Among the 4,000 permanent residents, about half are impassioned esoterics. New Age pastimes abound, from feng shui to chromotherapy. There are some 40 sects and cults, a few of them apocalyptic. But instead of Armageddon, most of the people in Alto Paraiso are bracing for a boom in tourism to mark the millennium. A decade ago this was an impoverished patch of Brazilian nowhere. Now, there are about 30 small hotels and 40,000 visitors in a normal year. They drink herbal tea at the Gamma Space cafe, dine at the Alpha and Omega Creperie, buy rock crystals at the Fairies Corner. Night life most often means watching the sun go down and the stars emerge in the wide, clear sky. Not a bad way to welcome a New Age, or just the next 1,000 years.
