The Crazy Roadtrip

As we couldnt spend the whole nice weekend in Sao Paulo while nobody is in the city, we decided to follow the traffic jam and head to Campos do Jordao.
Luckily, Sandra got a car and a navigational system, so we thought it would not be a big deal to drive where everyone else is going too.

What we did not know is, that our GPS had no freakin idea about reading maps and finding way that are "usuable". Thats how we were lead from the highway through a little city and against a oneway street. Now, we wondered, but did not think that just because of one oneway street the GPS would be totally wrong. Afterall, there were NO SIGNS for a one way street and if it wasnt for a coconut dealer that waved at us like a berzerk, probably nobody would have noticed us. Not even ourselves.
So we turned the car around and followed "Uschi's" (thats what we called our GPS as it is the stereotype name for a dumb german girl) advice. We headed towards the road "SP 50" of which we thought it was a highway. Well, let me get straight to the point: It is not a highway. Barely even a real street. But we were supposed to drive on it for "more than 40 kilometers".
I can tell you, it was an adventure. It was a tiny street full of holes and red earth, partly the street fell down the cliff, the curves were extreme and when Sandra and I did not stay silent because we were concentrating so hard on the street, all we would ever say was "oh my god", "do they always go this way? there must be another way?!" or "they should use that as Formula 1/Rallye/DTM racing track". Sandra was driving, I was the co-pilot... "careful, sharp right".
But: We were really really happy about the view we had from there. We went very high up and due to the way the street went we really had the view of a lifetime.

Here is a little video (dont listen, we talk weird):
[oooops, this follows tomorrow. not enough battery]

In the end, the trip took us 3.5 hours instead of two and when we finally arrived in Campos do Jordao. You must imagine it like this: We came from the left, down a hill and lined into a huge traffic jam with cars from Sao Paulo. So there was another way! And it was apparently very full (while our way was empty...) Probably we would have stood an hour in the traffic jam if we had found the right way right away, so whatever.
The town is really cute. Its a bit like the St.Moritz / Aspen of Brazil where people just go to show of their expensive cars and clothing. Against all stories it was not cold at all, though it is higher than 1000m. Noone cared though, they all were wearing fur, and hats, and gloves, and boots. Only Sandra and me were in T-Shirts :)

On the way back we decided to lock "Uschi" away in the glove compartment and to just follow the Sao Paulo signs, in order to find the other way. Following signs really wasnt easy as mostly there weren't any, but we made it.
It was faster and a lot more comfortable to go this way with police lined up everywhere and many people on a three lane road. But: It was kind of boring compared to the start.

What a crazy adventure this was. And one thing is for sure: Der Weg ist das Ziel!

And now some pictures: