklaces, I think

picturesque Paraty
one of the 3 churches

flooded streets
not by much, though!

Hansom cab, anyone
... with those rough cobbles, not sure I'd fancy it

our illustrious guide
in a worryingly common gesture!