10 Hotel Concepts of the World: Unique Getaways

WHEN Flavio Melo, the young, adventuresome owner of the Exploranter, an overland hotel on wheels, promised to show me the ''unexpected Brazil'' on one of his tours, he wasn't joking. By the end of the first day, we'd eaten crispy fried ants, visited slave dungeons on a coffee plantation, been overtaken by a hearse with a flashing light and siren, and heard village news piped from loudspeakers in a church belfry.
The 25-ton Scania truck and trailer that make up the Exploranter's lounge, kitchen and 28-berth sleeping quarters can go ''on the backroads, to parts of Brazil that nobody knows,'' Flavio had told me a month earlier, in October, as he launched his tiny four-member company at São Paulo's adventure sports fair. ''We are the antithesis of the pasteurized resort,'' he concluded.
I signed up.
I liked the idea of waking up in the middle of nowhere and breakfasting outdoors in a forest glade or overlooking a rocky canyon with nothing but nature -- and, of course, my fellow passengers -- for company.
It was the Exploranter's first five-day trek along Brazil's Estrada Real, or Royal Route, which in the 18th and 19th centuries was plied by mule trains carrying sacks of gold out of the mines of Minas Gerais to the ports of Parati and Rio de Janeiro, and from there across the Atlantic to the Portuguese court in Lisbon. The Exploranter had set off from São Paulo, but I was joining for just a couple of days starting in Silveiras and heading north toward the historic cities of Ouro Preto and Tiradentes. An Exploranter trip can last from three days to three weeks, depending on the group and itinerary.
Five equestrians and their spouses were on board -- all Brazilians, as are most of the Exploranter's clientele so far. The horsemen would ride over the mountain tracks that veered off the asphalt road and across plains and field routes, sometimes meeting up with the Exploranter at prearranged intervals. The spouses would take to the road and view the scenery from the relative comfort of the Scania's enclosed top deck, furnished like a railroad car with reclining seats and tables. Horseless, I opted for the top deck, too. It felt like riding on a Greyhound bus, though a bit bumpier. The view of the surrounding lush, green, hilly landscape of Minas was commanding, and Flavio, who is 33 and speaks English, kept everyone amused with tales of previous journeys and an interesting selection of lounge music. In the main truck, which Flavio calls Romeo, the kitchen equipment is stowed below the passenger deck; the sleeping areas and three bathrooms are in the trailer behind, known as Juliet.
Once the Exploranter halts, its side panels open up and a huge canopy is unfurled to create an outdoor kitchen and living and dining room. During the day, when the journey is under way, everything is folded up and stowed. The cook and cook's assistant travel in the cabin with the driver, while Flavio entertains his guests upstairs.
Silveiras is a tiny village on the border between São Paulo state and Minas Gerais, about four hours' drive from São Paulo. I joined the group just as a local historian, Ocilio Ferraz, was filling them in on the history of the tropeiros -- the mule drivers whose cargo once made João V of Portugal one of the richest monarchs in the world.
After telling tales of the mule drivers' battles with bandits, indigenous tribes and wild animals, Mr. Ferraz then asked us in to his Casarão Tropeiro, a rustic guest house-cum-museum, to sample some hearty ''tropeiro'' food -- salted beef stew, spicy pork chops, turmeric rice, black beans and okra -- all cooked on a wood stove out back in the courtyard, where the tropeiros used to tie up their mules for the night.
The food was excellent, but the calorie-conscious should beware. The final delicacy was içá (pronounced eeh-SSAH), red ants, caught locally, fried in oil and manioc flour until crispy. The chef, Anderson Rodrigues, assured us they were tasty. ''Just like peanuts,'' he said, smiling. I crunched, grimaced and begged to differ. But then again, I had been promised the unexpected Brazil. Back aboard the hotel, I was relieved to hear that the cook's meal plans for the next couple of days included Moroccan and Italian fare.