An interesting few days....

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Hello there people....Well, what an interesting few days I´ve had!..Touched down in São Paulo on Sunday evening after 14hrs flying. I had absolutely no Portuguese and very little Spanish(and not very many of the people I came across spoke English). However I managed to get myself to the hostel safely, despite getting absolutely drenched in a monsoon of rain! Spent the next two days walking around São Paolo city centre,which is bloody dodgy to say the least! The are so many poor down-and-out people just sitting on the streets, in the parks-begging or sleeping(in the middle of the day!). There also seemed to be alot of physically disabled people too, hobbling around on crutches... Half of the people in general seem to be lazing around the streets with no jobs to go to, and the other half seem to be making every attempt to earn a few quid- the streets are lined with people selling all sorts of things from keyrings to coconuts and X-rated dvds. I remember seeing one fella who was standing on the footpath in the roasting midday sun, he had a hanky/small piece of cloth on the ground, and on it he had three pairs of reasonably well-worn second-hand shoes, and there he was stood in the same place all day hoping that somebody would buy them off him!....poor fella.

Then one evening I sampled the rich end of town, when my friends cousin brought me out to dinner in a really posh sushi restaurant(and stuffed my mouth full of raw fish!), outside there were three or four porsches parked in a row!

Also, its worth mentioning that the first time I tried to get the metro, the line was closed as I was told somebody had decided to jump onto the tracks in a supposed suicide attempt!..don´t get me wrong though, apparently this is quite rare. I also stumbled upon an entire shopping centre(50+ shops) that was devoted to selling heavy rock(metallica, bonjovi, thin lizzy etc) music stuff(cds, t-shirts, posters etc)
After São Paolo, I headed about 150miles north into the beautiful hills São Paolo state to a coffee farm (about 1200m alt.). Well....this place has to be seen to be beleived!- The farmhouse is just amazing with four side all facing into a central courtyard. Then surrounding the house there is a tenniscourt, magnificent gardens, orchard(with an array of fruits), a lake, beautiful scenery...the absolute opposite to downtown São Paolo!..I met my friend Augusto(aka Guto) and all his cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents etc. I have been living like a king for the past two days, eating some a best food I´ve ever had(alot of the food is grown or reared on the land, so it is almost self-sufficient). I have eaten more types of fruit than I every knew existed!. The house-maids have been teaching me Portuguese and tomoro they said they will take me dancing in the local samba school( a few brahmas may have to be consumed beforehand!). We also hope to do some kayaking or mountain biking tomoro or the next day. The town itself, Pocos de Caldas, is famous for its thermal baths in which the water is full of healthy natural minerals.

Anyway, I´ll stop babbling on now....its time to go to bed(I need to sleep-off all the food I´ve been eating today!)
Weather is great too!
FACT for the day: 20% of all the world fresh water is contained in the Amazon and all its tributaries.
(I promise some photos next time!)

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Comments

[Mike McLindon]

Hi
Hi Paul, Sounds like you're having a fab' time. Get your samba lesson on You tube andEnjoy the adventure! Mike Mc

[david burrows]

Rock in Rio
WE demand pictures of a 50+ Rock and Roll Mega store! Sounds like you are enjoying the high life mate... are you sure you havent shacked up with brazillian drug dealers? all sounds v susipious to me. any tales of bad luck yet? cheers david