📍🇧🇷 Ouro Preto: Riding a Mining Cart into a Gold Mine

🏡 We chose the Mina de Ouro da Passagem, located 8 km from Ouro Preto — the only gold mine where you can descend via a small mining cart! The tour is short (~40 minutes), with the cart descending 120 meters to a clear green water pool at the bottom. Professional companies also offer diving expeditions in the flooded mine tunnels. Historically, Ouro Preto had a term called "Meninos de Couro" (Leather Boys), referring to young Black boys who manually extracted gold from extremely narrow but gold-rich deep pits. 🚌 Transportation to the Mine: Taxi: Uber doesn’t operate here, and *99* taxis rarely accept orders. Use local apps like Ubzi Car or 2V Passageiro, or simply hail a taxi on the street. Bus: From Terminal Rodoviário 8 de Julho, take a bus to Mariana and tell the conductor to drop you at the mine (Mina). ❗️ Important: This mine only accepts cash for tickets! 🎫 #OuroPreto #GoldMine #BrazilHistory #travel guide#Brazil#Brazil guide#trip diary