11.2008 Brazil

Tsiklonaut

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Now we've done over 9000km of Brazil.

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Started off by visiting our friends Fernando and Maraisa in Campinas who we met in Estonia when they traveled around Europe some time back. Spend some fab time there and they helped us to properly adjust with their culture.



A view into the center of Campinas from their window (click to enlarge)



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A sunset and a sunrise from their window...



Visited São Paulo from there 2 times:


Sé cathedral (click to enlarge)

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Gold buyer - loads of 'em in the metropols and a can be very annoying persons.


Selection of stuff from São Paulo market (click to enlarge)

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Center of the city.

And recording from the same spot:
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(use enclosed headphones the get the best "feeling" out of it, if possible)


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Fuel is relatively poor-quality in Brazil. In and near the bigger metropol cities you can get normal unleaded 95 octane. But mostly it's leaded lower octane stuff, that makes valves sound bad under the load, almost like the engine is about to blow up. But boxer eats everything and goes like a tractor with every crap fuel we've put in it. :thumb

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Like everywhere we've been so far in South-America, the aged trucks are a traffic hazard - they go 20kph up the mountain and 120kph down the mountain, often with non-existant brakes and careless drivers.

Unfortunately our camera was pickpocketed when we visited Sao Paulo for the second time. From there on we shot mostly video or poor quality pics with video camera.

After Campinas we went to Ilhabela, an island with Atlantic tropical jungle and did a decent 4x4 offroad track there that goes trough the middle of the mountaneous island:
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From there to Rio de Janero - wonderous city! Despite it's reputation being very criminal and polarized, we spent fabulous three days there and decided that it was definitely one of the best cities we've ever been.

A recording from multicultural Rio de Janeiro street - meditating flute.
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A short video from there:
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Wild camping in Brazil, some farming ground...


From there we headed up south. Few days later took an offroad shortcut road that our GPS showed (we got a good detailed GPS map of Brazil), it started like smooth gravel, then it went corrugated, then came also potholes, then big rocks and ended up like a trails-track. Add a 2up fully loaded bike and over +30C weather... Some around 100km of it...

...result: blown rear shock!

Our Wilbers is dead. :(

With shaking (empty absorber) rear end we rode some over 100km to the city of Vitoria da Conquista. Fortunately there was one guy in the city who has experience in rebuilding suspension shocks. But he had to order the parts from another city and it took 3 days of waiting. We probably were the only tourists in this city. Not much to see... So spend rather bizarre 3 days there.


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A sound recording from karaoke bar.


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And a recording from the street - chavs played pool on the street, with the car parked and music playing out loud.

So the guy repairs the shock. We were happy and rode off... Till 20 kilometers away it started to leak again. We turn around and get back to him - he looks confused, but decides to repair it again free of cost - so it was additional day of waiting.

The next day it was repaired we rode off, it still started to slowly leak later, but slow enough we could continue beating our GS on the bad Brazilian roads.

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A video from Brazilian roads, tar and dirt, just the easy parts - with music.


And rode on the way to Salvador... Till our bits of our rear tire started to come off (almost completely worn tyre, heat and bad roads...)

A flat... On the main road filled with TRUCKS, excessive noise and diesel fumes!!!

On the perimeter of the Salvador city, multilane road with trucks passing us half a meter distance sh*ting black diesel fumes on us I tried to find the hole and repair our rear tyre - ended up with my hands bloody. The pressure bottles didn't have any thread on 'em, so I had to force them into the valve with raw force and it ended up damaging my fingers with sharp corners the valve had.

Not nice.

Got it repaired. Plastered up my fingers with blood still on 'em (and thought what type of typhus or cholera I caught now touching the ground and my rear tyre with bloody and wounded hands in tropical dirty conditions)

Pissed off, I rode off.

Some one kilometer later... The bike instantly throws itself almost 45 degrees from the direction at some 70kph speed. By miracle we stood up and didn't crash. The rear tyre came off the wheel!

So with over +30C heat and humidity (close to the ocean), we pushed the bike off the road (try to push over 400kg bike ascending to the hill!). I almost fainted after that.

Rear tyre was unrepairable now.

Thanks to the local biker who came to help in the end. He called to Salvador Suzuki and their truck came to pick us up an hour later. So our GS rode the final bit into Salvador center - on the truck. :blast

Funny... Our video camera also stopped working in Vitoria da Conquista - video is, but no sound, and camera works till it heats up - then it freezes.
Our rear shock blew up. Tyre vanished. My hands wounded. Bike came to a standstill just before the Salvador. Just like the God didn't want us to go to Salvador (city of mostly black people). So maybe the woodoo magic worked against us there...

Thankfully we got our new tyre from Salvador Suzuki dealer - Michelin Anakee, and the guys were amazed to have motorcycle travellers there and they didn't even charge anything for the truck transport and tyre replacement! Looks like our bad luck started to change since then.

A guy we met in Suzuki helped us to find a hotel near Barra beach too - one with a fantastic view to the beach. And what a nice next two days it was to be in Salvador!!!

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A short video from the Barra beach Salvador.

And from there we rode down to Uruguay in 5 days - loads of rain... And floods. It was a ride not to be remembered...

Still, with our bad luck to sum up our 30 days and over 9000km in Brazil:

If there existed a stunning tropical giant on Earth, it'd be Brazil.

To quote the Insight Guide: "It's a heady mix of all - laid back tropical paradise, economic miracle, home of hedonistic carnival and a perfect place to travel in."

We love Brazil!!! :bow
 
Good to read your having fun :thumb It's always interesting to read your reports.

We look forward to the next installment :bow


Val & Jill.
 
Brilliant report, sounds like you are experiencing it all. Keep it coming and keep safe :thumb2:beerjug:

Stewart
 
Love readin your reports Mr T. GReat pics too...... helps me get thru my shift in crappy London, I dream of being free on the open roads..... :)

Be safe,and looking forward to your next instalment.
 
Good stuff!

Never mind the problems, you're having a great time! More good times to come!:augie
Best wishes!
DB
 
You are both VERY WELCOME to come back to Campinas and spend more time with us. The city is not very intresting, but we can have a cold beer.

All the Best
 


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