John of God
and the
Casa de Dom Inacio
Abadiania (abah-jaw-ne-yuh) Brazil
How to plan a trip to see John of God for less than $400 per person per week. This includes lodging, meals, taxis, and miscellaneous expenses. This does not include passport, airfare, and visa.
What you will needObtain the following in the order listed. |
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Language
English is spoken by airline employees and English is spoken at several of the pousadas. You will meet other English speakers to help you with every other thing you may need.
Airfare
A travel agent that specializes in South America will generally have the best rates.
Southwind Travel and Tour in Los Angeles 310-568-8426
Lucia lucia@sowinds.com
Southwinds.com
Dumond Travel in Miami.
There is a now a travel agency in Abadiania! World Tur Travel
It is located 1/2 block past Pousada Martin on the main street going towards
the highway or 1/2 block before Pousada Martin headed towards the Casa on
the same side of the street as the Pousada Martin. It is a bright orange
building with a sliding glass patio door, no signage yet, but its on the
way.
Translations are free, and money can be exchanged with no fee at the current daily rate!
Karlla speaks English and is happy to make all travel arrangements for you including rescheduling at no charge. This is a much needed service in Abadiania, eliminating the need to go to Annapolis if you need to reschedule your departure date.
You can even check with her from your home to see if there are any special airfares that beat the prices that you have been quoted.
world.tur@hotmail.com
(62) 3343-1936
(62) 3343-2164
Abadiania is between Brasilia (BSB) and Goiania (GYN). Goiania is a shorter
and cheaper taxi ride (1 hour ride, R120), than Brasilia (1 3/4 hrs ride,
R150). It is now somewhat more difficult and expensive to fly to Goiania.
Frequent Flyers and flying within Brazil
For those traveling on frequent flyer miles, finding an inexpensive way
to get from Sao Paul to Brasilia or Goiania has been somewhat of problem
due to the high cost of domestic flights on TAM and GOL. However, we understand
that GOL has lower fares than TAM.
Visa
There is political pressure against healers in Brazil. Because of this, do not put "Casa de Dom Inacio" or "John of God" on your visa application. Put "tourism" for your reason for coming.
Under destination, put Abadiania and the name of one of the pousadas. Where it asks for contact person/organization, put one of the pousadas and and their phone number.
A better thing to do, is to put the name and phone number of a hotel in Brasilia.
Brasilia is your final destination airport, and Goias is the state in which you find the town of Abadiania.
Increasing numbers of foreigners are traveling to Abadiānia, which is a tiny town not on the usual tourist trail. This situation is starting to attract the attention of Brazilian consulate officials, some of whom may not be in support of spiritual healing work. So following the above guidelines simply bypasses the whole issue and makes life simpler for everyone.
3 month or 5-year visa $130. If you do not take the visa application personally to the Embassy, then there is an additional $10 fee; plus about $60 for a visa service. If you think that you might make a second trip to the Casa de Dom Inacio, ask for a 5-year visa.
Application form and Embassy locations.
The following Embassy hours apply to the Los Angeles office. New applications can be made between 9am and 1pm (may be an hour wait). You can pick it up 5 working days later between 3-5pm (No waiting to pick up). When you walk into the office, take a number off the spindle at the first window so that you will be in line to be called. Have everything ready before your number is called.
Take the following to the Embassy:
1. Application form filled out and signed.
2. One passport size picture---pasted to application.
3. Flight itinerary (the confirmation from your travel agent or airline), stapled to back of the application. A photocopy of a round trip ticket(s) or a letter signed by the travel agent with confirmed round trip ticket(s). Itinerary is not acceptable unless showing ticket number(s) and that the ticket is paid for.
4. Passport.
5. $130 Only US Postal Money Orders (do not remove the receipt from the money order) , made out to "Brazilian Embassy". No cash, No personal or company checks, No credit cards are accepted. You must present all of the above items to the Embassy or they will not accept your application.
If you do not live close to the Embassy, use a visa/passport service.
Estimated Cost of Trip
Because of rising rates at the pousadas and the declining value of the US dollar vs the Brazilian Real, we are not including any estimates of the overall cost of a trip to the Casa de Dom Inacio.
When calculating costs, include: shared taxi to and from Brasilia, pousada/meals, herbs for self and 2 pictures, 3 crystal baths per week, and water. The current exchange rate as of June 15, 2008 is R1.61 per US dollar.
You will need extra money for donations, gifts, etc. (There are many wonderful crystals for sale at the Book Store, and all have been blessed by the Entity). Bring cash and exchange it into the Brazilian Currency, Reals (he-als), at the airport on arriving in Brazil. If you are unable to exchange money at the airport, most purchases can be made in US dollars.
If you have a serious medical condition, bring a credit card and/or extra cash, and you should have travelers medical insurance in case you need to be hospitalized. The nearest hospital, which is in Annapolis, is privately owned and requires payment at time of service.
Credit Cards
To the best of our knowledge, no pousada accepts credit cards or travelers checks at this time. This may change in the future. Check with the pousada if you make a reservation. Otherwise it is Cash Only.
There is no formal money exchange in Abadiania. (It has been noted that one or two pousada owners will exchange money, but the rate is not that great). The closest town is a half hour taxi ride. The best place to exchange money is at the Sao Paulo or Brasilia airport. Goiania airport does not have any money exchange.
On our most recent trip we traveled from Miami through Manaus (no money excange that I could see) to Brasilia. When we arrived at 7:15 am the money exchange was closed and was not schedualed to open until 11:00 am. We found that US currency was accepted by the taxi, pousada, and at the Casa. If you exchanged $50 at Miami you could most likely get by without exchanging any more money. But, be aware that things change frequently, and what is accepted today may not be accepted tomorrow or next week.
You can now exchange modest amounts of money at Worl Tur Travel in Abadiania, which is located a few blocks from the Casa.