Royal Road - Passa Quatro and São Lourenço

Two cities full of charm.

[xt_video type="youtube" clip_id="ErEnXFLc6Ts"] We arrived in Passa Quatro, the first town in Minas Gerais we entered, and right away we saw a beautiful Maria Fumaça, letting off steam, making noise and calling out to be seen, how could we not stop?
That's the only problem with the trails and towns of the Estrada Real, they are ALL BEAUTIFUL! Each one holds a surprise, we had to stay there for at least a few minutes.

We got into the wagons, saw the locomotive being filled with firewood and discovered that Passa Quatro is known for its honey. Each town along the route of the Estrada Real specializes in some kind of product, everything and even the souvenirs have a bee or honey design on them. The locals told us that honey is the mainstay of the economy, how cool is that? Everything is cute and full of little bees.
Damn it, time was tight again and the goal of the day was São João Del Rei, and I still wanted to go to Parque das Águas in São Lourenço, so let's get going.
It's so close that it didn't take us long to find somewhere to have lunch in São Lourenço and we found a buffet with free food for R$ 9.00, ahhh how I love the Estrada Real and its cheap places to eat! It's a pity that even though we were in Minas Gerais, there weren't many typical options, just the basics and the dryness for Minas Gerais food continued.
We had a quick bite to eat and were eager to continue our tour, so we went straight to the Parque das Águas de São Lourenço. We asked the price of the ticket, which is R$ 6.00, and went to enjoy it.
Right at the entrance I got my souvenir, a mug that cost just one real, with the name of the city on it, and it also helped me to drink the various waters in the park.
Inside the park there is also a store that sells various types of souvenirs, but the mug for example is much more expensive, so here's the tip!
I decided to try them all! Even though I'd been warned that it could give me a stomach ache, I wanted to take a chance - after all, it's not every day that you visit a park with different types of water.

I started with the magnesium spring, which I love so much! Then I moved on to the alkaline, which everyone speaks so highly of, but unfortunately it was the only one that was dry, just to make me curious. I tasted all the waters available, including carbonated waters, and oddly enough I liked them, hmm miam miam.
I found the park beautiful, there's even a place to bathe and enjoy it, just like in a club. But time was very short and we still had to get to São João Del Rei, and from what I saw, the next trails were complicated.
Vambora? Will we make it overland? Will the car get through? And São João Del Rei? Will we sleep there?

See more photos here.