Poços de Caldas

Poços de Caldas, a city founded in 1872 situated on the south of Minas Gerais (a state in Brazil famous for minerals), is one of the hot spot for eco tourism, entertainment, charming cottages/hotels, crystals (unearthed deep down the quarries), beautiful landscapes and climatic experience. It has a mountain climate and the climate goes down to Zero degrees during winter. It is one among the ten best cities to live in the country and also the favorite honeymoon location. The city is also famous for cheese, wine and doce de leite (sweets made of milk). It sits on top of a dead volcano, which gives the distinct features of having natural hot streams which is advised for numerous medical treatments. I went with Dani for 3 days to escape the bullet hit mind and worries, and the experience was magical, profound and exciting.

It was around 80kms drive from my city (E.S Pinhal), the drive took me through the wilderness and bucolic serenity of Minas and we had a halt on the way at Pocinhos do Rio Verde (little ponds of green river). We reached the city around noon and checked into the hotel Varandas do Sol which is right opposite to Represa Bortolan (Bortolan Dam), a hydroelectric power station with beautiful river. After experiencing the Minas food for lunch we explored the downtown which was euphorically crowded.

On the second day our first destination was Cristo Redentor (Christ Redeemer), we went on car (there is an option to climb the top on a cable car as well), the high altitude and the aerial view of the city from the top was absolutely breath taking. On the top is the Christ standing tall with a charming and emanating brilliance. Besides this tall structure is the paragliding launch, cable car launch, an aquarium, food court and faunas. On the way back down we stopped at Pedra Balão (Balloon stone), a mystifying natural art work of stones. I climbed on top of the highest rock which sits on couple of oval shaped rocks and it was unique experience though dangerous and tricky. While going down we stopped at Recanto Japonês (Japanese Garden), a beautifully engineered Japanese garden with rich varieties of Japanese plants, flowers, streams, Japanese scripts on rocks, lamps and a typical Japanese house on the centre.
After having lunch we relaxed on Praça dos Macacos (Monkeys Square), a square with bath facility, water tap (hot water with sulphur content) for drinking and a beautiful garden. A group of ardent dancers of mixed ages entertained us with different genres of Brazilian music like Samba, Axe (Ashe – Afro Brazilian), Pagode (derived from Samba).
I went for a bath in the thermal resort which was reasonably cheap for a period of 20 minutes on a bath tub with warm water which had a smell of egg (sulphur content) and the experience was phenomenal. This bath is advised for skin related diseases, kidneys, stress, circulation…etc. The bath was so relaxing that I fell asleep for few minutes.

Next location was Fonte dos Amores (Fountain of lovers), famous for the waterfall and the sculpture (a marble sculpture of two lovers) on the bottom of the stream. There was a long queue to get snapped with the sculpture, especially lovers/couples. Later that evening we went on for a shopping spree and watched a movie “Knight and day” (my first visit to cinema in Brazil). The shopping mall (MinasSul) was massive, a paradise for shopaholics and myriad of options.

On the last day we visited Véu das Novias, a beautiful waterfall and its respective streams. We returned to the shopping to accomplish the final segment of shopping and glance of the city.
The trip has given me a brand new experience of Brazil’s history, food, heritage and climate. The city is expanding every year in terms of the visitors and the consumers. The experience was refreshing, rejuvenating and relaxing. There are 40 major destinations to be visited. I would recommend people to consider my words and get an opportunity to explore in this city.