Last night Binho and Railuz offered taking me on a fairly long trip today. After they left, I evaluated how tired I am and messaged Railuz that there is no way I can wake up early for that. But I don’t think he understood, and I did in fact wake up at 8, so we went anyway. Two bananas for breakfast with no dinner yesterday (I passed out before) was all I managed before Binho showed up on his motorbike. Sure, let’s do this!
First, I thought this is the end. Recalling all those stats on motorcycle accidents I once researched as I just sat on one going down a narrow windy road with a guy who doesn’t seem to get speed limits, was not helpful. Did you know that more deaths are related to motorcycles than to heroin? And the distances between the attractions described below were quite big, we’ve easily done 120km in total, much of it on ground roads. Anyway, fortunately Binho turned out to be way less crazy than the cab drivers in Rio or Sao Paulo, and we did have helmets (not so common in Malaysia last year), so I did relax after a while. Still, I had this secret plan to learn to ride a bike so I could then rent one to travel around places like this – but I’ll need to reevaluate that…
First we went to Poço do Diabo – a stream of ale coloured water with a glorious waterfall. I jumped in, of course, and for the first time ever managed to get behind a waterfall! Pretty awesome!
Next was Lapa Doce, a 1km long limestone cave. Well, it’s much larger, but 1km is open to tourists. I joined a small group of people from Sao Paulo who spoke decent English, as did the guide, which was useful. On the way they pointed out all the little yellow plum like fruit lying on the ground – umbu, turn out to be really tasty! The cave was pretty big and interesting, but to be honest, I’m a bit spoilt for caves after Mulu, so wasn’t that amazed. But it was quite cool in two respects – there was a whole nursery of really young stalagmites, perhaps only hundreds of years old; and there were a few boob shaped stalagmites too. So basically a motherhood cave.
I then took a short walk to Lapa do Sol, a small cave with some prehistoric cave drawings. They looked suspiciously fresh to me, but perhaps they are just that well preserved.
Next, the clear waters of Rio Pratinho. Wow. It really seems like the water here is just straight from the tap, no colour, no little particles of stuff hanging in it… Just pure, perfectly transparent water, a whole lazy river of it. Took a swim, of course, and it’s full of those little fish that try to nibble on you as soon as you’re still for a few seconds. Free pedicure!
Finally, Pai Inácio, an amazingly picturesque hill with views of all the best parts of the area – those amazing flat topped mountains like giant tables rising out of the grasslands… It was a perfect end of the day, to just chill out with some amazing views.
After the whole day, I have to say that going with Binho was a great deal. There are quite a few tourists here and they all travel in groups – so much better to have a solo trip! And the price was really reasonable, plus Binho, despite not speaking English, was super nice and helpful. Thank you!
I got back to town, did some shopping for tomorrow, and got home after dark, 7pm to chill, lie in the hammock, and write this. Partial success – the grandma next door made a little fire in front of her house and was there talking to herself very loudly for a while. But she’s gone now. I really need to clean up my mobile, the memory is full of carnival videos and I had to do some ad hoc cleaning today to be able to take pictures at Pai Inácio. Tomorrow hopefully my long awaited relax day. 
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