A few words of wisdom from Fran´s tiny lady...

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Here´s my first blog entry ever. I want it to be helpful to other travellers, so here´s what we´ve learnt from two weeks of travelling Brazil...

Cash points do not dispense cash after 10pm or before 6am in a lot of places (possibly the whole of Brazil). No guide books tell you this seemingly.

Don´t turn left as you walk under the Lapa arches in Rio. It´s rife with muggers. In fact, the whole of Lapa seems to be pretty bad for mugging.

Always check the price of things before ordering them in a restaurant. We got charged six pounds sterling for a plate of chips. Just frozen, lob them in the deep fat fryer chips. It felt like a legal mugging.

Essential items whilst travelling in Brazil so far have proved to be... DEET (using 50% at the moment which seems to be working), sun cream (it´s really expensive over here), a torch of some description, a pen knife, a mosqutio net, a money belt, Lonely Planet South America on a shoestring guide and a Brazilian Portugese phrasebook.

Don´t overpack when backpacking. You will regret it so much. Much better to take less and buy things whilst you´re out here if you really have to. Fran has packed 12 tee shirts as he really loved them all and couldn´t decide which ones to take. He´s had to leave three in a hostel already, whereas if he´d been ruthless with his packing they would be safe and sound in his wardrobe at home.

I wonder if anyone will bother reading this. If anyone does I hope it´s helpful.

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