6. Passenger Princess
DAY 255 Belo Horizonte
I slept surprisingly well, despite the fact that I have a few major problems to figure out. I have decided I'm going to take the bike to BMW dealership in Belo Horizonte. It is called Euroville Motorrad. It looks like a big dealership so if anybody is able to fix it, those guys should be able to. Now I have to find the way how to get my broken bike and myself there.
I cannot call the dealer as I can't speak the language. but they have a WhatsApp messenger on their website. We should be able to find a solution. I connected with somebody on the other side. After many back-and-forth, I get them all the information they need. However, it is up to me to get the bike there. But they gave me a phone number of a tow truck service. They are based in BH, how the locals call Belo Horizonte. I will go to the town here to find something locally. It is Friday morning, and I don't expect anything will be available right away. To be honest, I am looking on Monday at earliest. The plan is to go to the town and find a tow truck. I will then extend my hotel as I planned to be only for one night.
I go downstairs to the hotel reception and I told them that I will probably need to extend my stay here. Not possible they said, we are full. Great, another problem to solve. luckily in Brazil, you have to check out till noon. They offered to look up another hotel for me. Good, I will find a transport come back, pack my bags and move to a different hotel. When it rains it pours.
I'm thinking if anybody knows a tow truck the bike shop might be the place. I get there and ask if they know somebody who can take me to BH. One guy in the shop dropped his work and started phoning around. After a few phone calls, he found a guy with a truck willing to drive me there. However, we have to go pretty much now or after the weekend. I pretty much jumped right away on the “now” part. I asked about the price and we agreed to pay part in cash and part in credit card. He will there in 30 minutes. I didn't manage to get the cash yesterday so I am off to get more money. The guys in the shop shaking their head, they are not sure if I can get the money here. The bank is three blocks away. I get through the first one and they told me it is only for the cards issued by their bank. None of my cards will give me anything. but I can go to the next one and try there. There is a big line up there so I have to wait my turn. it is a small branch and the manager looks at my cards and shakes his head. He doesn't think so but will try anyway. When my turn comes, my first card is not working here, but we strike the gold with the second one. I'm good. I'm going back to the moto shop and wait for the tow truck.
While I'm waiting, I'm trying to think about everything I have to do. I have cancelled my today's hotel already last night, but I will need a hotel in BH. I will do it when we are on the way there. The truck is here. I expected a flatbed truck, but the guy shows up with a Nissan pick up truck with a proper motorcycle trailer. Great! At least it will be a comfortable drive. we loaded my bike on the trailer and after my last experience I was making sure that it was properly strapped. I said goodbye to the guys in the shop. they didn't want anything, but I gave them a few dollars because the guys were awesome and helped me big time.
We stopped in my hotel where I quickly packed my bags. I even managed to take a shower in a record breaking time as I am soaking wet. The humidity is awful in the morning gear.
And we are on the way. My driver doesn’t speak English, and I don’t speak Portuguese. It will be a quiet 5 hour drive. I have already mentioned that Brazilians drive fast. They all are either ex F1 drivers or aspiring to be one. And they drive like it is the last lap deciding the world championship. My driver Valdiri has a trucking and towing business. He has few trucks and it looks like he is busy just rescuing motorcyclist. I thought we are going to take it easy with the trailer, but we are doing 140! He is definitely not trying to win a trophy for the most economical drive. I got a few bottles of water and Coke for us so we are good. It is a nice change to be a passenger princess in a air conditioned car. I have time to look around and the trip goes by pretty fast. We are in and out of a cell phone range, but I managed to book myself hotel right in the centre of Belo Horizonte.
It was actually nice to be a passenger princess for a change. I don't even remember the last time I was sitting as a passenger and enjoying the scenery. The road was going by pretty quickly and soon enough it was time for lunch. Everybody in Brazil drives like their life depends on it, but they always take time for a proper lunch. We stopped in a what I can only describe as a truck stop accept it was nothing like a truck stop we know in North America. It is a huge place with a selection of anything you could possibly want to eat. When you enter your given a token with a QR code, where they add all your purchases. You pay at the end for everything. It is a gigantic buffet, but they also have a huge kitchen where they can prepare whatever you want. Everything is well laid out and organized and also super clean. It is difficult not to feel your plate with five times more food than you need. The the price is laughable compared to North America. Plenty of different places to sit down and relax for a bit. We can learn a lesson or two over here.
Fed and watered we continued towards Belo Horizonte. We are only about one hour away. The weather ahead looks darker and darker. I think we will get wet. It doesn't matter we are sitting inside. The traffic is increasing with every mile we are getting closer to the city. About 5 km from our destination, the came down heavily on us. Roads became rivers within seconds. Our wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of water. But luckily, for us, the rain stopped just when we were pulling in at the dealership.