Pontal beach

Lazy day that started with a run! My first in 6 months...a nice gentle pace up the river and back and then across Pontal beach in front of the hostel...not as bad as feared.

After a long breakfast using wifi as not working in rooms anymore we relocated 100m to the beach to read in the sun. Had lunch then got a bit cloudy so wandered around the historic centre, had ice cream and tried to book bus tickets but need our passports apparently?! Looked at the upper part of town which floods at high tide sometimes but only found a bit of muddy water and loads of tiny crabs. Paraty is sometimes described as the Brazilian Venice but looked like it needs a bit more water to me!

Anna bought some perfume which can only be described as eau de hippy - think incense sticks (there was v limited choice) - to try and cover up the lingering smell that has plagued our room the last few days. After doing some washing and banishing her trainers the smell went away...funny that.

We finally tracked down the Brazilian restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet (LP) only to find it was closed, as was the creperie we looked for last night. Maybe LP should employ us for updates :) However we did find a tiny Turkish cafe it recommended by the bus station and had amazing falafel pittas for dinner.Read more