Triunfo

Triunfo sits at around a thousand metres in the Serra da Baixa Verde, high enough that the caatinga below gives way to coffee, fruit and mist, and the temperature drops far enough at night that fireplaces are not a novelty item here. The town has the Teatro Cinema Guarany of 1873, a small colonial centre, and a cable car up to a viewpoint over the sertao. Its industry is cachaca: a number of engenhos work the surrounding valleys, several open for tours through the mill and the ageing sheds. There is also a museum of the cangaco, the banditry of the north-eastern interior in the early twentieth century, since Lampiao operated in this region and was killed not far away in the Sergipe backlands.

What you actually see

• The highest town in Pernambuco - around a thousand metres, cool and green.
• The 1873 theatre - the Guarany, still standing in the small centre.
• Working cachaca engenhos - mills and ageing sheds in the valleys.
• A cangaco museum - the banditry of the interior that operated in this country.

When to go

All year, coolest June to August. Two days.

Honest expectations

It is a long drive from anywhere - Recife is most of a day away. The town is small and quiet, with limited accommodation. Mills keep irregular hours out of season. Mist can sit on the hills for days.

Nearby

Serra Talhada is below in the sertao; the Piaui border is west.