Costal road to Paraty and Rio

California has highway 1, and I have never ridden on it, however, I expect it to be beautiful. Nonetheless, the coastal road BR-55 that goes from Santos (East of São Paulo) to Rio is curvy, mountainous, and absolutely breathtaking. We left São Paulo early and road through Santos, across a ferry, and onto the BR-55, headed towards Paraty.
The ride has mountain passes that overlook stranded beaches with the Atlantic blowing a nice breeze up the hillside. Sailboats and yachts poke around finding secluded spots to chill, while palm trees climb the mountains from the beach to the peak. The BMW moved swift and clean around the jungle lined curves and the tarmac was nice and gentle.
The day was long and a little wet, as we battled through a bit of darkness and rain as we road into Paraty. Our friends Pete and Carol from Canada were waiting on the main drag as we strolled into town. They set down their beers and showed us to the hotel around the corner through the cobble stone streets with lighted lamp posts gleaming across the wet surface.
The next day we spent changing fluids, head lights and adjusting valves. In the end, we had enough time to eat dinner and walk along the shoreline where the fishing boats sat beached with the tide hundreds of meters from the docks. Portuguese iron cannons lined the walkways along the shoreline and the Brasilian flag stood strong and proud through the soft sea breeze.
We left Paraty early the next morning (Sunday April 6, 2008) and headed north once again on the coastal road towards Rio. The skies remained a little cloudy, however, we made wonderful time as we strolled into the old Capital of Brasil. We were told to stay clear of the yellow and red lines of Rio, so we decided to stick to the coast line and go strait for Ipanema beach. Getting into the city was much easier than what we expected and after an hour we found a reasonable hostel a block from the beach. A cold beer was well deserved and the sign on the wall told of a Favela Funk Party that night. We knew we were exactly in the right place.