Arriving in São Luís, I felt a bit disappointed - there didn't seem to be much to do in this city, so I was glad I only booked one night at the hostel. Although, I had a great lunch at Restaurant Senac (A chef school that offers a buffet lunch of local dishes) and then spent the afternoon walking around the Historic Centre.

On Friday morning I took the bus from Sao Luis to Barreirinhas, the main entry point for tours into Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. During breakfast I made friends with Matthieu, a guy from Montreal who was making the same trip, and we decided to stay at a hostel in Barreirinhas with Assi, a girl from Finland who I met in Pipa. It was great to have some company for a few days, especially while travelling through these remote cities where there's not a great deal to do, and few people speak English.

Upon arrival at our hostel in Barreirinhas, Matthieu and I took a tour to Lençóis for the afternoon. It was an hour or so on the back of a 4WD, then a walk up a sand dune to reach the summit. When you get to the top, the only way I could describe it was either walking on clouds or something out of Jack and the Beanstalk. It really feels like somewhere you've never been before. We spent the afternoon walking around the dunes, swimming in the lagoons and taking pictures - which kind of felt like a waste of time as any picture wouldn't do the place justice. We stayed for sunset then took the 4WD back to the hostel.

The next day we took another 4WD to Atins, a small fishing village (even more remote) close to the beach. This was where the relaxing really began. There was no phone reception, sometimes no power at all, and we spent all of our time either at the beach, on a hammock or at the restaurant across the road. It was really nice to get away to a place that felt so far away, but in saying that I was also ready to move back towards civilization a bit come the next day!

We left Matthieu in Atins and came back to Barreirinhas for one more night, then Assi and I went out for dinner as it was her last proper meal in Brazil before returning home.

I must be really falling into the groove of travelling now as none of the discomforts of these remote places (Frogs in the shower, ducks running around the hostel, hot and humid weather with no air conditioning) seem to bother me that much anymore...