Dam you Barry Manilow !

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This place has it all! Rio is surrounded by gorgeous mountains, white-sandy beaches and rainforests!

While we were there we saw Christ the Redeemer, got pummeled by Copacabana´s waves, looked bemusedly at the beach goers attire, hit the streets and favelas for parties and finally slept in the world´s craziest dorm!

At the copa copacabana (copacabana)...........Her name was lola, she was a showgirl............At the copa (co!) copacabana (copacabana)...........dam you Barry Manilow! I sang that song way too many times on the beach and as shown by my knowledge of the lyrics it was pretty annoying! Now I hope it´s in your heads too. One thing I´d love erased from my head is the disturbing image of a man on the beach in a thong! Who said men could wear speedos again, let alone steal women's thong bikini bottoms!? Unfortunately this vain sole wasn´t an anomaly. He was there with all his chums! Mike and I were pretty disappointed at the considerable lack of females. We arrived with four which double the number there!

Our dorm is certainly worth a mention. They call it the Favela, possibly because it´s crammed floor to ceiling with people and maybe because those people are short of a few quid. It´s the first dorm I´ve seen with 3 storey bunk beds and both Mike and I ended up with top floor bunks. My mattress was that poor that the slats underneath it left imprints in my back and Mike´s bed wobbled that much it threatened to throw its occupants out every time Mike moved! That aside the dorm was brilliant and like a favela we formed a community that intrigued those not in it - that´s not a joke people at the hostel asked for tours of the room with 3 storey bunks and 24 occupants.

The adventures of Mike and Charlie have come to an end once again, but rest assured there will be more! Who knows where they will go next?

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