My plan to leave early this morning remained a plan. When I woke up I realised my mobile phone was not charged overnight… great! I had to fully charge it again in order to make use of google maps, my sat nav 🙂 This should not remain the last surprise of the day…
After a nice breakfast in Hotel Eldorado, I followed the beautiful scenic route along the river Ribeira de Iguape to my first stop, Ipuranga. The road was in good condition and led me again through plenty of banana plantations along the way. From time to time I could also see the river in between the trees, shining beautifully through in the morning sun.
Arriving in Ipuranga, I had to fill up some petrol again and met thereby a nice local guy who was interested in my bike and asked me what I would be doing here. Since my Portuguese is still rather limited, I could at least try to make him understand that I am doing a motorbike trip through South America. He insisted to give me some power food on my way and made me a typical speciality from Brazil as a present, wrapped into banana leaves. It was apparently home made and looked like a power bar. I was grateful… until I tried a bit and realised that it is really not my taste 😀 It was super sweet and reminded me of a milk shake I ordered once in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Both I had to leave behind… Still, I was amazed by the kindness of the guy!
I continued my trip and found myself suddenly on more and more poor road conditions until there was actually… no road anymore. Gravel, dirt and pot holes were determining the scenery and I was trying to cope with the new situation. “Fury” managed very well and I was impressed by its ease to drive also off-road. I reached one of the view points and made a short break in order to enjoy the beautiful nature with its mountains in the background mysteriously covered in fog.
In the next town I could not resist but to stop and to order a clad do cana which is nothing else but a sugar cane juice. Mixed with a bit of lemon it was the perfect refreshment for the second half of the day.
The last section of the road was getting better and better again… a motor-bikers heaven was laying to my feet and I had the pleasure to drive curve by curve along the mountains for the last 2 hours, until I all of a sudden realised that the battery of my mobile phone was empty. I checked several times the connections and was wondering why it did not work. I would need to tell BMW in Curitiba to check the electrics of the bike since the adaptor and the cable were brand new. Luckily, I would not approach them… at the end of the day I realised I connected the phone with another cable which was in the backpack… Jesus!!! What’s wrong with me, I thought!!!! 😀
Where to stay in Curitiba
Arriving late in Curitiba I desperately looked for a hotel. Of course my GPS was not functional anymore and I had to do it the good old way… old school is still the best school. I asked a guy in a car next to me and he was able to speak a couple of words English but apparently not enough in order for me to understand where to find the next hotel. The guy was really great and drove me to the place where I finally checked in.
Hotel Confiance Centro Cívico – Is a business hotel with secure parking in a nice neighbourhood. They serve dinner and have a great breakfast. Great stay!
Switching off the engine, I felt exhausted and relieved to have made my final destination of the day. Tomorrow I shall visit the local BMW dealer to do my first service of the bike. Good night world!
