Serro: Jingle all the way

Casserole felt for the rest of the day like riding a Rolls: the exhaust pipe did for once what it was meant to do: exhaust and not sing. No more potholes or boulders, no more sad forgotten donkeys, and some cars crossing my path. Who needs a Chevy, I thought. Although a part of me answered, "I do!".

As soon as I got in the old town of Serro, the Casserole started playing jingle-bells again. I parked and started looking for the hotel that I had chosen in the Rough Guide, but it was closed for renovation. "Go the the Pousada Pão de Queijo", said a local, "they are good!"  Hotel Cheese-bread, that sounds promising, I thought. Let's go! (Pão de queijo are these cheese balls that I can (and did) eat by the hundreds, stuffing them at least in pairs in my mouth, as well as in pockets, plastic sacks, rucksacks and the glove compartment- during my whole stay in Brazil: they are almost as good as sex, but last longer)
But they just had one room left, and it was looking right on the street. Given the width of the pavement, this meant my head would be about 50cm from the road. No, I thought, I deserve better, after a full day of potholes and cacti!
Yet God did not think the same, at least not that particular day. Everything else was taken or looked and smelled like a rat hole.
I rushed back to Hotel Cheese, but the last room was taken…
"Go to Gouveia!", said the young receptionist. "They are full of nice rooms!".
I had promised myself to never drive during dark, following the recommendations of tourist guides and books and blogs. And Serro looked absolutely gorgeous. But this was going to be just the first time I did exactly that: drive in the wilderness, with a mute GPS and without music, in order to find clean sheets for the night. And Gouveia, the next town on the map, seemed promising, according to the receptionist.

Highlights of the day: The tallest palm trees I have ever seen.
Downsides: Can't count on them for shade.

The Pics, or the Postcards

Next: Gouveia, the two-star town