Introduction to Southeastern Brazil
22 January to 6 February 2006
Virginia and I were part of a group on a two-week  tour of Chile, Argentina and Brazil.  The
group tour ended in Rio de Janeiro, the only Brazilian city visited.   That tour is described and
illustrated in the preceding section of this website.

We had arranged with the tour operator, SmarTours, to delay our return to New York, so as to
remain in Brazil for an additional two weeks on our own.  

This section of our website describes and illustrates our trip during those additional two
weeks. Our idea was to stay within a few hundred miles of Rio de Janeiro and visit a few
colonial towns popular with residents of Southeastern Brazil when they go on vacation,

When the Chile-Argentina-Brazil group tour ended on 22 January 2006 Virginia and I took a
bus from Rio to Paraty, an old colonial town and popular Brazilian beach resort about four
hours west of Rio.  Our next move was around 150 miles (250km) from Paraty north to the old
inland colonial mining town of Sao Joao del Rei, in the state of Minas Gerais;  from Sao Joao
del Rei we also visited the nearby colonial town of Tiradentes.  Next came a ride north around
100 miles (165km) northeast to Ouro Preto (Black Gold), the famed old gold-mining town and
former capital of the state of Minas Gerais.  Then came  a long bus ride south about 250 miles  
(400km) to Petropolis,  home of Brazilian emperors for about fifty years until Brazil became a
republic in 1889.  From Petropolis it was a hop of about two hours to Rio's international
airport for our flight back to New York.  

On the map below you can see circled in green the cities and towns we visited.
From about 1700 to 1800, the state of Minas Gerais enjoyed a tremendous economic bonanza
from the mining of gold, silver, diamonds, and other precious minerals.  Paraty on the coast
shared the economic boom  because it was at the principal port for the export of those minerals
until a road was opened from the mining areas to the better port of Rio de Janeiro.   In the
towns we visited on this trip the great wealth generated  by mining in colonial times led to the
construction of dazzling churches, impressive public buildings, and palatial private homes.    
Most of those colonial structures remain because after the mining boom the area lapsed into a
period of semi-stagnation until revived the Brazilian tourist boom which developed during the
past fifty years or so.
The area we visited is very popular with Brazilian tourists, especially so because it is within
a day's drive from the huge population centers of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.  However,
except for a few visitors from the neighboring countries of Uruguay and Argentina we found
practically no foreigners during this trip.  We met no other foreign tourists, only a few
foreigners residing in Brazil or visiting close relatives in Brazil.
Because the towns we visited cater almost exclusively to Brazilian tourists we found few
Brazilians in tourist-related businesses who spoke even rudimentary English or Spanish;  we
managed OK but were unable to really converse.