Brazillia

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24th March 2009

We arrived at 4.20am into Sao Paulo. Having been stupidly scared by the guide books we decided to stay in the relative safety of the bus station until daylight. 2 and half hours later we caught the metro to our hostel. Of course we got lost on our way from the metro station to the hostel - they gave the worst instructions ever written. After finally arriving and eating some well earnt breakfast we headed into the city centre to explore. The cathedral stood in front the metro stop we got off, who could resist a peek? Sao paulo is a really cool place. There are lots of people selling stuff on the streets. At one stage all the street sellers, on a road we walking down, ran past as they had spotted the police at the top of the road. The police walked down the street and as soon as they turned the corner everyone reappeared at the top of the street, retook their positions and continued selling. Very bizzare! We then headed to the Santander tower which offered panaramic views of the whole city. Great photo opportunity. Back at the hostel we chatted to other guests over a few beers.

25th March 2009

Today was an adventure to the snake farm. One of the universities in Sao Paulo is renouned for its research into snake venom and have a large collection of reptiles. One of the guys we were chatting to last night came with us. We caught the bus to the university and between the three of us had no idea what the bus conductor was saying. Thankfully on the bus was one of the professors that worked there and he offered to take us to the entance. After a few hours with the snakes we went in search of the monkey which are also kept by the university, unfortunatly the monkey were "on vacation" (or being tested on) so we didn´t get to see them. We headed back to the hostel and then on to a football museum. The museum was based in the local football stadium and had closed early as there was a football match on that night. So to console ourselves we returned later to watch the match. In the queue infront of us were a Brazillian family who helped "the gringos" buy 1/2 price tickets, how nice of them. The stadium was singing the whole time. During the match we saw Ronaldo (yes the fat one!) score two goals even though he bearly ran 400m the whole match. He must still have it though! After the match we were warned by the family not to speak too much English outside the stadium, so we quickly walked back in silence.

26th March 2009

We planned to go to Rio this morning and as Ben was also going that way he came with us too. After being up for 2 hours we were ready to go at 11. However Ben was not as he was still on Peru time and believed it was 9. Eventually we made it to the bus station and caught our bus to Rio. Arriving at Rio a taxi driver tried to rip us off but we were way too smart for him and got a taxi to the hostel for the right price! That night we ate all you can eat pizza with crazy flavours including chocolate!

27th March 2009

Today was the day of trying in vain to sort out our loose ends at home. This was easier said than done and took most of the day, although we got there in the end! In the evening we played a few drinking games with some fellow travellers we´d met during the day. The guys at the reception suggested that we all go to a street party in a district of Rio called Lapa. We got there at about midnight and it was great atmosphere with drinking and dancing in the street. We ended up in a nightclub that was fun but by 5am we were both a bit too hot and bothered to dance anymore so we headed back.

28th March 2009

Our plan today was to go on a city tour. This started at 8.30am and as we didn´t get into 6am, our hangovers told us that putting it off until the following day was the right thing to do. We awoke at midday and headed straight to the nearest burger bar for some much needed hangover cures. With clearer heads we explored Copacabana a bit and then met up with Ben. We decided to head into the centre of Rio and took a walking tour as recommended by Lonely Planet. Unfortunately the very centre of Rio seems to have gotten a little run down (maybe because they spend all the money on making the beaches look nice). Even so we did have some lovely street food called cous cous (not the rice from back home).

29th March 2009

Finally we made it onto the city tour. This was well worth the wait. First we headed to the Maracana stadium. Outside the main entrance are footprints of famous brazilian footballers including Pele and Ronaldo. We took a few pics and then headed onto the carnival museum. Elaine especially loved this as she got to try on an actual carnival costume. Elaine described it as pretty but heavy. The cities cathedral was next and to be honest there are bus stations in the U.K that look more holy that this eye sore - the stain glass windows were about it´s only redeeming feature. The statue of Christ the Redeemer was up next, the famous Rio monument. This was more like it. It is amazing and although it was shrouded in cloud some of the time, some how this added to the mystique. The day got even better as we were ferried to an eat all you can buffet in Ipanema. We took the coast road to Sugar Loaf Mountain. One of the unmentioned sights along the way was a man who appeared to have been shot dead at the side of the road, in broad daylight. There was no time to dwell on this as we started the cable car journey up Sugar Loaf, the views were fantastic. In the evening we went to a party outside a favella.

30th March 2009

Our last day in Rio we spent on the beach, after all thats what you´re meant to do here!

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