São Paulo day 8

 Not really a transit day but it feels like one. 

This morning was all tasking. breakfast, shower, pre-packing, and checking out of the hostel I was staying at in the Pauline area of São Paulo.

I left the hostel before 10 am heading in the direction of the subway station where I will catch a train, but also to a self serve laundry in the area. I found both. I went to the laundry first. 

The self serve laundrys, that are all over in São Paulo, are a fixed fee per load. Washing all my cloths that I am carrying with me except what I am wearing, is still a really small load. It makes washing at one a bit pricey. In most places I have been, the laundrys are not self serve, but drop off and they charge by weight. These end up being cheaper for me.

I started my wash and waited until the washing was done, then transferred them to a dryer. Once in the dryer, that gave me 40 minutes of free time. While waiting for the wash, I did a little research to see if there were any orthopedic supplies in the area. That's where I went while my cloths were drying. 

I found the store and bought a knee brace. Even though I go the injections in my knee ebefore leaving Mexico, my knee still has a daily limit of steps. I am hoping with the brace, I get a few more steps in per day.

The brace felt good and seemed to be helping on the walk back to the laundry. I got back in plenty of time. I retrieved by clean cloths. Always a happy time for me knowing that I won't be offending anyone with my stench at least for a few days.

Back at the subway station, down 4 flights of escalators, I found my train. The subway is also free to those of us over 65, another smiley face. this ride was just 2 stops, ending up at the station I had taken a picture of a few days ago.

There, I again saw the skeletal remains of the Pillsbury doughboy from the Ghost Busters movies peering over some adjacent buildlings. 

There I transfered to the airport express train for a none stop ride to a stop just outside the airport.

From there I had to transfer to a bus to take me closer to my new accomodations for the night.

This area is called Guarulhos. I saw this lock up area for bicycles. Pretty nice for people riding their bikes to catch the train into the city, having a secure place to leave their bikes for the day.

I found the local bus to get closer to the hostel and then only a short 6 minute walk to get to the hostel. 

So why all this hassle to transfer to a different hostel for 1 night, time. It's all about time. The transit from São Paulo city center to the airport is about and hour and a half. The hostel I will stay at is less than 10 minute ride to the airport.

Here I will be able to sleep until about 2:15 before I have to wake up to catch an Uber (already schedule) to take me to the airport to catch a 4:50 flight back to Lima, Peru.

I like this place, it is in a residential neighborhood, the owner lives on the second level and she has just a few bunk rooms on the first level. I think 99.9 percent of hostels are located on the 2nd and 3rd floors of buildings, so this is very unusual. My legs are loving the break from strairs already. Right now, there are just 3 of us staying here.

I didn't arrive here until about 2 but I was more than ready for my siesta.