Eighteen to the Third or Fourth

On Friday morning, we arrived in Belo Horizonte from Porto Seguro after an unexpectedly long bus trip.  When we bought the bus tickets, the guy at the counter did not speak English so there was a little bit of confusion over the length of the journey.  I asked how long the bus ride was and we thought he said eight hours.  It wasn't until later that we realized he said it arrived at 08:00 hours.  Since the bus left Porto Seguro at 2pm, the misunderstanding was the difference between an eight-hour bus ride and the 18-hour bus ride it turned out to be, making it the second-longest bus ride we've had so far on this trip.  I think one of the things that ultimately made the ride so long, especially given the distance, was the fact that it made so many stops, not only in small towns to pick up more people, bus breaks so the passengers could get food, smoke, or just stretch their legs.  Nevertheless, we arrived at last Friday morning and were able to check into our hostel early. 

 

The hostel was pretty bad by the way and I'm glad we only stayed for one night.  It was probably one of the smallest hostels we've stayed in and everything was very cramped and not very clean.  The reception desk doubled as a breakfast counter; the dining room doubled as a library and TV room.  The bathrooms were disgusting and there weren't nearly enough of them for the number of people staying there.  Luckily, we have a private room so we had a little space to ourselves, but we didn't have a private bathroom.   I'm just glad we didn't have to stay in a dorm room because the number of bunks I saw crammed into the small spaces was beyond ridiculous.  I really wonder what goes through people's minds when they decide to open up a hostel.  If anyone is interested in moving to Belo Horizonte and starting a business, the hostels could definitely use some competition. 

 

Belo Horizonte is the third or fourth largest city in the country, depending on who you ask.  People in Belo say they're the third largest; people in Salvador say they are.  Even our Lonely Planet guidebook lists both Belo and Salvador as the third largest.  You would think they would just acknowledge that the cities are very close in population size and it's difficult to tell.  Nevertheless, while Belo is not a tourist destination like Rio, or a business hub like Sao Paulo, so far, I've encountered more people here who speak English than in any other city we've visited in Brazil.  It's a little unexpected for a city I had never even heard of before we arrived in this country.

 

Before we arrived, we contacted Fabio, the really nice Brazilian guy we met and hung out with in Florianopolis for New Years.  He lives in Belo and spent most of his life here.  He had invited us to come out if our plans allowed, so we decided to take him up on the offer when we were trying to decide where to stop between Porto Seguro and Rio.  After one night in the dirty hostel, it was great knowing that we had somewhere else to stay.  And while the couch surfing experience in Porto Alegre was pretty bad considering the guys apartment was dirty, had bugs and a shower that shocked you, I was pretty confident that Fabio would not live in such conditions.  He is gay after all, and even the messiest of gay guys tend to wash dishes and pick up after themselves every once in a while.  As suspected, Fabio has a really nice three-bedroom, two bath apartment just north of the city in the Pampuhla area.  The apartment building is only eight years old so it's very modern and updated.  He just moved in a couple months ago and is still getting things settled, which he is taking his time with since he usually stays with a friend during the week where he has his own room, an easier commute to work, and someone else around to keep from getting lonely. 

 

He doesn't have internet access at his apartment so we've had to rely on a local internet cafe the last few days.  Otherwise, we've just enjoyed ourselves relaxing.  Like most people, Fabio has to work during the day so we spent time with him over the weekend and during the evening after work.  It is definitely nice to have this little break before we arrive to the madness of Rio.