Day271 – Tutoia to Bom Jardim, Brazil

Day271 – Tutoia to Bom Jardim, Brazil      05/19/11      Mileage: 365

My plan for today was to make it over to the town of Barreirinhas which is the gateway to another place that is supposed to have some spectacular beaches, dunes and scenery.

My hotel in Tutoia…

The road there from Tutoia was partly paved, but in the town of Pauliuno Neves it turned to all sand with many deep water holes to cross. I pressed on for 2 or 3 kilometers but the water holes and sand were only getting deeper. I passed a local on a moto and he said it only got worse from here. He also said he had a friend with a lifted 4×4 Land Cruiser and he could possible take me and the bike across, but I didn’t like the idea of the bike being bounced around in the back of a truck for 2-3 hours of hard off roading. So in the end I was forced to backtrack towards Tutoia and then ride south and west before the road turned north towards Belem…looks like Barreirinhas will have to wait for next time.

Crossing a small bridge in Pauliuno Neves….

At least now I was free to make the run to Belem so I turned up the pace and made use of the good road surface.

For an hour I was transported to the American Midwest complete with a John Deere harvester. Nothing runs like a Deere…except maybe a KLR….   😉

Late in the afternoon I came around a truck and saw up ahead the silhouette of another adventure bike….the first one I’ve seen since Valerii and I split up way back in Argentina…some 5 weeks and 6,000 miles ago. I pulled up alongside and saw it was John….one of the guys from the UK that I met back at Dakar Motos in Buenos Aires!

It always amazes me when I bump into another rider again thousands of miles later….it’s a small world. We pulled over and caught up on our travels for the last few weeks. John was also heading for Belem so we decided to ride together. We rode for another hour or two and found a hotel for the night in the tiny town of Bom Jardim.

I bed for sleeping…and 3 for my crap….

While we were unpacking the bikes there was a little group of kids that were asking us questions and wanting to take pictures with us. They also invited us to play soccer with them so after getting settled we went across the street to their tiny soccer field….which amounted to little more than some grass and dirt wedged between the road and a ditch. John and I joined in one on each team making a three on three…two kids and one, errr, “elder” kid to a side.

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It was great fun for sure and the two old men didn’t embarrass themselves too much. We thanked them for the invite, had a shower and then went out for a few ice cold beers….a great way to end another day on the road north.