A notorious piece of the history of the country and South America and best road bike us is a great cycling.
The coveted destination for the curriculum of the vast majority of domestic and foreign ecotourist.
Unbeatable flavors; scenarios that inspire security and tranquility; natural and cultural landscapes that impress. The inspiration for musicians, poets, and other artists. If all this is still not enough, dare to discover much more by pedaling 'slowly' through this incredible portion of the Royal Road.
We were fortunate enough to be included, months ago, in a select group of opinion makers invited to tour the Diamond best bike us Road on a Fat Bike for journalists.
The invitation made by Institute Estrada Real proposed a week of pedaling on dirt roads, following the referential milestones between Diamante and Ouro Preto, accompanied by the institute's "cycle specialists" and a structure that included, besides a whole planned itinerary to promote unique experiences for cyclists, support vehicles and rescue workers, contacts with characters from each locality, among other aspects.
Some perceptions about this event have already been very well presented by the comrades who made it with us, published months ago, be it in Avianca's onboard magazine, the very interesting blog Viajando com Aman, Tv + Ação de Minas Network program or social networks, finally, always taking into consideration more than the simple realization of a route for cycling.
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Of the much that could arise or result from a cycle-ride accompanied by a group of people, at least, specialists in the subject, I believe that I have come up to three expressions that, without claiming to be reductionist, concentrate without summarizing what was kept in me from the Path of Diamonds: See, Feel and Be a Fragment of the Royal Road.
One of the first sensations that one has when starting the course in Diamantina is that everything there is to be seen is too much, it is not in the eyes, because to any side that is directed the glance there is something that captures us, or by the perplexity before the beautiful, for the simplicity of the people or for the speed of life that insists on being less than that of our evil custom.
You must gauge your gaze as you pedal through the stone streets of the city of Juscelino and Chica da Silva, bent and dressed in all color mixed with the white of the dress of the houses, loaded with time but impeccably revitalized and cared for by their community. Whether it is in the light of day or during the quiet of the mornings, one can easily perceive the care and the care with the cleaning, at least of what we could notice.
Lapidated by her people, Diamantine reveals herself rich, especially in details. To see them, it is necessary to get lost street after street of a historical old town covered with attractions, good table, and security.
All this attention to hospitality can be closed in two of the good examples found there: Pouso da Chica, a cozy and comfortable in where you can taste an impeccable regional breakfast and Space B, in the Alley of the Key, a happy patchwork bookstore, café, restaurant, where the dishes served prove that those who prepared them to know much of the scratched. Feeling the aromas and flavors of the cultural events during your stay in Diamantina whets the urge to know what will come next.
Highlight something that screams in the eyes, without metaphors. The cabling of electricity and other services is almost entirely underground, which gives the urban landscape all the right to be perceived and admired. Photography, among other things, thanks. Countless Brazilian cities that are or want tourist should have in Diamantina an example to pursue.
Therefore, leaving is a verb that should not be allowed to conjugate when the reference is the almost three-hundred-year-old city, which in addition to being registered by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN), is also recognized by UNESCO as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Everything seemed to say: 'Look at the sidewalks, the years, borders, and brooks, my lord. Look at the unobtrusive tiles made on the thighs of the slaves; see the church towers and Café Baiuca in Praça Correa Rabelo. Look at the flower-edged windows or 'sweethearts', nice wooden statues made out of wood placed at the edge of the guillotine openings, not to seduce them, but to charm them."
Seeking to leave the city, the cyclist will invariably be greeted by several people, almost as a thank you for including in the itinerary of travel a few hours going through his place, his jewelry, his house. This way of being does not leave the cyclist in no time at all, until finding the dirt road that leads towards São Gonçalo do Rio das Pedras, Milho Verde, Três Barras and Serro.
As soon as the group gets used to the sound of the wheels on the arid ground, the way allows an unusual encounter. We had the grace to stop for a few minutes to talk to the couple Nemo Romero and Jimena, young Argentines, street artists, pushing two simple bikes loaded with all sorts of junkies and, umm, a unicycle and a hula hoop! Nothing would surprise more than one group of cyclists using expensive and super-equipped bicycles rather than crossing with two other cyclists in such conditions. In fact, I think the sincere and humble smiles of the couple upon meeting us were even more surprising.
One of our fellow travelers, the loyal Leo Bike, an expert on riding and kindness, noticed that something was wrong with one of the couple's bikes, and in a matter of minutes solved the problem of mechanics that would not allow them to pedal. Such paths give us the unusual power to be more than we ever imagined. The hot sun that disturbed us was not noticed after our meeting with such characters. Thank you, Nemo and Jimena, diamonds left on the way to be picked whoever might interest you.
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In São Gonçalo do Rio das Pedras, another fragment of the Minas Gerais hospitality. Arriving at the Ademil Bar (yes, it's really Ademil!), In front of the hostel Refúgio dos Cinco Amigos, the prose with the owner anticipates the good table that will soon follow. In moments, it was possible to contemplate an incredible scene, not only for the home-cooked food with a taste of "grandmother's house", but for the whim of the craftsmanship made in golden grass and the ariadas pots (almost 'ouriadas'), glittering in the window's eaves from the kitchen. It is clear that this environment, for the miners, has much deeper meanings than simply supplying the body with food. It's an invitation to be, that's all.
As you follow and pass through the next cities, crossing the important and threatened Rio do Peixe a few times, the presence of people in public squares and public squares is remarkable and beneficial. I point out this because I have noticed, when traveling in other states, that the squares have been left aside by citizens, which subjects such public spaces to urban social pathologies, among them vandalism, lack of maintenance of community patrimony and adoption of such places trafficking and prostitution.
It is easy to see that the squares we passed were clean, the grass trimmed, if they were signaled, illuminated at night, and best, appropriated by the community.
Following the trip, at the fork of the roads leading from one side to Alvorada de Minas and another to Santo Antônio do Itambé, a sad realization. Large motor vehicles continue to carry the result of ore extraction that creates indelible scars on the landscape and local culture.
Although any experienced economist tries to convince me about the economic outcome of the mining activity, nothing sustainable can be afforded to such a practice. And, to conclude the reflection, if an activity is not good for the citizen, it will never be for the tourist.
If we analyze from the socio-cultural point of view, it would be quite pertinent to raise family health conditions, alcoholism, violence against the minor and against women, exploitation of child labor, school dropout, among many other variables that remain hidden behind a developmental and alienating discourse.
And even more shocking to know that 90% of these mining companies are North American. That such activity generates work and income, but what kind of work and income are we talking about?
The name Itapanhoacanga (Tupi-head stone), I confess, was spelled and trained repetitively during the long hours of the pedal, but possibly repercussion in one of the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip. This district of Alvorada de Minas is a small fragment of road composed of passages on rivers and narrow roads between gallery forests, which made believe that, soon after, it would be possible to glimpse much beyond. And the promise was fulfilled.
Even before he could reach the end of the ascent, it was
impossible not to stop before the imposing figure of his Sebastiao, less than
six feet high, with a blue shirt and white hat on his head, walking with
difficulty but with faith.
The hospitable greeting which he addressed to us, full of sweet sympathy and meaning, showed the young man with short trousers and dirty mango mouth behind that 83-year-old countenance, whose cutis most resembled the tortuous paths of earth and weeds we passed. With a scythe on his shoulders, the little man going to happy work was made of a thrill that excites us, with jabuticaba eyes brighter as we talked as if it were us, the most beautiful moment of the day.
Once again, we touch the delicacy of the people of this place, which, in fact, is their greatest strength. After slight prose and scratching his head, he could not understand what these people had come so far from cycling to do in his "little corner of the world", Seu Sebastiao dictates that phrase that has been rumbling in our heads: "boy, go to God and thank you for visiting my city, what a joy!” Being Royal Road, in the simplest forms, can reveal an immeasurable grandeur. There, Sebastião, who disappeared among the dust of the bicycles down the hill ... Sebastião, a life story hidden in the clouds of land in the unknown backcountry of my country ... Sebastião, a dream of 'sertão' ... Of being so Royal Road?
As I exchanged ideas about what we saw and felt with one of our fellow bikers, the experienced and good-humored Gerstenberger, I realized that these silent thrills of the Diamond Way had sounded like a shriek in the soul of each one of us. Then, after that, reaching the Phantom City, in the town of Mato Grosso, and seeing the multi-colored infinite of the generations, is just another priceless nugget of the Way of the Diamonds.
The stretches of the Cordillera do Espinhaço, made up of uphill-slope, interspersed with stops to refresh the mill in water spouts at the doors of rural properties or at the banks of streams, add to a transition of Cerrado, possibly as important and as to the passage of this biome to the Pantanal in western Brazil. The water seeps through the grottoes, from the ore slopes to the visibly clear river beds. Visiting Serra do Cipó and Caraça is not a difficult task when one is on the crest of one of those mountains.
Do not miss the chance to notice, even if slightly, Saint Anthony of the North and Streams, populated from almost a single street, which has already been visited by important figures of history like the French naturalist Auguste de Saint - Hilaire in 1817.
Follow, without losing the pedal, towards Conceição do Mato Dentro, Morro do Pilar and Itambé do Mato Dentro, framed by Serra do Cipó. In this last one, Itambé, a lodging of extreme comfort and hospitality awaits the bicycle touring. After a lot of pedaling, do not miss the Pousada Lava-pies, where João Dornelas welcomes everyone with care, offering a night of energy and gastronomy of excellent standard.
Further on, in Cocais, Barão de Cocais district, one can alternatively have access to the Sabarabuçu Road, a short stretch of the Estrada Real that leads towards Ouro Preto, passing through Caetés, Sabará, surroundings of the State Park of Serra do Rola Moça, Honório Bicalho and Acuruí.
However, the locality reserves an even more special place for the cyclist. In addition to the churches of Our Lady of the Rosary and the Chapel of Our Lady of Sant'Ana, both from the 18th century, the archaeological site of Pedra Pintada gathers hundreds of cave paintings over 8,000 years old, and a monumental view. The guide on the site is made by the owners of the locality, very well trained, and it is a visit not to be missed. It is possible to contract tasty lunch or snack with delicacies produced in the place, promise of sensations to the palate.
Between Barão de Cocais and Santa Bárbara, the invitation to visit the Sanctuary and Natural Park of Caraça cannot be stopped. And the reasons are various and inimitable. There, next to the Serra do Espinhaço, a college and monastery were erected in 1774. Presidents of the Republic like Afonso Pena and Arthur Bernardes had their studies there. The church Our Lady of the Mother of Men, 1883, is an invitation to the interior silence. The lodging is simple yet comfortable and extremely capricious. Meals, by appointment, allow you to recover your moods and leave your senses sharper for what is to come, at nightfall.
In the middle of the pitch of dawn, in one of the accesses to the sanctuary, it is possible to have a meeting that stirs the sensations of the visitors. In the silence of our waiting, the werewolves are cautiously approaching the nocturnal meal delivered by the inner religious, every night. There is no way not to be hypnotized by that presence so special, haughty, elegant and full of itself, although in the process of extinction, by our omission and guilt, our great fault.
In our opinion, this is one of the points of the greatest impact because it is an unusual experience and of wild beauty that impresses. We believe that in very rare places in the country something like this becomes as possible. I remember that many of us did not even blink as the guar was present.
After a restful night's sleep, on the Santa Bárbara-Catas Altas road, one more reason to seek to understand the importance of the Estrada Real, not only for the Minas Gerais but for the entire Brazilian sertão. The stone became that we cross is an engineering work in the form of an aqueduct that, in 1792, served the garimpo, from which comes the name 'cats'. Today, there are no more than a hundred and fifty feet of such construction, which is possible to visit.
From here it is a few kilometers to Ouro Preto, where rest and comfort await the cyclist in the excellence of the Pousada Sinhá Olympia. But before that, visiting Mariana becomes a welcome 'must'. Stage of the War of the Emboabas, Mariana was the first planned city of Minas Gerais, although under a project of military engineering of right angles. To visit, besides the churches, the Mine of Passage of Mariana (1821) should also be included in the itinerary, since it is the largest gold mine in the world open to visitation, about 120 m deep and 315 m long, having been disabled in 1984.
At the end of the FamBike Path of Diamonds, hundreds of inferences are possible, but we should mention only a few in this space. We believe that the initiative of the Estrada Real Institute has reached its goals, since hundreds of posts were generated in the social networks by the participating cyclists, promoting landscapes and the culture of the way, besides the originated materials, reaching thousands of people.
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If there is an understanding that the cyclist is a consumer who replicates his repertoire of varied experiences, he has well-trained taste, is demanding in terms of comfort, safety, and diversity, and if there is clearly interest in attracting the cyclist segment to the Diamond Road, there must be a strong investment in segmented and qualified media in order to consolidate this public.
The knowledge and flavors of the Diamond Trail await cyclists from every corner of Brazil. The competent role of specialists in the Institute Estrada Real, more than professional, is given lovingly; after all, reveal the backyard of their homes for all of us. Rather than promoting destiny, they carry out the qualification of the local tourist offer and help in the development of strategies that may focus on the potential improvement of the quality of life of these people, not for tourism, but through it.
