markets and ugly statues

we finally made up our mind to go to the minas gerais region, and took a bus to belo horizonte. arriving late we did what every backpacker is warned not to do under any circumstances> wander the streets at night looking for a place to stay. being sensible human beings we analysed the situation and decided that the amount of people out and the nearby police station would make our endeavour a safe one, and walked from one full hotel to the next. we finally got taken in and had to pay only one night even though we stayed for two, since we arrived well after midnight. we therefore had towels, a tv and our own shower for the price of a cheap hostel. yay :)

after breakfast we marked the parts of the city where there are handicraft markets, to find a god from south america for my friend KD. we spent the day walking down the main streets and looking for gods, finding only badly painted plaster statues. the market was fun anyways, with loads of stalls and few tourists, even though the city is, according to our guide, one of the third largest cities of brazil. you read right, one of the third largest, since salvador is also the third largest city. i don´t understand it either... we´re been told that belo horizonte is ugly, full of high rises and smog, and boring. we thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, the great tourist infrastructure (even though there were no tourists there), the quiet plazas, and the signs of omnipresent culture with theatres and dance performances.

after unsuccessfully scouring the artesanal market we went into the municipal park and whiled away the afternoon. we saw amazing things> punk ninjas, an argentinian circus show and a woman teaching brazilian women european folk dances (of course the brazilians couldn´t resist shaking their butts, so the dances actually looked better than usual). we finished the day off in a pretty little plaza drinking mango juice, and then relaxed in our luxurious hotel.

the next day around noon we left for ouro preto.

here a quick update to what more has happened until now>
spent some days in ouro preto where we saw a few too many churches,
saw sao joao where we did a lot of people watching,
met a cool artist in tiradentes (which is otherwise dead boring),
spent some more days with our couchsurfing friends cahe and giuliana in rio
and spent today in sao paulo eating a lot of yummy food.

tomorrow my flight leaves to canada! once i´m there i´ll write a little more detail, but for now wish me a good flight :)