Blog entry - Travelling time (fourth - sixth week)

Blog entry: Fourth - sixth week

Brazil, state of Goias, 17 December 2012 - 6 January 2013

Dear friends, family and all followers,

First of all, forgive my tardiness in updating my blog as things have been hectic lately.  Secondly, I hope that you all had a great holidays and enjoy it with your loved ones. In spite that my loved ones are on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, I want to say that I always carry you in my thoughts and in my heart. Thirdly, for you all, I also want to thank you for your lovely comments and wishes. Although I'm lacking time in replying them individually, I do read them all and they gave me much strengths and motivations. I hope in this new year I can still entertain and inform you with this blog. 

Inspired by the great book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker (I will inform you later about this), I would like to change my style of narration to the style that Mr. Stoker used in his book. Although the content will not be as exciting and horrifying as the book in regard, I hope that you will appreciate this changed of style. So, here it goes... 

17-20 December, ENP. The girls were gone for a couple of weeks as they were going to celebrate the holidays in Bonito, Foz do Iguaçu and Ubatuba (nearby Sao Paulo). Thus, I was left alone in this "island". I made the choice to stay behind for various reasons. Reasons which will need to be explained quite extensively and therefore I choose to omit them here in this entry. However, I'm quite content with my choice although I would be lying if I'm saying that I didn't felt quite lost. Lost in the sense that I didn't know what to do, so I have dedicated myself in literature research. Until Leandro asked when I was planning to check the cameras. Glad with the confidence bestowed, I started to check the cameras alone. It went smoothly without any accidents (knock on wood!).

Only one thing was still grinding in my mind, the registration at the Policia Federal. As a holder of temporary visa it is required to register in a office of PF within 30 days after the arrivals. After a search on the internet I found the way how to do it. But, how can I go to the town of Mineiros? Well long story short, I could hitch a ride with Bahiana as she and her families were going to the town. 

21 December, Mineros. We started to drive around 8.00 and arrived in Mineiros around 9. As soon as I arrived at the rodoviaria (bus terminal) I bought a ticket of the 12.00 bus to Jataí, where the office of PF is situated. With the time that I had in between, I have fixed all the necessary documents and I can departed to Jataí with little worries. Arrived in Jatai, I went directly to the office of PF and spoke the receptionist that I want to speak with someone regarding Registro Nacional do Estrangeiro. It turned out that the officer is not yet back from lunch break and I needed to wait for her. After one hour she came and I handed in all the documents I had. She immediately pointed out that the letter of invitation was in English and it needed to be in Portuguese. As my registration term was closing, I need to convinced her that I don't have any other letter and that it will take too long to fix another one. So I tried to convinced her with my best Portonol, till she told to me that she needed to checked it with the office in Goiania. What followed was hours of waiting in agony, however, in the end all ended up well. 

Later that day. After all the procedure was finished and left all the stress behind, I waited for the bus to the rodoviaria. Next to me was a lady and I asked her about the bus. It turned out that she was going to the same direction and what follow was a quite nice conversation about where I came from, what I was doing in Jatai etc. Later came an old gentlemen to mingled in our conversation.  About more or less an hour later, the bus has finally arrived.  The lady went out a bit earlier than the rodoviaria, thus we have to said goodbye. Although, we hadn't a proper introduction, I will not ever forget your kindness and I would like to thank you again where ever you are. 

Back in the terminal I determined to buy a ticket to Goiania. Why? because I want  to go out of the "island" for a bit and also to spent Christmas in Pirenopolis. Beside nature, I really enjoy much the colonial architecture and fortunately this town possessed both aspects. However, i could only catch the 14.00 bus on the following day. Therefore I was forced to spent one night in Jatai. I decided to stay nearby the rodoviaria to make things easier for the following day and also because there were many pousadas (cheap hotels) around the terminal. 

Just before 21.00 I was sitting outside a small bar across the terminal, waiting for the end of the world enjoying cold beer and barbecued meat with mandioca (manioch/ cassava). So, the world didn't end and now I'm typing this entry on my desk back in the "island"

22 December, state of Goias.  The duration of the trip to Goiania was 7 hours. Arrived in Goiania, I was quite overwhelmed with the bright decorations around the shopping mall/ terminal. I didn't noticed this four years ago. After I went out of the bus I tried to buy a ticket to Pirenopolis. I have learned that there was only one company and the bus left daily to Pirenopolis at 17.00 pm. So, I was forced to stay a night in Goiania. Confident as I was with my recollection of the city I decided to take the bus to the city centre. Well, It wasn't a smart move after all. As turned out my memories regarding the public transportation in Goiania is quite rusty as I forgot that they are working with sitpass. This sitpass can only be required outside the bus from specialized vendors. Because I was already in the bus I just grabbed my last small changes and gave it to the driver. The bus went through the main street of Goiania and I was trying to find out some point of reference. I was determined to go to the same hotels as four years ago although in the end I missed my stop and ended up in the west side of the city, a place where I am not so familiar with. 

I looked on my watch and saw that the time was around at 21.00, dark and there weren't many streetlights. I started to get a little worried. luckily, I was packing light and therefore quite mobile. Downside though I was still wearing my havaianas flip - flop and cannot walk at a fast pace. However, I found out that this west side of Goiania is quite posh with its restaurants and bars. In the end after a long walked I found a sign of a hotel (hotel Avalon) and so I decided to spent the night in that hotel. It was not the cheapest option (90 reais / night) but I considered it as an "Christmas present". 

The clock was already at 22.00 when I put my luggage in my room. Due to the circumstances I already mentioned, I haven't dined yet. Starved as I was, I asked for the nearest churrascaria where I could got some rodizio. Rodizio is a type of Brazilian barbecue, whereby the waiters came to your table with variety of barbecued meats and if you like they will cut a slice for you (unlimited). It also came with buffet. After month of vegetarian meals, my mind was set for some meat. Without any refreshments and wore only a cargo short and t-shirt I went to the churrascaria nearby the hotel. I was amazed as it was a posh restaurant and all the clienteles were wearing their best suits and dresses. I felt quite embarrassed with my outfit, but it was too late to go back and change. The restaurant was exquisite, with a good diverse buffet (even with sushi) and the quality of meat was excellence (note to my little brother: this was cooked through and not so rare as we had in Amsterdam, however the meats were still succulent). Maybe because I'm not use to eat meat, after an hour of half I was already full and so I went back to the hotel. 

23 December, state of Goias. After I checked out I went to the nearest bus stop. All the busses to the centre were full, so I decided to walked (again with my Havaianas). My jaw dropped when I saw how close I was from the centre plaza, Praca Civica. I have walked around this plaza four years ago so I was quite familiar with it. Well, the milk was already spilled so let's move on. There was a good accumulation of people around the plaza as there was some kind of manifestation. Because I'm carrying luggage I didn't pay much attention and just went to the terminal. As I walked through the avenida Goias, among the people I started to feel like a backpacker. I don't know why but it was actually the first time that I felt like a backpacker. Furthermore, it was the start of feeling of liberation and freedom. I was overjoyed with all of this feeling and for a while I actually have forgotten all the worries that I have. 

Arrived in terminal and with still plenty time to kill I went to the market. Goiania is actually quite famous for its textile and especially every weekend there is a market where you could buy cloths cheaply. I was only window shopping (or rather market stalls shopping) and in the end I didn't bought anything. but there was something so familiar, the smells which brought me back to my childhood/ my time in Indonesia. I guess every market in the tropic shared that same smell. Although the odour is quite horrible, for me it was something so familiar and triggered some of wonderful memories. 

Later that day. By bus it is about 2 hours to go to Pirenopolis from Goiania. I arrived in the town around 19.00. The cloud was started to gathered and I could sensed that rain will dropped quite soon. Indeed, after twenty minutes the rain did come and accompanied with some thunders. I was walking and looking for place to stay when suddenly a black-out. There was no electricity and It was quite dark. I was already in front of a facility where they rent rooms. A second before I knocked on the door the lady owner already opened the door. I asked if she still had some rooms and she said yes, but as everything was still dark we needed to wait for a little bit.Well, in the end the electricity didn't came back up till the following morning. However, with the help of flashlight I could located my room and have a rest...

Dear family, friends and followers; I'm afraid I have to postpone my report on Pirenopolis till my next entry. I promise it will be with plenty of images and less text. 

PS.

Although this is really late: Mae, Feliz anniversario. Boa Sorte, saud y muitas feliz pra voce.
I cannot describe how much I miss you, but we will see each other soon as the time really flew by. 

Grande abraço y beijos 

 

Yuga