Rio De Janeiro

The long awaited time is finally upon us, and we arrive into Rio de Janeiro at about 2pm in the afternoon on the 15th February.  My brother is already here at Bonita hostel, and as we check in they advise us he has gone for lunch, so we settle in and await his return.  He arrives back a few moments later and we all catch up and head out for lunch again as we have not eaten, which does not stop him from eating again!  We decide on what everyone wants to do here in Rio and try and get the tours done before the carnival starts on the 17th.  In the evening we meet up with Paula, our Argentinian friend we met at Ilha Grande, at misti hostel where she is staying.  She tells us they are doing a boat party cruise the next day, so we agree to join her and book ourselves on it before heading out to dinner in Copacabana.



The following day we make our way to misti hostel for the boat party.  Our first taste of Rio party life!!!  It was lovely cruising out into the bay and seeing all the sights around, enjoying the music and meeting new friends.  It took ages to get drinks at the bar unless you wanted beer and i believe they ran out of that later!  There was a BBQ but by then I was too wasted to remember to eat so I missed out on that!  Apart from that the Caprihinias were flowing and I was as usual pretty wasted on those. I met an australian guy, Matt, who was travelling with a group of friends, and after the party finished I decided to go to his hostel for a while for some more drinks before heading out, as Zak was going back, Nicola was in a foul mood because she lost her shoe, and Paula had disappeared!

I stayed at the hostel for a while and chatted with one of the girls he was travelling with before we headed out to a bar for the night.  I was too drunk to really enjoy it and after a while he helped me into a taxi and I went back to Bonita as we were doing some sightseeing the next day and I didn't want the others to worry about where I was.



After my hangover had calmed down, we made our way to sugarloaf mountain to see the views and ride the cable car.  It was spectacular!!  You could see everything around and we hung out there for a while before moving on to see Christ the redeemer, the most famous landmark in Brazil!




This was built to mark the centenary of brazil's independence.  We took a load of pictures in many different poses and as the sun started setting we made our way back to start the celebrations for carnival!!!


That evening we just went down the road from the hostel in Ipanema to a bloco party where there was a gathering of people, with music playing and drinks flowing.  Bloco is the name for a street party, where the band is playing and the parade of people follow and just walk along the street drinking, dancing, singing and generally just partying!!  At some points it was so busy we just got crushed in the crowd and had to hold onto each others hands so we didn't get separated.  It was crazy!!!!




The next day Zak had a run to do as he is in training for the london marathon in a few weeks time, so Nicola and I decided to go to the bloco at Santa Theresa with some of the girls from the hostel.  We got dressed up in our carnival outfits we bought in India and headed off on the metro.  It was crazy busy when we got there and the streets were narrow and full of people everywhere!!!  The sun was scorching and the heat was unbearable!!!!  We joined in the mass of people walking along and tried not to lose each other as we were pushed and pulled every which way, between being hosed down by people from the houses we were passing by, to cool us off!  It was an experience for sure and after a few hours of this I was more than ready to head back and chill out for a while.  One of the biggest issues you find is that there is hardly any toilets available, so I didn't drink a lot to avoid the need and got dehydrated.  However the local girl with us from the hostel showed us the trick.  You wear a skirt and just squat and pee in the street apparently but don't get caught or you will be arrested!!!  The streets at this time are cleaned up every day but the smell of piss is overwhelming!




The rest of the week is much of same, we mainly stayed in Ipanema and enjoyed the blocos around there.  Our hostel was in a prime location so we were never far from a party whenever we wanted to get out or come home.  We did however seem to be slap bang in the middle of the gay area!!!  Of course we did not mind as mostly they were a lot of fun to hang out with and always very scantily clad!  Always nice to appreciate a bit of eye candy ha ha!!



On Monday morning we were up bright and early at 9am to do the tour of the Flavella, which is where the biggest slum is in Brazil, I guess you would call it that, although it wasn't as bad as India slums.  It is run by various gangs and drug lords and there are bulletholes around the place from various conflicts.  It is like a maze of narrow streets and alleyways, some of the houses are pushed over by trees growing near them and eventually collapse, sometimes with the occupants inside, but they have no choice but to stay.  There are a number of projects going on trying to help the people who live there learn a skill to make money rather than sell drugs or beg on the streets.  We met a couple there from Australia and were talking to them about the sambadrome and they are going to try and get tickets and join us tonight!!





As Monday evening arrives we prepare ourselves and go to mist hostel to meet up with the others and make our way to the Sambadrome.  We almost did not go because of the price, but we managed to get tickets for about $40 so we dressed up once again and set off about 7pm on the metro with a small following of friends we had now met.  We arrived about 8pm and had a bit of a walk.  It is huge!!!  We found our gate at section 12 where we were headed and managed to get some pretty good seats as we were early.  It did not really get going until about 10pm, but that did not matter, we got some drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere which was electric!!!!  People were singing and excitement filled the air all around us, it was buzzing.  We were in the cheap seats with mostly locals so they are very passionate about carnival and wait all year for this!!!  Finally it started with some fireworks and then the big screens showed the procession moving its way towards us, it took a while but the music was blaring out and we were dancing and singing and before long they were there!!  Wow I cannot really describe the feeling, the crowd came alive and we became part of something so unique and special, I feel so lucky and happy to be here and be a part of this and am so glad we did not miss it, I would have regretted it forever!!!


It was truly a spectacular event with so much effort put in and so many people involved in making it all come together.  I would have like to stay until the end but we were tired out and 2 people with us were sick and wanted to leave about 1am, so thankful to see what we had, we all left together to be safe and got the metro back.  It was a night I will remember for the rest of my life!!!




On tuesday we met up with the swedish girls in the hostel, they were so much fun!!  So young and full of life and just out to have a good time, and they truly were!!!  We decided the theme was red indians, so we put on our war paint and hunted some feathers out for our hair and we were set!!  We started in Ipanema and started to work our way to copacabana which is a short walk away, we picked up some american tourists along the way who joined us and then the weirdest thing happened, we bumped into Paula on the way out with her friend and said hi, what are the chances of that, and then literally 2 mins later we bumped into Andrea, the other girl we were sharing our room in Ilha Grande with.   It was like a reunion!!  Andrea joined us and convinced us to all go to lapa with her.  It is a bit of a way, but we agreed as the party seemed to be ending here.  We jumped in a minibus, and off we went, and I am so glad we did.  It was crazy, busy, people were partying everywhere, the place was buzzing!!  We got some drinks and got back in the party mood and made our way through the crowds, sharing a kiss and a laugh along the way.  It is a tradition here for guys to grab a girl and demand a kiss for carnival!!  Oh well who am I to stand in the way of tradition!!  The guys here are all so fit!!! I often find myself wondering how so many good looking people can come from one place!!!  Must be the lifestyle!



We continued to make our way down the side streets where the locals were partying, and found a stall selling vodka jelly shots!!  We could not walk past that one, and a few shots later we moved on and met some more hot guys, shame hardly anyone can speak english, but with the music blaring and the party in full force there was no need for words, we just shared a kiss and danced the night away!!  There was even some dirty dancing flashbacks coming out from one of our swedish friends and the american lad. Impressive!!!  Reluctantly we decided to head back as it was getting late, I never wanted this night to be over, but all good things come to an end and as carnival was drawing to a close i felt this was going to be the last big night out in Rio!!

It was such a good time here and I am sad to leave as I say my farewells to my brother until vegas in September!  Rio De Janeiro has definitely won a place in my heart and I would definitely come back if I have the chance!!!

Brazil - Sao Paolo, Paraty & Isla Grande

We arrived in Brazil at 7pm local time, so after trying to get money out of the ATM at the airport and failing, as there is so much fraud here that as soon as we tried to use our cards the bank put a hold on them!!!  Luckily I still had some US dollars in cash and changed these up to get us a taxi to the hostel, which was the grand total of $70 US!!!!!  We knew now we were no longer in Asia and this was going to kill our budget, which I have now set at about £3000 for February and March as these will be the most expensive countries, Brazil, Argentina and Chile and we are here at the most expensive time for Rio Carnival.
Sao Paolo is such an enormous city, it is near on impossible to try and explore it and there is nothing here we really want to see in particular, so we are just staying local near our hostel until we can get rested up, recover from our jet lag and get the bus out of here.  We have 2 nights booked so only really have 1 day to kill anyway as we have arrived at night and leave the morning after the following day at 6am!!!  The hostel is very noisy and we are in a 6 bed mixed dorm which is costing us $20 a night, so double the price of Asia, and I am not particularly happy about being in a mixed dorm, but needs must!!  We go straight to bed and try and sleep through the noise.  I wake the next morning still so tired and feeling a bit down, probably from all the travelling, it really takes it out of you.  We walk into town and just wander around the local area until we have had enough and then head back to the hostel, and I just go back to bed for more sleep.  It is so hot here in Sao Paolo, we saw a thermometer reach 40 degrees.  A few hours later in the late afternoon a storm whipped up and woke me from my nap, the windows and doors in the hostel were banging and the wind was blowing, then the rain came down.  Before long the road outside had become a river and we heard a loud crash!  We looked out the window and a large tree had fallen on a car just outside the hostel, further down the road another tree had also fallen and blocked the road.

By now the power was out, as I think the tree had fallen throughout the cables, the emergency services had turned up, and eventually some tree surgeons arrived and started clearing up the mess as the storm was coming to an end.  I packed my bag while it was still light as it did not look like the power was coming back anytime soon.  We were leaving at the crack of dawn whilst it is still dark outside, and still jet lagged I tried to get some sleep to the noise of the chainsaw outside the window and the constant partying ensuing downstairs!!!
The next morning I was so tired!!!  I had hardly slept for days now and was ready to lose it completely!!!  I just wanted to get to Paraty and chill out and catch up on some sleep.  I really do not like staying in dorms, I think I am past all that now at this time in my life, but am aware it is an essential part of travelling and the whole travelling experience, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!!  I have not really had to do this up until now as Asia is so much cheaper than here, but now I have no choice if I want to stick to my budget, so I just have to swallow it and make the best of it and hope I meet some new friends along the way, it does have some positives I guess!  I have already learnt that most travellers are pretty selfish and inconsiderate and will think nothing of keeping everyone else up in the hostel if they want to party all night!!  Most hostels have rules about the noise after a certain time but nobody takes any notice of it!!  Not being a killjoy but when you have to deal with it relentlessly night after night, it pisses me off!!!
I think I am possibly having an episode of travellers burnout!!  So tired and irritable I can't even think, and start to wonder what this is all for!  Crazy, I know.  What people would give for this lifestyle, but for me it is just not always easy, and a year is a long time to be on the road living out of a bag. Most of the time I am ok with it, but occasionally I am just tired of it and long for the comforts and familiarities, and stability of being in one place, with friends and family nearby.  Nicola and I are not getting on well, I am getting on her nerves and she on mine, and we have nothing to talk about.  I need to get away on my own for a while, somewhere relaxed, in the country, where I can chill out and escape all these people and just enjoy the place I am for a while without constantly moving and just take stock of everything.  I will do this in a few weeks when I get to Argentina, after Nicola's birthday, we will take a month apart, it will do us both good.  Until then it is going to be another crazy time for Rio Carnival!!!



We arrive in Paraty and already I am feeling better just looking at the views from the bus on the way here.  Brazil is beautiful, and so green and lush, with huge mountains and hills surrounding everything, everywhere you look.  It is truly breathtaking!!  Paraty is a gem of a place, little terraces housed with cobbled streets running through them, a place where time has stood still in its traditions and beauty.  I guess the Portuguese influence is very strong here as I feel like I am in the mediterranean rather than South America!  It is so quiet and tranquil, absolutely perfect for some rest and relaxation!  We settle in and go for a wonder around and see what is on offer.




We are only here for 3 days so we decide on a boat tour of the islands for the next day, and I choose to do some horse riding the following day.  The boat tour was great fun, we had a local musician on the boat the whole day singing and playing local and international music, including a bit of Oasis, so funny.  He was good fun and everyone was in good spirits, jumping off the boat when we stopped, swimming, snorkelling and island hopping.  It was a fun day out!  We met a set of aussie twins, who did not look much alike, and hung out with them for a while.  They were staying at our hostel too, so that evening we met up with some canadian guys also staying at our hostel, and all went out for a night on the town.  There was a party in the square so we hung out there for a bit and then hit the beach as everything closes about 12am.  We chilled there for a bit and then I headed for bed as I had to be up for riding the next morning and was already worse for wear.


I awoke the next morning feeling like crap!!  I was not sure I was capable of riding but did not want to miss it, so persevered and tried all morning not to throw up.  I forced some breakfast down and tried to rehydrate.  I can't believe i felt so bad!!!  I was drinking the local speciality, caprihinias, consisting of lime mixed with local palm alcohol, I think, and god knows what else, but my head was pounding!!!!  At 10am the guy picked me up for the riding.  I still felt so sick and hoped the drive was not too far.  There was a couple of french people and some local girls, one who was possibly the girlfriend of the guide, I am not sure but there was much flirting going on and every time I rode near him because I wanted to be at the front, she was there.  So annoying!!!  The girls here are very possessive and jealous about their men, even when there is no reason to be, but that is the way it is, and god help them if they stray, I would not like to get on the wrong side of their temper, these people are very passionate about everything!!!

Anyway despite that, I stayed ahead on my own most of the ride and soon sobered up.  It was a beautiful ride through some awesome views and waterfalls where we got off for some bathing if you wanted a dip to cool down as it was extremely hot now.  The horses seem to cope amazingly well with the heat and were full of energy the whole time.  I had a grey horse who was so much fun, he was on his toes constantly wanting to rush on, but was very well behaved.  He was scared of lorries though and I had to push him on a few times, but when we got to the gallops he made up for it, although he did take the shortcut home, and i was relying on him to know the way as I had no idea where we were going!  Such a character!  After riding I just chilled out for the rest of the day on the beach and around the hostel as we were leaving the next day for Ilha Grande.
The following day we got our transfer for Ilha grande, a small island off the coast about 2 hours from here.  We met a couple of Danish guys on our minibus, it was just them and us, so we started chatting and they were telling me all about bariloche, in Argentina, and gave me some tips on where to go and stay etc.  I have decided that sounds like the perfect place for me and am going to head there after Buenos Aires.  We arrived at the port and took the boat across which is about 45 minutes, then we were there.  We found our hostel in town and were in a 6 bed female dorm, which was cramped, but ok.  We ditched our stuff and went exploring and to get some food.  As we were walking around looking for food, we bumped into the Danish guys again and joined them for dinner.  We chatted for a while then said our goodbyes and headed back to the hostel.



The next day we decide to trek to Dios Rios (2 rivers) which we are told is a 2 hour walk one way.  We need some practise for macchu piccu so decide to do it, it is overcast and a bit rainy so a good day to be walking.  We head off and start the climb over the hill to the other side of the island.  It is unbelievably hot and humid and the hill is really steep.  After 30 minutes we are soaked and exhausted!  We carry on hoping we are going the right way and are rewarded at the top with the view of the town and the bay, as well as the mainland.  Happy now as we know it is all downhill from here for the next hour :)  We finally get to Dios Rios and it is a beautiful beach with a very small town, I believe there is a prison here, but we did not see it.  We had lunch and strolled along the beach for a bit and then started to make our way back.  The first hour uphill again!!  We trudged along, tired and aching by now for the 2 hours back, which took 2 .5 hours as we were pretty tired out and just took our time.  Just as we were arriving towards the town the rain started to come down, it poured down and we got drenched!  Thank goodness we left when we did as it did not stop for hours!!

Eventually back at the hostel we showered and changed and waited for a while for the rain to ease.  We met a couple of other girls in our room, Paula form Argentina, and Andrea from Chile.  We braved the rain and went out for dinner nearby.  Andrea met some guys before who turned up and we all sat together for a while before heading to a beach bar to party as the rain had now stopped.  We had a dance and a few drinks and then headed home about 1ish
The next day I just hung out with Paula at the beach.  She is so much fun and such good company.  We talked about many things, she helped me to make some big decisions and gave me some healing as she does that too.  I felt like a huge weight lifted from my shoulders and knew what I needed to do now going forward for the rest of my trip, as I was having doubts about how long to carry on travelling for due to conflicts going on inside my head about where I should be and what I should be doing, which were making me unhappy and not able to enjoy this experience as I should have been.  I have a lot of time for Paula and she has helped me in more ways then one as well as just being a great person and great company!  I am so glad we met her and will meet up again in Rio for Carnival and her home Buenos Aires!



After now recovering slightly from our walk to Dios Rios we were ready for another trek across the island.  This time to Lopez Mendes beach, about 2 hours away.  This is supposed to be the nicest beach on the island.  Nicola, Paula and i set off and start the trek uphill again.  Again we are rewarded with some lovely views on the way and just enjoy the climb.  We stop at the first beach we come to after about 1 hour and have some lunch, relax for a while and then carry on.  An hour later we arrive at Lopez Mendes, it is a lovely beach, white sands stretch down to the shallow waters, which are unfortunately for me cold, so I decide to spend my time relaxing on the beach instead while the girls go swimming!  We get the boat back as we feel we have done enough trekking for the time being!

Back at the hostel we pack our bags once again and get ready to leave for Rio de Janeiro on the 9am boat the following morning!