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Published: September 12th 2009
My journey didn't start off too well when a young French lady sat next to me on the plane. I got the distinct impression she had been sleeping rough for a considerable period. My concerns were confirmed when she removed her shoes and jumper to unleash a quite repulsive barrage of odour - much to Valentina's amusement. After 12 hours next to the young lady I was pretty pleased when we arrived in Rio.
Our next obstacle was to get to our hostel - the taxi we'd arranged didn't appear to be there so we had to enter into negotiations with some of the locals. Despite Valentina's pitiful attempt at haggling we agreed a reasonable price. Our driver seemed to have somewhere he'd rather be, driving like a man possessed, no one stops for red lights after dark due to the car jacking threat, but he took this to another level by refusing to even acknowledge the existence of his brake pedal.
We spent a few days on the Copacabana beach, with my skin complexion causing a number of funny looks from the locals. We did all of the sights - Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf mountain, Lapa etc
and had a few nights out - one of which included watching the Brazil v Argentina match in a local bar which was a pretty passionate affair. Valentina has now developed an unhealthy taste for the local cocktails, Caipirinhas, which has led to a number of hangovers (although she maintains it was always something she ate). They are pretty lethal I'll admit.
Having both really enjoyed Rio we left for Salvador which is a pretty interesting place due to it's unique blend of Brazilian, African and Portuguese culture. Despite the vibrant atmosphere here it's not the safest of places, so we made sure we always kept an eye on our valuables. This didn't extend to our footwear however and whilst on the beach the other day both our flip flops were stolen from under our noses. The barefooted walk back to the hostel was a pretty embarrassing one and the pavements are not the cleanest. We took in some culture last night, watching a dance performance called Bale Folclorico da Bahia - which was a fusion of the different cultures which make up the area.
Tomorrow we are heading further north on a 12 hour coach ride. Traveling
around Brazil has proven to be pretty difficult so I'm sure there will be a lot more of these. We will upload pictures as soon as we can (had some problems with it here).
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Suheila Lewis
non-member comment
dodgy stomach
is that what made your stomach dodgy Valentina? so it is not the food but the local cocktails. Thank you Dan for that i thought i asked you to keep an eye on her ahahahaha. I hope you will have a great travel.