I lose my gringo status and what a week! I love Rio!!!!

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I don't even know where to begin with this city! I thought Buenos Aries was crazy, but Rio is completely bonkers! We spent 8 days there and had the time of our lives! We stayed in a part of Rio called Ipanema which is quite upmarket. Now I know you're probably thinking that we should stay in the more working class or traditional areas, but we would probably have lasted about 3 minuites if we had stayed there. While Rio is a truly outstanding place the gap between the rich and the poor is unbelievable and you simply do not wander anywhere alone especially at night and to take any expensive stuff with you is very foolish. We got here from Ilha Grande with a group of 9 of us who had become really good friends. 1 Dutch guy called Doran and a Dutch girl called Iris, 1 Australian called Cam, 4 English girls called Suz, Claire, Jo and Seana and Louise and I. The really dodgy areas are called Favelas and they are run my drug dealers who have semi-automatic rifles and had guns and the saying is 'wise people obey orders'! Not nice people and while they generally don't shoot us gringos you definately don't wander into their area and you don't get on the wrong side of them. There are several murders everyday in the Favelas and inside it's like a war zone. You're probably wondering why I loved Rio so much considering the dangers, but these people are only a tiny percentage of the population and most people are incredibly friendly and helpful and are very intersting to talk to and they especially seem to like the English. Everyone here plays football and everyone parties like tomorrow is Armagedon! The first night we went to a street party in a place called Lapa. 2 of our group were mugged that night and someone we knew was help up and gun point! I was not harrassed though and had a superb night and ended up in Samba club where this huge Samba band played brilliant music. We spent the next day like most of the other days; on the beach tanning and looking at the most beautiful girls arses I have ever seen. Copacabana is the famous beach, but it's actually quite unfashionable now and we spent our days on Ipanema beach which is the 'in' beach and as we were such cool people we fitted in quite well! Though for some reason we did end up on the gay section of the beach quite a few times. Maybe we were all suppressing our feelings! People were flogging so much stuff on the beach and it was so busy. Not a place for quiet time. The sea was quite dangerous and I feared for my life a couple of times. The waves were so huge and powerful. One time I got hit unexpectadly by an enourmous wave that smashed me over and pinned me to the sea bed and I couldn't get up due to the turbulence and was smashed about like a rag doll. When the wave finally receded and it let me up for oxygen I was nobbled by another enormous wave that consequently did the same and I thought that was it, goodbye Dave. Anyway as I was washed up very shaken, disorientated and out of breath a local boy stood there pointing at me and laughing! It's funny; when you go to the beach, if the gangs don't get you the crazy bus drivers will run you over and if you do actually make the gauntlet to the beach the sea will probably get you in the end anyway! Ipanema actually means 'dangerous water'. I should have listened! We went into Lapa again the next night and I ended up with a stunning Brazillian girl, but they have an interesting way of kissing! Lets just say her tongue was nearly cleaning out my lungs! We went to a Favela funk party the next night in a real Favela (don't worry Mum!) and the police presence was huge. They were all sat in their cars with enourmous guns resting on the window. Inside all the locals were partying hard and we had yet another brilliant night. I felt about 6 different hands try and grab anything in my pockets, but I was a sensible gringo and all money was tucked safetly in my shoe. I won't go into detail about every night, but they were all superb. Anyway it sounds like all we dd was party and sunbathe, but we did actually see some of the city. We went up to the Christ the Redeemer statue (big JC as we called him) which was breath taking and the city views were top notch. We went to a famous colonial area of the city called Santa Teresa built by the Portuguese which was very attractive and we went to the famous Lapa steps that are all tiled in different colours and were fascinating. We also went to the cities cathedral which was quite bizzarre. It's very modern, but very ugly on the outside. It's shaped like a cone, but inside it was strangely nice. We of course had to spend a little time on the Copacabana, but Ipanema was a genuinly better beach. The local favela friends seemed to really like me and as I wasn't mugged and as they accepted me I have decided that my gringo status is gone and I'm an offical Brazillian! We went to a football game between Flamengo and Gremio (top of the Seria A here) and Flamengo won which was good as we were stood with their fans although I did think maybe I should have been with the Gremio fans as their colours were the same as Prestons! Anyway it was certainly not like a Preston game. Flares, about 50,000 fans and police with machine guns! Rio was very expensive and it was time to get out of there. The group was splitting up and heading home or in different directions and Salvador was calling us. (It's supposed to be more dangerous than Rio, not sure why were going!). We are getting a flight to Salvador as it's actually only a little more expensive than the bus. Unfortunately due to the dangers of being mugged I didn't take my camera out much, so I don't have many photos. I have probably missed a load of stuff, probably due to drunkeness! Anyway Rio was amazing, probably our city highlight so far and although it is dangerous if you worry about it too much and get paranoid you will miss out on a genuinly great city with amazing locals and fabulous sights. Just keep you're wits about you, but don't let it drag you down. I LOVE RIO DE JANEIRO!!!

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Comments

[Muzz]

You're right Dave, Preston would never have 50,000 fans!!! :) See you in Peru x

[Safira]

Thanks!
Hey Clan, I really enjoyed reading your post about my city... It's hard to find a gringo talking about Rio with so much passion. Thanks for making me proud of being Brazilian (actually, "carioca", if you know what I mean). I hope you enjoy your stay in Salvador, it's a really nice place too! Regards, Safira.