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The hostel in Paraty
Looking towards our room.... So after an uneventful journey, albeit some fantastic scenery, we arrived in Paraty.
I have to say that the bus service would put England to shame. It was the equivalent of the English National Express except that the buses run on time and the seats have loads of room. In fact they we had more leg room than on the 12 hour flight from London!!!
We soon arrived in Paraty bus station so with the page from the lonely planet with a map of the town in hand and bags on our back we set of for our hostel. Unfortunately for us after 10m we got accosted by a guy trying to tell us he was from the local tourist board and wanted to help us find our accommodation. Despite getting a curt response fro me he kept on trying but we kept walking. He kept following us and then tried telling us we were going the wrong way however I was pretty sure we weren't (at this point I wish I had stuck with my instinct but we didn't) we ended up turning round and following the guys directions which sent us a long way round the town.
We eventually found our hostel and got ourselves booked in.
After dumping the bags in our room we headed back out to the historical centre in search of food. The historical centre of Paraty (said Parachi) is a UNESCO world heritage site and deservedly so in my opinion. The historical centre is full of old buildings all with painted white walls but each house has different coloured doors and window shutters. The streets are irregular cobble stones and no vehicular traffic is allowed through it. There are lots of artisan shops and restaurants in the centre all reasonably priced and it has been hard not to spend more money. The attached photos do not do the town justice. I would tell any visitor to either Rio or Sao Paulo that it is a worthwhile trip to Paraty and make sure you stay for a few days!!
After a next relaxed night in a room that didn't smell and had a working ceiling fan (working so much that Sharon was cold in the night and had to put a jumper on!) we had breakfast and decided to explore the historical town by day. We wandered around and in and
out of the shops. The weather was scorching so after awhile we decided to head back to the beach and sit and have a drink. Four drinks each later and some food (all for the princely sum of £11) we hadn't moved very far but I had definitely caught the sun so we decided to retreat into the shade so returned to the hostel where I chilled in a hammock and finished typing my Rio blog and Sharon got talking to some visiting Brazilian guys - they spoke no English and Sharon speaks no Portuguese so it was a painful conversation!! One of the guys she was talking to was making jewelery with the intention of selling it on the streets later that night.
Sharon and I eventually made a move and headed into Paraty in search of dinner as the hostel were meant to be having dinner at 8.30 however by 8.45 there was no sign of the food being served or any of the staff making it so we headed out. On our way back to the hostel we met the Brazilian who had been making the jewelery and so we stopped and "chatted" to him. He
told us he was cold and then asked if we would man his stall for him for 5 minutes so he could get a top. Before we could really think about it he walked off leaving us with all his jewelery to man and me praying that we wouldn't have any customers and Sharon reading her phrasebook..... Thankfully we had no customers and he duly arrived back with a long sleeved top on. As I said to Sharon only her and I could end up selling someone elses jewelery on the streets in Brazil!!!!
Today was another chilled day. We went to the post office to buy stamps for our postcards home. you will all be pleased to hear that Brazil is as inefficient as the UK when it comes to post offices and it took us half an hour to be served by the only guy working the counter!!! Anyway we duly got our stamps (all three of them for each postcard!!) and put the cars in the post box. Apologies now to anyone that receives a card, hoping that they reach the UK, as you will find that the stamps will have covered over some of my
writing. I have made a note to myself to buy the stamps next time before writing the cards don't worry!!
After the post office debacle we headed to the bus station and bought our tickets for the bus trip from here to Sao Paulo. After our jobs were done we picked up some food and water and headed over the headland past the hostel to another beach which was meant to be nicer. In my opinion the beach outside the hostel was a nicer beach with sand that wasn't littered with bits of small driftwood etc. Anyway I duly got wet in the sea and then sat out and cooked in the sun for awhile before retreating into the shade with Sharon where the playing cards came out once again.
I have to say that the hostel we are staying in, Misti Chill, is fantastic and you couldn't ask for more. The staff have been more than friendly and helpful. Sharon and I have had a 6 bed room ensuite room to ourselves for the three nights we have stayed here and it has only cost us £8 per night including breakfast! It has put the last hostel
to shame but unfortunately I realise that not all the places I will stay in in the coming months will be as nice or as cheap!
Anyway I digress the next leg of our journey is going to be a harsh one as we are heading of to Foz do Iguassu to see the waterfalls. Effectively it is a 6 hour bus journey to Sao Paulo and then an overnight 16 hour bus journey to Foz do Iguassu. Anyway until the next installment........
SHITHEAD SCORES:
Brim 20
Deirdre 18
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Janey b
non-member comment
lucky things
I be a very jealous girl looks fab , but atleast I have camping in our slug to look forward to, hee hee enjoy and dont do anything i would not um not much lol janey