A selection of photographs taken in Brazil in 2009.
Part 36:
Minas Gerais (MG) – Horse and cart
Minas Gerais (MG) – Railway
Minas Gerais (MG) – Cloud climbing a mountain peak
Minas Gerais (MG) – Horse and cart
Minas Gerais (MG) – Railway
Minas Gerais (MG) – Cloud climbing a mountain peak
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2009, 2017
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
227: Railway
NOVEMBER 2009: Railway
In November 2009, I traveled by train to Ipatinga, a city at about two hundred kilometers east of Belo Horizonte. Unfortunately, Brazil has few railways but there is a rail link between Belo Horizonte and Vitoria, capital of the neighboring state of Espírito Santo. The operation of the railway is owned by mining giant Vale, which transports hundreds of rail cars loaded with iron ore from the mines in Minas Gerais to the port of Vitória each day. As a condition for operating the railway, Vale has the obligation to transport passengers too. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of daily services, and it is lamentable that the trains do not run faster than about fifty kilometers per hour. That day, I left Belo Horizonte early in the morning, and I arrived in Ipatinga in the afternoon. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery en route.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2009, 2016
A selection of photographs taken in Brazil in 2010.
Part 2:
Nova Era (MG) – Embarking the train
Minas Gerais (MG) – Train
Minas Gerais (MG) – Red river
Belo Horizonte (MG) – Cactus
Nova Era (MG) – Embarking the train
Minas Gerais (MG) – Train
Minas Gerais (MG) – Red river
Belo Horizonte (MG) – Cactus
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2010, 2016
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
147. Sweet and salty snacks seller
AUGUST 2007: Sweet and salty snacks seller
It is quite a long ride, the train travel between Belo Horizonte and Vitória, almost six hundred kilometers. You will have to spend more than thirteen hours before you arrive in the capital of the state of Espírito Santo. Indeed, the train runs at low speed. You can choose between a seat in the air-conditioned first class and a seat in the cheaper tourist class. Open windows provide the ventilation needed. During the travel, there are some options of refreshments. One cart rides on the corridors, or you can take a short walk to the buffet wagon. The refreshments – including a hot meal – are quite expensive. The train stops regularly. At those stops, local people have found a new income source: they offer their home-made refreshments at much lower prices. They sell doces (sweets) or salgados (salty snacks). The woman in the picture sold something different: a kind of a pancake made of tapioca flour, with home-made cheese. Many train travelers grab their chance to have something delicious at a low price.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2007, 2015
A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
110. Vale do Rio Doce
AUGUST 2007: Vale do Rio Doce
The almost 600 km long railway between Belo Horizonte and Vitória follows a great part of the course of Doce River towards the state of Espírito Santo. The railroad company is called after the valley, which is the river’s basin: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). Since 2007, the company has been renamed into Vale. Vale is one of Brazil’s largest companies and one of the world’s largest mining companies. The company possesses a thirty-year-concession of the railway, and is mainly used for the transport of iron ore, while transport of people has less priority. The passenger train moves on slowly, at an overall average speed of only 50 km per hour, and stops regularly for allowing long iron ore trains passing by. Sometimes a train with almost two hundred wagons! It is no surprise that the train travel to Vitória takes almost thirteen hours, and that there is only one train per day leaving in each direction. It was almost dark when the train entered the state of Espírito Santo. The sun was already setting, towards the horizon. The colorful sunset was reflected on the shiny metal sheets of the train wagon.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2007, 2014
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Adriano Antoine 