Arrived at Ouro Preto around 6:30am, and knowing that our small hostel would not be open until at least 8am we sat at the bus station and enjoyed coffee and breakfast - I had an amazing soy ball thing which was full of cheese and chicken! We then walked down into town along the cobbled, steep streets towards our hostel, stopping at a few huge baroque churches on the way. The weather was just coming nice and the town was so peaceful at this time of day. We were still a bit early when we got to the hostel, so sat outside and thought about our next couple of weeks. We left our bags in the hostel (which is called gojabada e quiejo, meaning guava jam and cheese) and went for a long walk all around town, stopping to take in churches and views. Some of the churches had really ornate carving (more like rococo than baroque) done by the Brazilian Michealangelo - Aleijadinho. He lost the use of his hands and feet, but created his carvings by strapping a chisel and hammer to his arms.

At midday we had lunch at a chocolate cafe on the central placa de tiradentes and shared a couple of savoury pastries, which were unfortunately a bit small so we had to share a couple of puddings too. Over 2 hours later we returned to the hostel for a shower and headed back out into the centre of town to go to the bank, and then on to the rodoviaria to buy bus tickets for tomorrow. Our use of Portuguese to buy the tickets was almost as exemplary as when we bought stamps a bit earlier in the day. And we have definitely mastered the Portuguese for good morning, which we practiced on pretty much everyone across the city.

It was still to early for dinner, so we went to a very lively, local bar for our daily beer (or two) and spent a least a couple of hours speaking very fast and very aminated, much to the amusement of most people around us. At one point some Brazilian came up and started talking to us, and continued talking despite numerous ´no entendo´s from each of us. Luckily some older kiwi named Brian saved us, and joined us for a time. Ate a load of pizza and then bed by 9:30pm!

Day 17 - the shutters on the window were especially effective and I managed to lie in past 11am, which was the official checking out time. Made the most of at least 7 types of bun for breakfast, including guava jam and cheese. The lady was so nice about us oversleeping that she kept the breakfast out until we were up!

Our bus to Salvador (at 6pm) first requires us to take a bus to Belo Horizonte (at 3pm), so we hang out in the hostel making the most of the internet. Having seen the whole town yesterday, today is a good day to take it easy.