A post from Brazil (or Brasil as the Brazilians spell it)…
We are in Diamantina waiting for another wonderful 6 hour bus ride to Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, on our way to a national park about 120km from B.H. Diamantina is one of many gold and diamond mining towns in Minas Gerias, Brazilian Deadwoods where slaves built the churches, worked the mines, built the roads (858 km to Rio de Janeiro) by hand and white men made all the money. Lots of gaming/story ideas here. Tiradentes or "tooth puller" was the nickname for some dentist with a last name of Xavier who was the leader of one of the revolts that were of course put down brutally by the Portuguese masters by hanging and quartering.
Tiradentes went on to become a dark elf who continued to pull teeth in another world, but that is another story that some will not know…
Diamantina is a town where except for electricity and cars, time stopped about 70 years ago. The colonial center is very well preserved and the streets are still un asphalted, rather they are paved with large flagstones mixed with sand and concrete. The houses have a slight chinese pagoda influence unlike some of the southern mining towns from the imported chinese labor… hmm… Located on the edge of the Sertão, the country is dry and scrubby with little water and stark rocky mountains. I'll put up pics when I get back.
Gotta go, more when I get back…
