4. Countryside
DAY 251 To Ponta Grossa
It is hot and muggy right from the morning. And according to locals, it is cooler than normal. “cooler” is very subjective. However, the breakfast in hotel was outstanding. this was one of the best hotel my trip. Unfortunately, I didn't see too much as everything was close for Easter Monday. Another problem is that it is getting dark after 1800. It doesn't give me too much time to explore.
I'm packed and heading out. And right out city I hit a big traffic jam. Luckily, there is a white paint shoulder and I am passing everybody. Nobody gets upset. That's how it works here. lineup was several kilometres long. I'm glad I managed to keep moving and got some airflow otherwise I'd be cooked like a lobster.
I tried to plan my route on smaller, secondary roads. But in Brazil, even those roads are pretty good and full of traffic. The amount of heavy trucks is unbelievable. But from I have seen, the Brazilian drivers are pretty good and very respectful. They certainly work with you to let them pass. It is a real pleasure to be riding here. Like with the roads, I try to plan to avoid big cities. I tried to find my overnights in some smaller cities where I can go and explore without travelling somewhere. But even the small cities have 400,000 people. And none of those cities I have ever heard before.
Unlike in other countries, specially Chile in Argentina where you can ride for hundreds of kilometres and not seeing anybody, Brazil is different. You always ride through towns and villages. You are never too far from other humans.
The landscape today is again very similar to Europe. There's nothing special to take pictures of. Or maybe I'm getting picky with my compositions after all those beautiful places I've been to. Landscape here is very familiar and comfortable. Today was a cloudy day, which was nice for a change as it kept the temperature down. But there were some rain showers in the afternoon. I managed to avoid all of them except one. I got wet 20 km from my destination. My bike got washed again.
I got surprised by a fast arrival of the evening. There wasn't too much for a choice for food and I didn't want to run around town after the dark. There was a Subway store around the corner. So much for a gourmet dinner. Oh well, you win some you lose some.
DAY 252 Avaré
Nice day today. The landscape continues to be pretty much the same, European like. There our more coffee plantations around. I crossed several big rivers/ lakes. They all looked very inviting but I'm not sure what kind of creatures live there. I have dodged several big rain showers and finally, I went through one. But it was so hot that I didn't even bother put on my rain jacket and it was dry again in minutes. My destination today looked like a small village on the map, but ended up to be a city with 100,000 people. The hotel was new, very nice, practical and minimalistic. Very much like hotels in Scandinavia. They have there everything you need, including a washer and dryer. And a superfast Internet, which is always a bonus. I was doing some route planning and I realized that my next scheduled maintenance place is too far. I have decided to change my engine oil and filter now. It is early, but I rather do it early than late. I have my own filter, but I need engine oil. I looked in several shops in the town, but none of them carried what I needed. I will be in the town tomorrow where is a BMW shop so I will do it there.
Day 253 Rio Claro
A beautiful morning today, there is no sign of a huge thunderstorms which came through the last night. I didn't leave too early today as I was talking to the hotels owner, Andre. Andre used to be in agricultural business selling farm equipment. So far, I have seen nothing but farms and fields so it must be a pretty good business to be in. It was very nice to get some information about Brazil through the local point of view. They also gave me some presents when I was leaving. Very nice people and a very nice place. The hotel was Pratiko Concept Hotel in Avaré.
The same easy ride as in previous days. Nice hilly roads with drivers very much aware of their surroundings. I really like riding my bike here. It was a short day because I wanted to do the maintenance on my bike today. I have my hotel booked, but it was too early to go there so I decided to go to the motorcycle shop first. It is called Motopoint in city Rio Claro. No problem finding it, even though my GPS took me through some sketchy areas. Behind back close gate was a beautiful motorcycle shop. I have arrived right during lunchtime so I had to wait a little. I was in no hurry anyway. they gave me coffee and water and cookies so I was good.
The owner’s name is Bernhard and he spent half a year here and the other half in Germany. The shop is spotless, you can eat from the floor. Everything is well organized, typical German efficiency. They manufacturer here different kinds of protections for big motorcycles. They make their own crash bars and handlebar protection. They also manufacture their own luggage panniers. Bernard showed me around his shop and I was very impressed. Like everywhere in Brazil, riding a motorcycle is a social activity. Most of the shops here they have Saturday mornin breakfast for their club members and supporters. I met one of the customers here. Fernando has a 1200 GS and came here for a little adjustment. We talked quite a bit and he gave me many pointers. It is always nice to get a local point of view. Fernando wants to ride his bike to Alaska, so I gave him some pointers as I've been there a few times myself. So instead of a quick oil and filter change, I have spent the whole afternoon there. Everybody, again, was very nice there. I can talk bikes the whole day, but it was time to get to my hotel.
I'm getting closer to the equator so when the sun goes down, it gets dark very quickly. I didn't feel like looking for a place to eat in town after dark so I had a dinner in the hotel. And I had few caipirinhas with my dinner. They were good, but boy they were strong! I don't think I should have the last one.
Anyway, it was a good day. My bike is good for next few thousand kilometres.