Brazil Part 2: Dec 21st - Dec 24th

Flight to Porto Alegre
Our next stop in the tour was Porto Alegre in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. We flew into the city late at night after a grueling 8 hour flight-delay at Rio. Although we had selected the better of the two airlines we found online- it proved as bad. They altered flight timings without prior notice and then kept things in a limbo without any public announcements. During the 6-7 hours of thumb-twiddling at the airport terminal building, the only form of entertainment apart from eavesdropping on the natives chit-chatting on the phone all around us, was the intermittent husky-voiced announcements: 'Flight-oomh-trayz-SHEchee-SINKoh-SHEchee-to-Brrrrrazzziliaaaaah'.

So after many refills of the water bottle, several trips to the baneiros (bathrooms) and multiple trips to the snack bars, we were finally ushered aboard the flight. But there was more to come-the flight crew took us on an eternal drive on the runway that lasted more than 30mins- all with the assurance that we held the first position on the runway. By the time everyone was settled in, we had all lost it- we tried unsuccessfully to coax the crew to provide us with dinner instead of the customary peanuts- clapped every time the crew made an announcement and cheered each time the flight seemed to move a few inches. It was hilarious! We finally got to Porto Alegre and checked into a downtown hotel.

Canela & Gramado
Next morning Archana and me took a bus to Canela via Gramado. (Carmen stayed back for an errand and decided to take the evening bus.) The clue to find out when you get close to these towns is when you start seeing the blooming blue hydrangeas along the road. We befriended a local girl named Marcella on the bus who was kind enough to give us tips on how to make the best use of our time there.

Canela, is an important holiday resort in the Serra Gaúcha, and lies in the Quilombo valley 141km/88mi north-west of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The style of the houses, including chalets with flower-decked windows, is reminiscent of a small Swiss town. In winter the temperature falls below freezing point, and it may sometimes snow, giving the scenery an even more European aspect. We walked around the town, took a short break at the beautiful stone church and found a very good buffet restaurant.

Gramado is a Swiss-style village in Brazil, known for their chocolates, hydrangeas, and annual film festival. It looks like a fairy tale town especially during Christmas and New Year when it is all decked up for the tourists. The firework and opera style music show over Lagoa Negro was pretty exciting. Gramado Canela Pictures

Caracol
The highlight of the trip was however the breath-taking Caracol Waterfall in the subtropical forest of Rio Grande do Sul, some 8 miles away from Canela. The skyline was dominated by giant Araucaria and the air was pierced by the roar of the majestic waterfalls. Occasionally a family of swallows took flight against the backdrop of the waterfall. It was a wonderful experience to walk 927 steps (about 49 stories) down somewhere closer to the waterfall and then following a trail to walk right to the top of the plateau from where the water dropped down. Pictures of Caracol

Soon it was time to wrap up with Brazil and take the bus to Uruguay- our next station!



Useful websites:
Gramado- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramado