Partying Rio Style

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Day 229 - Tuesday 6 May

My bus arrived in Rio just before 9am and i'm pleased to say its warm and theres clear skies. Because of its violent reputation, I decided against the public transport for the time being and took a taxi to my hostel right in the middle of Copacabana. It wasn't cheap I can tell you.

Once in I freshened up, had breakfast and headed straight down to Copacabana beach. It really is a nice beach and the only dissapointment was that because its midweek, in low season it was pretty much deserted. There were certainly no bikini clad beauties that I was hoping for.

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the streets around Copacabana so I could get my bearings. Although no doubt there are many rough areas in Rio, here in Copacabana it really does feel safe and I never once felt threatened. In my opinion BA looked far more menacing but I was staying in a rough area there.

Russ and Pa have already been in Rio for a week and as there still in town and staying only 5 mins from my place, I went over there after dinner so they could introduce me to Rios nightlife. Now the planet tells you not to go down to Copacabana beach after dark as its far too dangerous, but Russ reckons its ok so we went down for a drink. The beach is all floodlit and people were playing volleyball or football and local families were taking a stroll or having a drink in one of the beach bars. Not exactly a no go area. Even later at half 2 in the morning, the only people around were a few prostitutes, and there not going to give you any problems. Well not in the short term anyway.

The other thing the planet warns you about is public buses. There supposed to be dangerous as well but again Russ said he'd been using them all week without any problems. And with taxis being as expensive as they are back home taxiing everywhere is going to cost a small fortune. So after leaving Copacabana we took a bus over to Lapa. This is the place to go apparently on a Friday night as theres a huge street party there. Being a tuesday night though it was rather quiet. (Rio does an excellent job of marketing itself as a 24 hour party city but outside the weekend and carnival it seems rather quiet).

However we did quickly find a bar with a live band so settled there for a few hours listening to the music over a few beers before getting the bus back to Copacabana. They really do like their football here. On the bus back we passed a few football pitches and even though its gone 2 in the morning they were all busy with games going on.

Day 230 - Wednesday 7 May

I'd purpously chosen a lively hostel as i've come to realise after BA, that in cities its worth paying a couple of extra pounds to stay somewhere lively where you'll meet people. My hostel certainly is lively, you want get any sleep before about 3am which hadn't bothered me last night, as I was out anyway. It did however mean it was lunchtime before I was up today.

After meeting up with Russ again, we headed back down to Copacabana beach so i could start to get my tan back. Once the sun had gone I went back to my hostel and spent the evening watching Flamingo the local football team get knocked out of the South American version of the champions league, with a load of english blokes.

Day 231 - Thursday 8 May

Once again because its impossible to go to bed early here by the time I'd got up and got breakfast it was already lunchtime. As theres not a cloud in the sky I figure it will be a good day to go and see the famous statue of Jesus Christ on top of the big hill. The views of the city are supposed to be awesome.

I took the bus over and even though I didn't have a clue where to get off, somehow I made it to the little train station where you can take a twenty minute train ride through the largest urban rainforest in the world and up the hill to the statue of Jesus. The views of the city really were great and obviously there were the obligatory photos of the statue that had to be taken. By the time I got back to my hostel it was already early evening.

I'm having a quiet night tonight to save some money so went over to Russ' hostel to watch a dvd. Its been good to catch up after the past few weeks apart and now were in a city and not moving about i'm even getting on really well with Pa.

Back at my hostel later a few people tried to persuade me to go out. But as i'm stone cold sober and don't think it will be busy tonight, I resisted. Thirty minutes later and about 50 quid lighter (clubs and taxis can be really expensive here), they returned. The club had been dead.

Day 232 - Friday 9 May

After grabbing breakfast I headed over to Ipanema beach one of Rios other famous beaches and right next to Copacabana beach. A lot of people say its a better beach than Copacabana but to be honest I can't really see any difference.

After spending a few hours there and having a look at the shops nearby I headed back to Copacabana beach where I bumped into Russ and Pa, so spent a further hour trying to improve my tan.

Its the street party in Lapa tonight and pretty much my whole hostel is going. As Russ had a litre of vodka I went round his hostel for an early start before we headed to the bar in my place to meet up with some people I've got to know over the past few days. Around midnight we all headed to Lapa.

By the time we got there the party was in full flow with everybody milling about in the street and buying cans of beer from the street vendors. After soaking up the atmosphere for a bit we went in some dingy backstreet club that Russ had been to last week and was cheap. We were the only white people in there and I certainly haven't been in a club like that before. It was full of huge black blokes wearing big gold chains but once again I didn't feel like it was dangerous. Back in England there would be no way i'd dare go somewhere like this.

Around 5 in the morning people were starting to drift home so I took the bus back to Copacabana. Sat next to me on the bus was a really good looking Brazilian girl who spoke perfect english as she'd studied in America. I arranged to meet her at a club tomorrow night but I kept forgetting the name of it. Three times I asked but within 5 seconds of getting off the bus i'd forgotten the name of it so now I can't meet her. I really must drink less.

Day 233 - Saturday 10 May

Waking up and looking out of the window I can't believe its raining. I think this my be the first day of my travels where the weather back home is better than where I am. After hanging around the hostel for a bit the rain finally stopped.

As i'm not sure where i'm going to head too next after Rio I made my way to the bus station to get some times and prices for some possibles. On the bus joureny there I can now see what the planet is on about when it says the public buses can be dangerous. We passed some of the slums and with an overcast sky they really did look rough and not the kind of place you'd want to wander into. I tried to keep as low a profile as possible and maybe next time when I've got my bags with me i'll get a taxi after all. Even the police patrolling where in full body armour and carried big machine guns, far different to Copacabana where they're in a short sleeved shirt and only carry a batton.

I managed to return safely and as i'm having a quiet one tonight spent most of it reading and debating about where to go to next.

Day 234 - Sunday 11 May

Unfortunately its another overcast day today, so whilst I waited to see if things improved I watched the last Premier League games of the season. There must be a lot of Man Utd fans in my hostel as everybody seemed happy with the way things were going.

Once the game had finished, although it was still overcast outside I had a stroll down the beach front, before having a rest playing the PSP back at the hostel.

Tonight the hostels putting on a trip to a nightclub in one of the Flavelas. Its supposed to be really good and is the nightclub used in the film 'City of God' (although I haven't actually seen that film so it means nothing to me). The whole hostels going so it should be good.

After a few warm up beers in the hostel the minibus arrived to take us to the club. It was raining outside but road safety doesn't mean much over here. Our driver seemed hellbent on getting us there as quickly as possible, but somehow we got there in one piece. Now as its obviously in a slum we had VIP tickets which gave us our own roped off area upsatirs, with security and our own toilet and bar for safety. However the real party was downstairs on the main dancefloor. As it looked safe enough down there as soon as I'd got a drink, I raced down to mix with the locals. They loved me and I spent the whole night learning how to dance to the local music with the girls, whilst a load of bare chested, huge scary looking black blokes with big gold chains were watching over me to check I was ok. I've got to say its the second best club i've ever been to, (I still can't bring myself to knock Gullivers in Bangkok off the top spot). Unfortunately I haven't got any pictures to show you as its not worth risking bringing your camera out to these kind of nights.

Day 235 - Monday 12 May

We hadn't got back until about 5 this morning and i'd had quite a few so I wasn't up until after lunch. The suns returned though so after getting a combined breakfast/lunch it was back down to the beach to soak up some rays.

Russ is leaving town tomorrow so I popped round his hostel to say goodbye, find out what his plans are for the next week, and discuss some possible places where we could meet up. Once again I got on well with Pa, there must be something about Rio.

I returned back to my hostel to find out i've got to move rooms. Apparently theres bed bugs in the room. Everyones been talking about them and reckon they've been bitten, but i've yet to experience a bite, and i've been here a week. Its an inconvinience I can tell you.

After moving rooms, I spent the evening doing the pub quiz in the hostel bar, with a group of people from Burnley who have just finished their degrees at Preston University. It was a bit weird sat in Rio de Janero talking about Preston. As pretty much everybody had gone to the Flavela party yesterday night, the quiz was rammed. Nobodys out tonight. My team finished second to last, although it was the same questions as last week, so some teams had a bit of an advantage.

Day 236 - Tuesday 13 May

Another georgous sunny day and as i'd gone to bed before 2am for the first time in a week, I was up by 10 o'clock. So yes you've guessed it, back down to Copacabana beach for some early morning sun.

After getting breakfast/lunch, I went back down to the beach, where I bumped into Drew, an American bloke from California who i've been sharing a dorm with all week. The guy is absolutely crazy and goes out partying hard every night. Everybody knows him even the local shopkeepers say hello when he passes as hes bought something from them all over the past week. However its come with a price, he was supposed to be travelling for 3 months, but has spent all his money after only one and flies home tonight. Still I know he's really enjoyed himself. Today he's hired a local Brazilian to be his servant for the afternoon and fetch him drinks or ice creams whenever he feels like one. Unbelievable.

We ended up getting into a bit of a debate about one of the local girls on the beach. She had the most amazing body, we thought she looked like a prostitute yet Drews servant didn't recognise her. So Drew sent his servant over to find out. Apparently shes not shes a lawyer called Amanda, but i've never seen a lawyer look like that before. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon down the beach with her and Drew, but i'm still sceptical. Shes also said everything was natural but again I have my doubts. I got her email adress anyway.

I'd just returned to the hostel when some of the guys from Burnley said they were going for a kickabout down the beach and would I like to join them. I thought why not, but after only 2 minutes I started to regret it. It's been a while since I've done any exercise and i'm now very unfit. Running on sand for an hour and a half was tortoures.

Its my last night in Rio. Tomorrow its time for me to move on. I've really enjoyed the place though and definitely want to come back some time in the next few years for the Carnival. Its also revitalised me. After just over 7 months of travelling I was feeling a bit jaded and didn't think I'd last the full 12 months out, now i'm happy to carry on. Although its my last night in rio, Tuesdays a quiet night out, so I stayed in the hostel bar with the Burnley crew and had a few quiet drinks.

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