felt like we’d accidentally stumbled upon real rural Brasil, a million miles away from the hectic uneasy streets of Rio!! What made it even better was not just a little swimming pool, but also a full on proper steam room with a tiled area outside with a stereo and DVD player!! This place was a result!

As the place was a good few km outside the village and there wasn’t much around so we decided to take up the man’s offer of lunch. We weren’t quite sure what we would get as vegetarians, but were pleasantly surprised when we were served a delicious salad, and a plate of rice and Brasilian style black beans. I don’t know how they make there black beans, but they are delicious!! After such a filling lunch and with us having a fridge we decided to stock up on bread and cheese for tea, so got the bus back into town and hit the supermarket for supplies! The little chalet was so nice that we

just chilled around the place for the rest of the day and worked on diaries and photos and got a fairly early night.

The next day we were greeted by bright sunshine and after one of the best breakfasts we’ve had on our travels decided to head out for a walk. There didn’t seem to be any paths around, but the roads were so quiet that it was a pleasure to walk on them anyway. The area around the chalet was absolutely beautiful - set in a lush green valley with great views to the surrounding mountains. We walked up to the end of the bus route - to the hamlet of Santa Monica of all places!! We really did feel privileged to have stumbled upon such a gorgeous place that’s not in any guidebooks and where travellers seemed to be a real novelty!! After an afternoon of chilling by the pool with a big salad lunch and a glass of wine we headed down to the local bar for a beer, where we were definitely