One month already!

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Ok, I haven t updated the blog for a while, no worries i m still safe and sound! It s hard to find the time have fun and talk about it! And to be honnest, I have tried many times to upload some pictures but the computer would never let me uplaods many at the same time so it s a pain to do them one by one so i just gave up... I need to find a solution to share them though cause some of the place here are quite amazing!
Ok, to summarise what happened for the last 2 weeks... I was in Rio...
The weather got better on the thursday so i went to both famous beaches, Ipanema first and then Copacabana. The main activity there is people watching. It is true that in Rio people are beautiful. In the night we went to a samba club in Lapa, it was such a good fun, I was dancing some samba and some forro with local but again they all thought i was Brazilian at the beginning! I left Rio on the thursday, i got the transfer to Ilha Grande, a very nice and remote island off the coast of Rio, It took me a few hours to get there but i slept all the way and really enjoyed the speed boat on a very rough sea! I really liked Ilha Grande, just the kind of place i really enjoy, small village, no car, you need to get a boat or walk to get anywhere, nature everywhere and amazing beaches! The sea was at the doorstep of the hostel, i could relax in hammack, just the place you would dream of! Took a boat to go to amazing beach on the other side of the island, wonder around the little town and witnessed local show of old people singing, was funny but sweet too. It was nice even though again peace was disturb by young english partying-drinking late. The next destination after that was Paraty, a colonial town further south of there. The town is very pretty, i arrived there with a bunch of english young guys, not particurly my best mates but as it was convenient for everyone i stayed with them in the guesthouse (poussada) that we found, as we were the only travelers around when i got there. However, I manage to escape and spend the rest of the time on my own. I stayed only one day there. On monday morning, they had to leave early to go for the day and that s the day i was going so they kind of kick me out and then i went to wait in an internet cafe (where i deseperately tried to upload pictures) for my bus to Sao Paulo to then go to Brasilia. But that s where it gets interesting... 10 min before my bus was going, i end up a conversation with my father on skype telling him i had to rush because i my bus was leaving soon and then the guy next to me started to talk to me in french. For the first time since i arrived i was meeting french travelers and in the short time i discussed with him i had shared much more than i had with everyone since i had arrived. I finally got to meet older people and with more in commun, sharing the same values and seeing travel in a similar way. There were 2 french guys, a english guy and they had met a couple, she s french and he s italian but speaks very good french. They were going to Ouro Preto, a direction complety different than mine but that i also thought about, there were apparently a festival there. So in less that 10min i changed completly my itinerary, skipped completly Brasilia and by the time i realised my bus had gone anyway! So we then share the same poussada, i was meant to share the same rooms that the boys but because of too much testosterone there, the couple offered me to stay with them, really nice of them. So we spent two extra days in Paraty, together with the couple, we rent a private boat and we spent the day arouns some nice island and beautiful beaches, we had lunch on the boat and we were enjoying the scenary with the national drink...capirinha! (cachaca,lime and sugar)
The following day, again with the couple only we went to some more beautiful beaches in the area but this time by bus! We were altogether only in the evenings in fact, it gave us a bit more freedom for everyone so it was quite nice. On the way back after the boat, we met another french woman and her 2 years old boy, Queo, with who i felt in love at first sight. Her husband, her boy and herself were travelling in a campvan that he had made himself, they live in french guyana so they were now travelling around south America with they boy. I found it fascinating and i really admire them because it must not be easy all the time with such a young boy. He spent the whole evening with me, that was quite refreshing for me so play with him in fact, i felt really great, meeting all those nice people, older than anyone i had met so far and speaking my language! On the third day with the, we finaly left for Ouro Preto, historic town inland that was actually later than planned so i was not too happy to be even more delayed but i took it easy. It took us ages to arrive in Ouro Preto, 17hours, much longer than we thought and it was a day journey so not too good and everyone was quite grumpy and exhausted, we arrived around midnight after so many confusions. I had called a poussada to make sure they would be opened when we got there, they were meant to wait for us bus nobody was there, after a long time of waiting for it we finally found it, we had a look, the couple was happy of their private room but the doors were horrible and the boys did not want to stay, after thinking for a while i was too tired to go anywhere further so i decided to stay even it was horrible and then the boys left but not long ago they came back to pick me up because the next poussada was actually much better. the following day we visited the town, I hope i ll be able to put some pictures soon because it s a nice town, very hilly so we did exercise... We had no real target, we were explaring and as they were photographer, both the french guys, they gave lots of tips and we actually had a photo safari around the town. It is a student town so we were actually looking for the students and festival but apparently they were all studying and the festival was not starting before the week after!! We actually knocked at someone[s door to ask, that was so funny but people there were so friendly, we were all very surprised when the guy who answered at the door told us he spoke french! He was brazilian, his girlfriend russian and they were actually communicating in french! crazy! For lunch we ate in a place which looked pretty rough from the outside but it was delicious! In the evening we went for dinner and for drinks in some local places, that was a bit akward to be a foreigner with students but it was fun! The following day (Friday), I had decided to leave them all to go to Salvador, but i had to go to Belo Horizonte (BH) first, the big city 2 hours away from Ouro Preto. I tried to buy my ticket from Ouro Preto but I did not understand a word of what they were saying at all!! I usually always understand more or less but this time not a chance! So i decided to try my luck and go to BH and see once there. I left in the afternoon, said goodbye to everyone, one i got there, i queued for ages before they told me there was no space available!!! I was then stuck in this horrible big city on my own with absolutely no traveller around as it s completely off the beaten track!!! I really struggle at that time to make myself understood, look for the different options...no one was friendly or making any effort whatsoever, i was really pissed off, tired and alone! I then thought of the boys, they were talking of maybe coming to BH for partying the same evening but they were not sure, i tried my luck and waited for them for hours at the bus station, stressed that i would miss them or their bus. BUt that time i was lucky and very relieved when i saw them three getting off the bus! All together we looked for a cheap hotel next to the bus station but as anyone would expect it s quite crap next to the bus station, but we got a room for the 4 of us, just acceptable after walking for at least an hour and visiting many many places! I forgot to explain the relationship between the boys, Olivier, Pierre and Tim. Olivier and Pierre are from the south of france so quite impulsive and always arguing and Tim was quite nervous as well sometimes, so even though it does not sounds like it, they made me laugh a lot because i was watching them from outside behaving like kids sometimes... It was fun but it could not last too long though. And on the top of everything Pierre did not speak english and Tim did not speak french so that did not help for communication but again it amused me. After we gor the room we were looking for a place to go out we walked in the streets, even though i did not feel so safe, it looked like quite a rough area, we got some food in a local place, found a bar and the guys were hunting!! But apparently, it was not good enough so we left and took a taxi but that was our mistake, we found another place that they did not like and then the taxi driver lost us and everyone got really pissed off and i was laughing of the situation! We finally asked the taxi driver to drive us back to our hotel and we walked a bit more around to look for something and still nothing so we went to bed!The following day (saturday), i went to the bus station to book my ticket to salvador the same evening, the streets around the hotel looked much better during the day though, we then went to a nicer area because the boys were changing hotel and we actually found a nice one, and went for a very nice lunch there. Here, the food is per kilo, basically you choose whatever you feel like then you weight it and pay, but that place was particurlary very nice and posh and it was absolutely delicious! We walked around the area, i have been looking for a bood to read either in english or in french about Brazil but i can not find anything at all in all the different bookstore i went to, it s impossible to find anything in a different language than portuguese!
The same night, i said goodbye to the guys for a second time and left for a 24hours bus journey to go to Salvador! I seriously have a lack of luck lately because i was sitting nect to the only guy in the bus who was getting drunk, buying beers each time we were stopping. He was trying to make conversation with me each time i wa moving, so he knew i was not sleeping but he would not listen when i told him many times that i did not understand a word of what he was saying, he was a nice guys thaou but just a bit annoying, especially when he was falling asleep on me! However, I did not find the whole journey too horrible, i was ok after spending 24hours in that bus. The majority of people in the bus were men and i noticed it when we stopped at the bus station and 2 girls not that hot but mini skirt, high hills... crossed the bus station, all the men stood up, whistling and stuffs, the bus even move back to follow them, i could not believe it!! In the bus there was two other traveler too, i talked to them only at the end and actually, we shared a taxi together and i followed them in the poussada they were going in Pelourinho, the historic center of Salvador.
My bus is leaving pretty soon so i won t be able to finish my stories, i m leaving Salvador and the coast to go exploring more, off to a national park where there are caves and waterfalls and nature... Off for some good trecks i hope.
Also, I wanted to say than you to everyone for your support and your messages, it s really nice to feel that i m not alone, it helps me for keeping going... Big Thanks
Hopefully some pictures soon...

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