From Rio de Janeiro I headed seven hours north to the small town of Ouro Preto in the hills. The fact that this place couldn?t be recommended enough by my Lonely Planet guide for its splendid mountain scenery, plus my feeling that the town would be both rather less crowded than most of the other places I?ve been and, maybe because of this, far less commercial, made for an attractive proposition after four days of the big bustling city. I wasn?t disappointed.

Arriving at about six in the morning, I quickly found my way from the deserted bus station down a steep cobbled street to my hostel, where I would check-in and plan my day in the town. Soon however, I found Ouro Preto to be not as dead a place as I first thought it (perhaps it is only the tourists that don?t know about it), meeting a Sao Paulo resident by the name of Bruno, who, after I?d tiredly walked up and down the streets during the day visiting their many churches, would treat me to a tradional Minas dish of tutu a mineira, which appeared to me to be pureed beans with rather large pork scratchings - Mr Kane, you would have loved it!

English speaking Bruno, who is only twenty years old and studies at the big university in town, tells me he lives in a very posh area of this city, and owing to his wealthy upbringing, owns a season ticket and sits in a corporate box every Sunday to watch his beloved Sao Paulo football team play. Unfortunately, although I so wanted at some point in South America to see a game, exhilarated by having watched a lot of the Copa America which is going on in Venezuela at the moment, I had to decline his invitation as I move on tomorrow from here, first to Uruguay - courtesy of Ed?s kindness - and then onward to Buenos Airies, which I have heard very good things about.