Royal Road - Prados Lavras Novas and Ouro Preto.

Carnival in Ouro Preto.

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The trip was coming to an end, there were only two days and one night left, would we make it to our final destination and enjoy the last night at the Ouro Preto carnival?
We left Tiradentes very early in the morning and took the Estrada Real trails, which was a great choice! The road passes through the city and we saw several pleasant surprises, beautiful little shops and almost arriving in Prados, we passed an Automobile Museum, we couldn't resist and went in!
Very nice, the ticket was R$10.00 and there were 60 models of vintage cars there, all very nice and some as good as new.
The atmosphere of the place was unique with old music, spotless floors and everything very clean, we went back in time! Some cars were for sale and, for our web designer Luan Maia, it was quite a temptation.
How cool would it be to have a car older than me?

It all started with a personal collection when everyone always wanted to visit. As demand grew, the owner decided to set up the museum and charge to maintain it. I thought it was a very good idea, everything was so well looked after and there was even a little song that set the whole mood of the place.
We continued along the Estrada Real, passing through many beautiful places with beautiful landscapes, entering several farms, opening and closing many gates, each one more beautiful than the last and the further we went, the emptier it became, seeming as if we were the only ones passing through, apart from the animals we saw along the way.
Yes, there were animals, which often entered the road and wouldn't let us pass, such as a large bull who decided to stand still for a few minutes until he decided we could go on, everyone loved it, even though he prevented us from passing.

We kept going until we came to another gate and, oh well. Which way to go? This one didn't even have a path, so we passed through the pasture and saw the glow of a landmark in the distance! We followed it and discovered that we'd jumped over three along the way. Beautiful place, incredible scenery!

The Estrada Real is a very cool tour, well worth it, but soon trails appeared that were impossible to do by car, we took the normal road to get to our destination in time, we kept going and when we saw it, we had already lost the old way and fell into the new way. Some of the towns on the old road were left behind, and the next thing we knew we were in Ouro Branco and then Lavras Novas, and we were incredibly hungry! We decided to pass through just to get to know the place and when we entered the dirt road, our hearts filled with joy and we saw one of the most beautiful landscapes of the whole trip, the most delightful town we could find, a magical place, how could you not fall in love?

We decided to stay there, but what about Ouro Preto? Ah Ouro Preto would be a later date, the hotels there were simply incredible and, given the demand at the time, they would certainly be the same price as hotels in Ouro Preto, if there were any vacancies in Ouro Preto, so we thought it was the best option to stay there.
We split up again and I stayed in a Loft Hotel, which was simply perfect, with a room that looked like a house, with a Jacuzzi and a view of the perfect greenery. In the hotel's backyard there was a swimming pool with a very pleasant waterfall, with the sound of falling water and the silence and tranquillity, it was peaceful! It was the first time on my trip that I'd been in the water and it gave me a good boost, ahhh the water that does me so much good.

We left there and decided to go to Ouro Preto, after all it was our goal and the last night too.
In 20 minutes we were arriving in the city where we were going! We could already hear the drumming from afar and saw more and more people on the streets, it was simply CRAZY and little by little we were getting to know another Brazilian carnival, so different with its sororities, people with their mugs and various stages scattered around the city, each with a type of music to cheer the place up. Very crowded and lively, it was great to go, missing it would have been a mistake.

We enjoyed ourselves, jumped around, ate and when we saw it was already time to leave, ahhh well the trip had been so nice, I don't want to leave! Well, well. But as all good things are short-lived, it was time to leave, back to the hotel and Rio de Janeiro the next day.

Our original plan was to return via the Caminho Novo trails, but as we lost a lot of time on the way, the Caminho Novo will be left for next time. We only did one trail along the Estrada Real and decided to return the rest by foot.
la BR-040 and, in just over 5 hours, we were in Rio again.
Did you enjoy the adventure? Have you done the Royal Road too? Tell us, I can't wait to go back!

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