ACCORDING TO ME, FINDING A RENTAL BIKE IN OURO PRETO IS LIKE RECOVERING A COCCAGLIO BOAT.

 BELO HORIZZONTE: THE THIRD LARGEST CITY IN BRAZIL

From the Paraty Rodoviaria I take a bus to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) of the Costa Verde Company, the only one that travels this route (price: 55 real). Note that there are several departures per day. Arrival after 5 hours at the Rodoviaria Nova Rio in Rio de Janeiro. Keep in mind that it is gigantic but that there is no money exchange office inside it. You have to go downtown or Copacabana.

From here I take a bus to Belo Horizzonte (Brazil) of the Cometa Company, (price: 72 real: they accept prepaid credit cards). Keep in mind that there are several companies that operate this route (including the company Util) with many departures every day. After 6 hours I arrive at the Rodoviaria of Belo Horizzonte, the third largest city in Brazil, built on the adjacent hills. There isn't much to see, not even talking about bikes and so I change the air quickly.

ACCORDING TO ME, FINDING A RENTAL BIKE IN OURO PRETO IS LIKE RECOVERING A COCCAGLIO BOAT.

From the Rodoviaria di Belo Horizzonte I take a bus to Ouro Preto (Brazil) of the Passaro Verde Company, the only one that travels this route (price: 24.23 real). Keep in mind that there are many departures per day. Arrival after 4 hours at the tiny Rodoviaria di Ouro Preto, located 1 km north - east of the historic center. and I take a taxi to its historic center, listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site, (2 real, same price as the bus). This is also a beautiful colonial city, very well maintained. I go straight to the money exchange office in Piazza Tiradentes (honest exchange) and then to the tourist office (city maps for a fee) to ask for a bike and they direct me to an extreme sports agency which, after asking me how always because I want the bicycle in a historic center full of climbs and paved and slippery streets, they kindly inquire to find one: they make a lot of phone calls, but nothing to do, the bike cannot even be paid for gold. Then I go back to the main square where I stay for several minutes and I notice that there are 2 people with bikes in all of Ouro Preto. So at the first opportunity I stop them and ask them if they rent it to me. They do not speak English and probably do not understand anything about my request but in the end what I understand is that they don't let go of the bike from under their asses even to shoot them. Distraught, I visit the city by traveling by bus (2 real each way; the ticket is made by the young lady on the bus and then you have to go through the terrible turnstile). It is a shame because in this way I can only visit a part of this beautiful colonial city where the paved and narrow alleys go down and up continuously offering an incredible spectacle.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html