In the mornings (at least during the week), there are two competing?/complimentary? vans that leave Lencois by the bridge at 7am for Seabra. At 12 noon, Emtram has a bus from Seabra to Barreiras arriving at 19:00. We spent the night at a hotel near the bus terminal, so we have no idea what Barreiras looks like.
From Barreiras, there are numerous morning "through buses" to Brasilia, arriving around 20:00. We picked the one with the shortest running time, the Visao Piaui (sold by Flixbus), 10:20-20:00. It was 30 minutes late into Barreiras, 15 minutes late to Brasilia, not bad at all.
For the first time in nearly two months in Brazil, on the bus from Barreiras to Brasilia, we finally saw large-scale cultivation/agriculture. Up to this point we had only seen animal grazing. Brazil is the #1 exporter of soybeans and #2 cotton. We finally see where they are grown.
Our Airbnb host stopped on his way home from the market to make sure we were on the 7am van to Seabra.
Seabra in the distance.
The Entam ticket seller was super nice and patient and the bus came through from Salvador only 30 minutes late.
The bus headed almost due west through the low mountains and desert towards Barreiras.
We passed through a few villages (1st below), a tire repair shop with adjacent steakhouse (2nd), and several brick factories (3rd) with kilns, chimneys, bricks, and stacks of wood. I'm always excited to see low-tech brick factories like the one we saw in Myanmar on New Year's day 2009. (4th below).
Crossinmg the mighty Rio San Francisco, flowing northward, at Ibotirama. Wikipedia says: With a length of 2,914 kilometres (1,811 mi), it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America.
The desert near Muquém de São Francisco, and still 165 kms kms to Barreiras. We'll be walking to our hotel in the dark.
The next morning, the walk back to the comfortable bus station was easier in the daylight.
Still near Barreiras, we passed some tree plantations ....
... and began to see tractor dealerships, working tractors, plowed fields, grain silos, and crops.
SL boards our TRANSPIAUI Bus after a break.
A horsecart on a parallel side road!
Sunset near Formosa.
Early evening activities in Planaltina, a small town just NW of Brasilia.
Outskirts of Brasilia
Finally, we arrived at the Brasilia Bus Terminal.
And we have a view of the Torre de TV de Brasília from our hotel room.
