People were a little mixed on this day, and JC had gone off to find a driver to bring our bags to Paraty and leave the van with Willy to try to find some parts in Sao Paulo. Each of us packed the minimum for two days, which was easy for me to do, as I (and Rahn) had panniers.
I headed off early in light rain to take the "high route" on the main road. The rain continued and poured down, resulting in me missing the turnoff to the north, and heading to Sao Paulo which was 40km away. It took me most of that to find a "retorno" (U Turn bay) on the pristine six lane expressway, to turn about and head north. Once I had started down the Caminho du Oro (Golden Road) towards the UNESCO town of Paraty, the road became steeper and very wet, and I stopped at a beautiful waterfall for photos. Later, I stopped again for fuel and again for photos of the animal nets that are built high above the road, for them to cross safely.
The road down the hill was incredibly steep and tight, and I passed a female cyclist lying out on the cobbles after a crash into a municipal van heading up hill. Soon afterwards, there was a pair of ambulances racing uphill at a rate, and leaving me a metre of road to pass on, followed by a fire engine!
I reached Paraty to meet with Sheryle for the first time in a month and a half, a separation that was longer than any we had had in 38 years of marriage. We went for a delightful walk around the old Portuguese gold and slaving town and had dinner together at the Banana del Torre restaurant. Just lovely it was.
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