Hotel Luxor Ouro Preto

Brzo rano jsem dorazil na autobusove nadrazi, ktere se nachazi na kopci na mestem. Mesto je zasazene do mezi okolnic kopce, kde se drive tezilo zlato a nyni spis vetsinou kovy. Jinak cela oblast Minais Gerais (kde se nachazi i Ouro Preto, je nejbohatsi uzemi Brazilie na nerostne suroviny). Mesto vzniklo v osmnactem stoleti a v puvodni podobe zustalo do dnes. Ve meste nejsou temer zadne budovy z dvacateho stoleti, vsechny cesty jsou dlazdene a je zde mnoho kostelu ...

... that is kind of Public. The mine is operated privately, but many people has the opportunity to mine on their own either in public or private lands. Production is active in many mines, and recently a "bambu" was found and avaliated in $30 million dollars. "Bambu" (stand for bambu in English) is said when the miner hits a rich vain.

Reinaldo, the miner, explained what he has done in the mine for the ...

... transported to sorting a belt, where the gems are sorted out by workers. The result of processing many tons (4,500 m3) of clay are a few dozen topaz crystals per day (2 m3 of rough for 1ct of gem).

Nevertheless this mine is environment friendly as it does not use any chemical substances in the whole process and all native vegetal covering and trees are replaced to reconstitute land's original state.

... as it was no longer profitable to mine gold any longer. We were then taken to a larger mine on the outskirts of the town which was much bigger and only closed down in the 80´s, mina da passagem (the largest historical gold mine open to public in the world!). We took an amusement park type ride into the depths of the mine in an old gold kart. Never minding the health and safety, it was a rickety seat belt less mine ride and we had to mind ...

... inspired accompaniment at the piano, setting just the right mood for this elusive and seductive style, in the perfect room for its haunting melodies.

The concert ended again with "Hallelujah, Salvation, and Glory," with this audience even more ready to "rock and roll" than the previous ones.

The concert began with a brief performance by the local university choir. They performed admirably for having been going for only ...

... prettiest colonial squares in all of Brazil with two old churches and nice view, I wondered why should I spend this great day on a bus. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I knew I wouldn´t go, and since I happened to stand right in front of another hotel, I checked right into that one. It overlooks one of the liveliest streets in town, and the room is even better than the one I had, and for a little less money. I spent a while looking down from my ...

... horse-riding, and before I could even say yes, I found myself on the back of a horse. We went for an awesome ride along the hilltops, with a marvellous view all around and the evening sun getting ready for sunset. After 5 minutes, my horse decided it was not in the mood to go anywhere and simply stopped. No kicking, pulling, pushing or swearing would help. It simply wouldn´t move. If anywhere, then back ...

... I hope the house will still turn 251 years old and not collapse on me tonight. From my window I have a fantastic view over the roofs to the green hills, an old church to the left. Picture perfect. I had lunch in one of those numerous self-serve restaurants where you load your plate and pay per kilo. While this sounds utterly unromantic and more like a cattle feeding station, the food there has so far always been very tasty, like nicely done ...

... appearence actually to the favelas in Rio). Just an incredibly picturesque town with a very interesting history. I much preferred it to Colonia. You wil see more than enough churches here to keep you going on any planned trip no matter what the length of the duration. Cool, old mine in the middle of town that you can crawl around in and explore too. The town is a one day place but well worth it if your time allows. From here I beat it to Belo ...

... interior and sure enough it was absolutely spectacular. It just shows you how rich this little town used to be once upon a time...

Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside the church so this is a photo of ...