Belo Horizonte (pron. with a "ch" sound at the end), the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, is the 3rd largest city in Brazil and has a population of about 4.1 million.

These first pictures are from a scenic overlook in the mountains that border on the South; the city seems to go on forever in all directions.
         

The neighborhoods along the mountainside have a beautiful view of the city and seem quite sumptuous themselves. This home in particular is in the neighborhood of maybe $150-200k.

The Reais (pron. hay-ice) is about 30cents to our dollar, and due to their continuing rapid inflation the value of goods and services is about a third to half compared to here in the Estados Unidos (so yes I did some shopping too!)

The streets in the city are all tree-lined, and without zoning there is a continual cornucopia of shops, apartments, and businesses.
   

The view from the rooftoop of my hotel:
     

Only 15 minutes outside of the city there is practically nothing, but the occasional home or (very) small town:
                 
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