Brazil

After a combined total of over three weeks in Rio you would think we had seen the city from every different angle. Well that was not entirely true even though we had been on top of Sugar Loaf, Corcovoda and the Favela´s. There was still one vantage point we had not been to. This destination was apparent when lying on the beach in Ipanema and gazing up into the sky each day and seeing the many bird like creatures navigating the skies just above tujuca national park and the near by ´PRAIA´.

One day we were approached by walter a local tout pushing the various tours and activities in Rio. We declined most of them as we had virtually been there done that, however one of them was on the back of both of mind for the entire trip. Finance and Fear were the only obsticals in our way todate, well actually I think it was mainly the latter. Despite the sound reasoning we both had on our second last day in Rio we decided to take the plunge literally. So we tentatively called up Walter who had left us his calling card and booked ourselves a date in the clouds.

The couple of hours before the event was spent anxiously killing time on the sands of Ipanema and having a light snack and drink. Then 3.30 Pm approached and we were picked up by Marcello our Hip-Hop Loving taxi driver and dropped off at the Praia(Beach) where would be touching down. Our certified instructor´s Marcio and Popo greeted us here where we signed off our disclaimer and then swiftly drove us up the Tujuca forest to the take off point. During this trip we were briefed in safety procedures for take off and landing by the aid of a portable DVD. With the music in the background the production depicted a smooth flight and our nerves were slightly calmed.

When we reached the take off pad, which was in excess of 560 meters above the ground those same calm nerves started to increase, it did not help that Rio´s usually clear skies had started to fog up rapidly by the time we reached the top. There was a line of about 15 Tandoms already in front of us nervously waiting to depart the solid wooden base of the platform but due to the lack of visabilty had been waiting for over 2hours. This was all we needed more anxious moments of uncertainty to add to the drama. Our Instuctors explained to us that the skies usually cleared quickly and we had to be ready to jump and any time. However in the same breath they mentioned if it was not clear by 5.45pm we would have to attempt take off the next day. We did not know what was worse plunging into the unknown abyss or waiting for another 24hours in Limbo.

The platform was crowded with atleast 80-100 people which included participants,instructors, bystanders and alot of local experts it seemed. The platform was caotic, especially when the weather seemed to clear momentarily and the place became like wall street at the close of business. The experts would yell PRAIA! PRAIA ! PRAIA! PRAIA ! at the remote sign of the beach. The Instructor and participant first in Line would get set then pull out as the visability would change in an instant. We had not seen anything like it. Adrellin seemed to be pumping through everyone yet no one had seen a jump in hours.

The time ticked over to a few minutes past 5pm and we had pretty much circumed to the fact we would have to shut up shop and repeat the preparation tommorrow. All of sudden the wind experts yelled out PRAIA once again even though to the naked eye there was no sign of sand and water anywhere. The tentative next jumper in line who had been waiting for over three hours had no time to think as his instructor whisked both and him off the mountain into the unknown abyss beneath them after about a five step run up. The onlookers which included our previous roomates Danny and Adam who co-incidently happened to be plunging that day also looked in disbelief as the unpowered device with the passenger and instructor suspended beneath it dramatically sunk into the thick clouds. The preparation DVD we had seen in the trip up the mountain depicted a fairly small decent followed by rapid ascent, however all we saw on this inaugaral flight of the afternoon was plummiting. This did not do much for the nerves and we were hoping our instructor would call it a day.

For another 25 minutes it was yet another gridlock with no one taking off after that first guinea pig whom no one knew what happened to. However as Marcio had advised before the wheather was unpredicatable here and all of a sudden we were blessed with a bit of sunshine. Once again the wall street buzz was back in the mountain. Tandoms took off rapidly one by one like the airtraffic at Heathrow. Marcio and Popo quickly took harsh and myself through a training run through and strapped us into our harness. Marcio unfortunately advised Harsh she could not take her personal camera with her and promoted his on board cam which came at an additional cost. Popo on the other hand let me zip up my cam into the chest pocket of the harness. Oh there is slight bit of incorrect info there it was not my camera it was Mum´s. We were just about to take off when nature called for me, Popo was not happy at all when I asked politely like kindergarden kid ´may i go to the toilet´. I did not really take to well to his tone and went anyway. It did not help that there was a queue for the toilet, Popo in my absence was grilling Harsh about what was taking me so long. I had to make a quick decision should I wait for this queue, go back and plunge on a full bladder or use the natural toilet. I correctly opted for door no 3. Then rushed back to Popo who by now had a smile on his face and told me he was abrupt because he was worried the weather would not hold. By now Harsh was first in line, I tried to take a few take off shots of her but Popo was signalling me to get in line to test my harness, which took only about 10 secs. A quick clip on then a test dangle a foot off the ground. Apparently that was all that was needed to ensure we would not plummet away from the instructor when we were half a kilometer up in the air.

Well no time to think about it anymore as quick as the safety test was we were whisked on to the launch pad, which was a ten meter by ten meter wooden platform on a slight decline. The instructions were to simply hold on to the are respective intructors and just run, Dont stop!! Dont! Jump!! and try and run in sync. Easier said than done when you are running off a perfectly safe mountain for no apparent reason. Our minds began to fill with anticipation,anxiousness,excitement and uncertainty. The heart pounded rapidly, and the body was filled with butterflies as if we were just about to step on stage. Firstly Harsh began here 10 step run up followed by myself a minute after. Both of us put our trust in Marcio and Popo and simply ran straight as directed. The initial leap was amazing, just like the video quick drop of about 2 seconds then a instant ascent when the wind caught the hanglider, like a paper plane you throw downwards which picks up flight immediately. Both of us looked at our intructor´s straight after the take off and felt like louise lane when she asked superman ´You have got me, but who has got you?´. The feeling was none other than we have experienced, total freedom Like a bird, carefree and exhilarating.

Harsh looked like a natural Legs slightly crossed even before Marcio had to instruct her, myself on the other hand took a little long to get comfortable but once the wind picked up it felt quite safe and secure. Rio was an excellent backdrop to do your maiden voyage. The beautiful view of the beach, with the back drop of the forest. The favela´s in the distance, unfortanetly Cristo was not visible due to the weather today but you could see Corcovoda Mountain. All the hours of waiting was worth it. Both Popo and Marceo made us feel safe whislt they navigated the device with precision,sometimes toying with us and pretending to flying head first in to the mountains.

Harsh who usually loves a photo opportunity was so engrossed in the AWE of the scenery that even she forgot Marcio was remotely taking photo´s whilst fyling, resulting in only a couple of camera facing photo´s. Myself on the other hand was aware of Popo´s camera, however got caught up in trying to take Mum´s camera out during the flight. This was a bit harder than expected as only my right hand was able to reach the pocket. This meant I had to unzipp the chest pocket and remove the camera and strap the camera on to my wrist with my non preferred hand. There was a few anxious moments where I felt Mums cam would end up floating off the coast of Rio.

The Flight itself took between 8-10 Minutes I think. It would have gone for a bit longer if there was more wind. But despite being a bit shorter in duration than anticipated it felt enough. We got to fly over the forest and then hover over the beach. I never though when we were laying on the beach last week looking at those bird like creatures that we would be those creatures one day. Well this day we were.

The landing was smooth both instuctors seemlessly unstrapped our legs about 200 meters before the beach and we descended rapidly yet safely just like a bird of prey approached it´s captive. The mixed feelings of relief, happiness and ´Ohh I did not want this to end´ crossed our minds as set foot on the sand. Harsh reached first and was eagerly waiting my arrival. It was a good opportnity for her to capture my landing, it was not hard to spot which glider was me. No it was not the buldging biceps that gave it a way or Popo´s name on the glider, it was those unmistakable Sri Lankan Ankles.

Wooww what a trip I think we have done Rio Justice. It was very hard to say good bye to Ipanema our home for the last 2 and a half weeks.
Next stop Buenos F&cking Aires!!!!

It is safe to say that Rio during Carnaval gives you a distorted view of the city. You tend to think that Rio is out of control, Unhygenic and every one is ripped and wants to grab you. Well some of those points may be true but as we have found out over the last two weeks, the city does have its moments of sanity and sense of normality and routine. Thats right as we did in Cusco we have simply set up camp in Ipanema to get to know the city more intimately, less from a gringo perspective.

We have been lucky enough to have been staying at the Garota De Ipanema Hostel´s Annex as Harsh mentioned before for the first week. It has been a god send, sometimes despite the fact it was a four bedroom apartment we were the only ones staying in it. We then moved to Collinas Residencia near by for the second week as the hostel had to give up the Annex due to a wild party that took place before we got there. Collinas was equally as nice but was a little further from the action.

It has been great getting all the tourist sights out of the way and simply embracing the Carioca lifestyle, it has allowed us to get into a lovely routine here. Waking up around 10ish walking to the open air Gym, sipping on a coconut on the way back. Then eating breaky at our favourite little cafe Beach sucos or grab a yogurt at yogoberry whilst people watching, in the afternoon we usually hit the beach, post 9 where all the beautiful people hangout, off course we fit in well, atleast Harsh does. Later on we grab a late lunch at a Per kilo buffet. We then grab a late nap ready for the night. Eat dinner at beach sucos or an more upmarket BBQ depending on the days expenditure. Finally,hang out at the Corner cafe,with the locals and gringos, enjoying a few Brahma´s and caipirinha´s depending on the mood. After Midnight hit one of Rio´s abundunt night spots( Samba,Hip-Hop,Baila funk depending on the night). Sometimes we would alter the afternoon activity slighty and catch the action of the futbol finals outside popeye bar or stroll through the Markets in Ipanema or Copa. You can safely say it is hard to stay Ripped here with all that Drinking and Eating and breaking rest. Hey you are only young once. In the next few paragraphs I will eloborate on a few of those few activities.

Beach Sucos

This little cafe got a mention last time we were here but gets another this time as we ate here every day without fail. Usually we would grab a chicken sandwich for brunch with a mango juice but After about a week into our stay we finally discovered how to order scrambled eggs(Doje Ovo then we would hand gesture ¨Scrambled¨). Toast was bit harder as our first attemt yeilded us a bread roll instead. Eventually they got it right though when we found a photo in the menu. This place had it all, crepes,executive lunch,juice the works. It even had the best Acai-a Purple slurpy looking mixture of and amazonian fruit that all the buffed guys walked around with. I had a bad experience with my first one back in feb but was totally converted when I bought one here. My only beef with this guys pardon the Pun, was they would always run out of Pichanha at lunch time.

Yogo Berry
If we wanted something lite we would simply stop off here to order some lovely natural yogurt with three delicious fresh toppings. It was very fashionable to walk around with a yogo berry. Especially if you were one of those fit woman walking around in 3/4 tights and long white socks. Damn I forgot to buy harsh a pair.

Posto 9

Well about 50 meters to the right of the gay section of the beach was posto 9. It was famous for beautiful Garota´s and Buffed guys. I believe when the famous song was written ´Garota de Ipanema¨the writers were in a bar close by speaking of the girls from this section of the beach. To be honest though most parts of Ipanema beach housed beautiful people. We would stroll there often, grab an umbrella,a Beve and sit and gawk at the hot bods. The beach was far less packed this time, however it was still a buzz as we were there during the holiday period. It was much better this time, gone was the loads of tourist, you could just enjoy the decent size waves and appreciate the skills of the beach volleyball,futvolley and futball players. Off course there was an abundance of wonderfully curvacious woman but Two guys have to get a mention, we refer to them simply as Arse1 and 2. Think of the poster in a doctors surgery displaying the muscular skeletal system of a human. All the different parts, defined to the smallest muscle group. These guys must have posed for it. And they had an Arse that even I had to take a second and third look at. Ok may be more. The other character that´s gets a special mention is the beach Vendor that sold ACAI you know the fruit I ate at beach sucos. This guy would walk up to unsuspecting people with a loud speaker like the captain in Police Academy and shout "ACAI " then turn around and smile at the other people on the beach and then whisper acaiiii softly. If you hear both of us greet you with ACAI instead of Hello it is because of this guy. I think you had to be there as it does not sound that funny writing it. It was great to witness all these characters who seemed to be in the same spot each day,I dont think anyone works here. It was also good to walk to the beach peacefully in 3 minutes unlike the 20 minutes it took in Carnaval avading the loads of people.

Churrascaria
Although we at many different restaurents in the evening in Ipanema the main ones included our favourite per kilo place mentioned in our previous visit here and a new churrascaria which we just over induldged at. This BBQ was amazing all you can eat salads, sushi,seafood and Meat Meat and more meat. I am salvating just thinking of the Picanha as I write this. The concept was similar to the Copacabanna restaurent in Melbourne only these guys had much more variaty of meat and a great range of salads and was far cheaper. We went here on two seperate occasions as once was just not enough. If this place was a per kilo we would be broke as I consumed atleast half a cow and harsh had a farm full of chicken and lamb.

BBQ at the corner cafe
During our second week at Ipanema we noticed that at the corner cafe near our hostel there was always a gathering of locals and foreigners around a small BBQ. One day when we walked by the locals kept on gesturing to us to join in and grab a bite of freshly cooked meat and sausages. I did not know quite how to respond and was not aware if this was free or was I going to get a bill at the end after I ate. However, I soon found out that this guy who went by the nickname of King had being having his own little BBQ on this corner for the last 17 years to bring the people together. Apparently this corner was quite a rough place a while back but due to Kings hostpitality the locals and foreiners got together and shared a few yarns over a Barbie and Cervejas and brought harmony to the place. Apparently even the local business owners and supermarkets assisted king in providing this service a few times weekly and during large public holidays. Each patron chipped in few reals aswell to assist in the finances. It was a great meeting point before we went out and was even more lively when Kings mates which included a guy we referred to as the fisherman (as we saw him there in a wet suit and a rod once) rolled up in their vehicles with a trunk full of baile funk-Creauuuuuuuuuuu. Whilst for the most part the corner had a friendly atmosphere going it did change quickly once when an retired old Aussie Bloke insulted one of the local ladies by questioning her sexuality. This girl who had a bigger set of guns than my legs did not take to well to this remark and responded by demanding some "Fu#king RESPECT" and smashing a bottle like Ohara in enter the dragon was ready to glass this guy. Even the usually calm King and the fisherman were offended and exclaimed that if this bloke was any younger he would have been sliced with the same set of blades that was used to carve this friendly meal.

Rio by night
After a few Caipirinhas at the corner we would head off sometimes alone sometimes with fellow travellers to various areas of rio for some dancing.
Some of the notable spots we hit was;

Lapa-
A inner city suburb that was amazingly busy on weekends,packed with a cluster of clubs ranging from Samba,Hip-Hop to trance and funk. It seemed that every one in Rio was there on a friday. You did not even need to go into the clubs as there was music blaring from all corners as we got off the local bus. You could also purchase any type of alcohol and a meat skewer from the countless street vendors. We sampled a Hip-Hop,Baile funk and Samba club here. The Samba club called the Rio Scenarium was amazing, great band,atmosphere, three levels and played some of the carnival school themes and offcourse Mas Que nada(Oba Oba Oba)

Zero Zero-
This place was an upmarket club in Gavea. It was the in the Rio Planetarium. We went there with an english guy named Mickey who we met at Kings Corner BBQ. Even though we got there early at 11 there was a queue of 150 meters long. I dont think I have lined up for 1 and half hours since the warehouse and carousel but hey we were only in rio for a short time so we hung in there, sipping a few drinks from the vendors in the line. It was worth the wait, Pitty Mickey did not wait with us to enjoy the night as he had to find a husband on the beach the next day. The club was really pretty inside. A sitting area with a tree inside equipped with nice benches. Excellent music to go with the picturesque surroundings and reasonably priced drinks. The place also had its fair share of aggressive blokes, one who had the audacity to speak to me for 5 minutes then in the same breath turn around to Harsh and ask her whether she would like to kiss her first Brazillian guy(Okay we are one all from Sao Paulo Now).

Melt-
This place prounounced Melch by the locals and myself was in Posh Leblon. We went there after that eventful night at the corner. It had a good vibe inside, great baile funk but unlike the favela no shooting and some extremely beautiful model like fair skinned locals getting down like their darker countryman. Melch was also more reasonably priced than Barronotti in Ipanema were us blokes had to coff up 100reals minimum at the bar just to enter.

Markets-
There were two markets which we frequented whilst here. The Copa night Market and the Sunday Hippie fair in Ipanema. The Copamarket was wear we got the most value out of as its prices were considerably cheaper than neighbouring ipanema. We managed to pick up many bargain here including a Brazil Jersey for Prashu and Harsh even managed to find a prospective husband from the states, atleast thats what she will tell you. The truth is this extremely good looking hunk of man simply looked at her in passing and she already had the invitations prepared.
Jokes aside we also enjoyed strolling through the Ipanema Hippie fair which had more quality stuff on offer but was only on Sundays and was at a higher price. Infact one sunday we saw the same vendor later at copa who offered the same top to us for 10real cheaper due to the venue he was selling at.

The world game
As mentioned before on the weekends there was always a Futball game on. We were lucky enough to be here during the finals. Flamengo V Botafogo, two local teams. The area we were staying in had a large Flamengo following. Especially at this small non discript bar call Popeye. The locals would pack this place that had small flat screen and a few bites like fried sardines and empanadas. People even had T-shirts of this joint ala hard rock cafe. The atmosphere was great outside especially during a flamengo goooaaaaaaaaaal. It was great to see how Brazillians embraced soccer, we did not see this last time due to the euphoria of Carnaval. It is not hard to see why they are the world´s No.1 especially when you walk on the beaches at night and see the kids as little as 5 playing organsied games and immulating the greats.

So that has been our activity during the last two weeks, we have loved being in Ipanema and embracing the Carioca lifestyle. It will be sad to leave but I think we have pretty much done all that we could here. All accept one as you will see in the next blog.

So after being nearly attacked by a drugee.. We had had it. We had to make a decision what to do next either Salvodor, Rio or B.A. Buenos Aires is going to be our final destination anyway so either Salvodor or Rio. We had been to Rio during the carnival and were curious to see the city in its daily buzz. So we decided to come to Rio. Also it was the easter weekend and we thought what better way to celebrate Easter than going to Christo himself.

The guy at the information place in Sao Paulo was like the Lonely Planet book. Exact directions and information about the bus terminal, bus companies and tickets. It was wierd coming back to the Sao Paulo bus terminal, as the last time we were here, we were with our big GAP group.

The bus ride was pretty smooth, got to Rio at about 8.00pm. The decision of leaving to Rio was pretty quick so we had not booked any accomodation. So at 8.30 in the night we were calling all these hostels from the Lonely Planet. Called about 4 places, all full. Finally the wave hostel had 2 spots left in a dorm. It was the busy easter weekend so everything was full getting a double room was out of question. We arrived on the same street where we stayed the last time. It was difficult driving past the street as the place we stayed at was absolutely perfect. Anyway we arrive to this hostel. I realised that we had walked past this place a lot of times during our first visit. There was cluster of different hostels; CLUSTER Anthony was happy. Lol !!

Worse Than Favella like conditions (we have seen the favella its up market) -

On arrival a girl from a different place to what we had booked hostel called¨ The Girl from Ipanema¨ greeted us and asked us if wanted a room. We asked if they had a private room which we would prefer over the dorms. She said as it is a busy weekend all their regular doubles are full but they had a private room which she would do it for a cheap price for that night. The other room was going to be available the next day ie Easter Sunday. OMG the room was ssoooo SHOCKING!! I couldnt believe that we had to pay them money to stay in that room. It should have been the other way around.I have never seen over 20 socket holes drilled in not even a 10 by 10 room. It had 3 beds, one double and 2 singles.The beds looked like they were from the junkyard from the Favella or a donation from the Favella to the hostel. We told the girl that we will check our initially reserved place first and then tell her. So we walked next door to the Wave Hostel thinking we will defintely prefer to stay in the dorm instead of that shocking room.
This other place had a nice and clean social area, so we thought ah thats a good start. Walked into this dorm OOOOHH MY GOD ! it was the dirtiest room I have ever seen (Yes worse than our room. it just has clothes and ear-rings everywhere !!). The walls were painted marroon with cob webs nearly touching the top bunk bed. The room had no ventilation of any sort, so you would have to leave the main door open and a cieling fan (another donation from the Favella). We have stayed in a dorm in Mendoza for a night. So its not the only exposure to dorms but all of a sudden the Hole we saw before in the other hostel was like a 3* hotel. So we checked in there and tried to stay out for as long as we could. We were going to Christo the next day that excitment took over us and slept on the dodgey beds praying that we dont get bitten by the bed bugs.Hopefully the other room in the apartment that she was talking about be a better room or else we are calling Sonia getting in Ipanema Palace.

Resurrection at Christo

Next day we were up pretty early and took a 7.30 bus to get to Christo. We thought we had got there pretty early as we were there before the first train left but nnnoooooooo! There were about 100 people already there.What a noble idea - celebrate easter at Christo as if no one else thought of that. lol !
We had to wait ages to get a good shot. After about a good hour and a half I think we got the shot we wanted. Surprisingly, there was a Preist there this time blessing people who I think missed the morning mass. So that was special.Unlike in India this guy didnt ask me what religion I am nothing, just the language we spoke and where we were from and then blessed us in English. The day looked pretty cloudy on the way there but surprisingly it was very clear near Christo. I think this time around we could appreciate the statue even more. This time around I didnt get the magical feeling when I caught a glimpse of the statue from the stairs but I was still in an awe !! It is just a magnificent structure I think everyone should visit it once in the lifetime Christian or non Christian. It got really busy by now so we went ot have to breakfast at the same place as last time where I still think they serve the best Mango and strawberry mixed juice ever. After the breakfast we went back near the statue and enjoyed the views of the Rio. It was simply a divine moment celebrating easter sunday in this wonderfully spiritual site.

We left at about 12 from Corcovado mountain and made our way back anxious about this other room. As mentioned before we were staying in a shocker of a room in the Girl from Ipanema hostel on Holy saturday, I think Jesus´Tomb would have had more light and comfort. Luckily for us though, Sofia the owner had another double room for us a few houses down from the main hostel in a shared unit. We Jumped at the chance to move on sight. The apartment was clean, spacious. It brought back sanity to us after staying in a bad location in Sao Paulo and the shocker the night before. After taking nice warm shower and coming back to sanity we were ready to socialise with the people in the hostel so went to the reception and check what can be done.

Benny´s Favella Funkparty

The girl at the reception told us about this Favella Funk party as a popular thing to do for the night. The list of people going to this party looked pretty big as well. Anthony met this guy Faisal (not Oliver) who was also going and said that it was the place to be. All we could think about is Bené/Benny´s going away party from the movie The City of God. The receptionist also said that we would get access to the VIP level which is the upper level and you could see the dance floor(I could imagine the scene from the movie).So we got pretty hyped. We didnt really do too much during the day just relaxed and took a nap as we were told we will come back at 4.30 in the morning from the party. After dinner we met the rest of the group at 10 pm at the hostel reception where we going to be collected from to go to this Party. Anthony was speaking to Faisal, it was Faisal´s last night there he was going to B.A. the next day, he seems like a nice guy we will definitely catch up with him in B.A. I was a bit anxious as I didnt see any girl names on the list and I didnt want to be the only girl there. But luckily there were 3 more girls there and I kinda got friendly with Inquin and Karen. Inquin was with her B.f and it was there last night there aswell.

We left the hostel at about 10.30 pm and drove to this favella which was about 40-45 mins away from Ipanema. When we drove past the parking lot we saw atleast 350 people just in the parking lot. Everyone got really excited thinking of the number inside as it looked like a big concert like area. Just outside the entrance there was small vendor selling Caipirinhas for 2 Reals. We were told that drinks inside would be expensive so everyone decided to have some drinks outside and then go in. The scene outside was pretty happening. Everyone was dressed in this Favella Funk promotional T- Shirts with a Johnny Bravo print. I sooo wanted that T- Shirt (I so love Johnny bravo- Anthony doesnt know who he is and most of you wouldnt either). I must say people were a bit agressive with their advances; we had 2 Scottish guys who actually got scared of the 2 girls making advances and begged me and this other girl to stand with us so the girls would go away. But we had our own issues, one specific mention was this guy standing not even a meter away from us salvating and staring right at me. It wasnt very comfortable.

It was just before 1am and our tour guy who was Brsilian told us that we could get in. Everyone bought a drink and got ready to walk in. By now we couldnt see the people outside so we thought they have all gone in. We were about 15 people we walked in together and everyone single one of us had the same reaction. WHAT THE F$@K ?? Where are all the people?? This place inside did look like Benny´s party but instead of 1000 people in his party there were not even 50 people here (and the place could hold about 1000 people ). We just didnt understand where did the over 350 people go who were waiting outside. When we went to the toilets they all were flooded and the dance floor corner were full of piss. We couldnt contemplate that 50 people could do that.
The girl I was talking to Inquin was telling me how much fun these parties are as they had been to one before. It looked like it could be a great spot but where were all the people ? I must the say the music was great, cheap drinks, and we were on the upper level which was supposed to be the VIP level. The VIP level was totally empty apart from the 15 of us. After I finished my massive Caipirinha I didnt really care and I was getting it on with the Baila Funk music that was playing. Anthony was disappointed though as there was no crowd.
Everyone enjoyed but I think missed the crowd. There were dance comps with people being pulled out from the crowd, the moves were far more aggressively primal than any where else in south america. There also was also strippers both male and female picking people from the crowd and giving them massive shots of Casacha straight from the bottles and shaking there heads worse than a Indian massuer. If that was me I would have puked right on the stripper man.

We got out at about 3.30 am as I think, everyone wanted to leave but for some reason we stayed another hour outside. When we finally left our driver apolozised to us saying sorry about the empty place and told us that there was a shooting inside just about 30 minutes before we got there. Thats is why when we arrived everyone was outside or already gone or leaving. And thats why the place was empty. Now it all made sense the flooded toilets, piss puddles on the near the dance floors, empty cups and beer bottles lying everywhere. In the movie after Benny was shot, people start running everywhere but they dont show how the club looked later. I think we saw how it would have looked. I cant believe there was someone killed in there and we werent told. Finally we left at 4.30 am and got to the hostel just before 5.30 in the morning.

Anthony and a couple of others didnt get over the fact that there was no crowd, but I think it made sense to them after the shooting story. All in all a very wierd experience, I had a great night until I heard about the shooting.
Hey one good thing atleast I got the Johnny Bravo print T-Shirt thanks to Faisal.

Looking forward to just lying on the beach at posto 9 now.

Chao

Thanks to some frequent flyer points we decided to fly directly to Sao Paulo from Lima instead of bussing it. We arrived here at Sao Paulo on the 7th April in the early evening. As we did not really pu much planning into this we had to organsise accomodation on the fly. So after a quick bite at the Sao paulo airport we took the executive bus into Praca de Republico which is in the City Centre. Luckily we had the lonely planet on hand to aid us in finding a hotel. Hotel joamar was the spot we decided on. So we started the walk from the bus stop to the Hotel armed with Backpacks and the increasing number of accessory bags Harsh has managed to accumulate ove time. The Hotel seemed clean and hospitable but the area around it was a little bit nervy. Well we had been i tourist friendly Cusco and Mirafores in the last few weeks and the initial view in sao paulo was that we seemed the only tourists in the city centre.

Later that night we took a walk around our surrounding streets to get a quick bite to eat. Despite being a weeknight the street we were on seemed to have a party vibe with little after work Sandwhich bars housing samba musicians and street vendors armed with big boom boxes. We decided to sit at one of the more crowed cafes at the end our street and were delighted when the musician started to play and acustic version of our favourite song of the trip "Minha mia" I think thats what its called. By the tm we had dinner it was a around 10.30ish and the busy street we had walked up to get the cafe had by now began to get a lot less crowded and far more dodgey. In fact it was a pedestrian only street so you could not even get a cab if you wanted. So we rushed back to the hotel hoping not to encounter any dramas. Luckily no issues.

The next few days in sao paulo we spent exploring this vast city with the help of the friendly tourist information guys and the massive city map we had in hand. By day Sao Paulo city was a lot less scary. The Metro train system was amazingly effecient. The longest we ever had to wait for connection was 3minutes and that was on a public holiday. The only real difficulty we had with the metro was buying tickets on the first day and that was mainly due to our poor portuguese.

The first area we visited was the extremely clean and wonderfully diverse Fruit Market and Veg Market. This place was reknowned for being the best in Brazil. I think you would be hard pressed to beat it. Every thing frm Rumbutangs and Mango Steens to Unheard of Amazonian fruits. The best thing about it was each vendor would insists on you trying the produce. I think I speak fo both Harsh and myself when Saying we tasted the best Mango we had ever had here and probably the biggest. The size of a grideon I reckon. Once again my lack of Portuguese got us into problems when eating lunch here. I saw this fantastic photo of a ricota filled pastry which I thought I ordered with the help of the waitress but much to my dismay I got this monsterouse ham sandwhich instead which the locals were starring at and even a begger refused to take off me when I could not finish it.

In the progressive days we explored Jardims Paulista an wealthy area, bellavista an italian area and liberdade the Asian area of Sao Paulo. It was amazing to see how diverse the respective neighbourhoods were. Jardims Paulista was extremely safe and well lit Infact walking around at night was not an Issue. We had Dinner one night here at a beautifuly atmospheric restauran filled with a glamurous young crowd, Innovative cocktails and the most decitent Chocolate mouse. Ohh i forgot to mention it came at an equall exorbertant price bu hey it was well worth it. We also visited a fantastic Art Museom here, where we viewed a few picasso´s, rembraints, van goff´s and Renoir´s to name a few along with a lovely exibit of Brazillian photography.

Bellavista, the italian eighborhood which was only a stones throw away from the city had a completely different air about it from the houses to the people. The Restaurents were Uniquel italian too from th Pasta´s and vines right down to the Old men seating out the front, Capiche, forget about it!

Liberdade, the asian area was also a five minut stroll from the city center. We had a very filling oreintle per kilo buffet there and ejoyed walkin through the tows main street which even had the oriental lantons for street lights and a string of chinese shops. I must say i was more orderly than most asian areas I have visited.

Our nights in Sao Paulo was mainly spent persuing the city´s club scene which we had read rivalved New yorks. We spent many minutes riding the subways and many dollars in cab fares venturing into many neighbourhoods such as vila olympia and vila madelana and Jardms Paulista. However struck out most times. I think i would have been better if we went with local knowledge. It was hard to find places we liked as the nightlife was wide spread. We eventually went to one club named vegas where we spent about $20 for entry but i was all trance music. The only thing excitng was a 70+ Man dancing around trying to be 25 I think he was Brazil´s equavilan to "the Legend". The other stand out of the night was a guy who I thought was chatting up Harsh but it turned out in their conversation he mentioned to her " Your boyfriend is beautiful twice". Hey What Can I say, maybe next time Harshu.

As mentioned before we were staying on a pedestrian only street, it seemed the street and Sao Paulo City in general had an abundance of sex shops and adult cinemas(good choice of hotel Harsh), each time we came back home we had a scary stretch of about 250 meters to our hostel. Many a night we found ourselves evading drunks and druggies to get back to the safety of our hotel. I think the city center of sao paulo has been the most nervous we have been on the trip to date. One night there was a dodgey Druggie who approached yelling what sounded like Heeyyy heey heeyy in a deep voice. It seemed like he was running to us from a distance but when he came close it was like he was running in super slow motion,never the less it was scary, I wish I had my heartrate monitor on as I think it would have been higher than when we did the Inca trail. Normally Harsh complains about my lack of speed when walking, but we both discovered I walk quite fast when shit scared. Luckily we simply walked away unscaved as we were only 50 meters away from the hotel thank god or else Harsh was ready to assault him with her heels(Definition of Assualt-throw them at him and run away). I think if we had our time in sao paulo again we would have stayed in the prettier suburb of Jardims Paulista.

Well we are off to Rio next by bus, a 6 hour ride. No plan on accomodation yet but we will work that out on arrival. We are looking forward to seeing Rio away from the crowd of Carnaval and spending Easter in the City of God.

After another mediocre breaky in Bonito we headed Further East towards the Pantanal, which was a 4 and a half drive via private coach. This was a much more comfortable coach than our overnight ride we had to Bonito thank god.

The Pantanal a tropical wetland in Brazil was famous for its wildlife which included Caiman, Capybara and to a lesser extend Jaguaarrrr. It was also known for it´s tenacious Mozi´s. So we lathered on the Bushman´s Deet hoped off the bus for our lunch stop which was 40 minutes away from our farm accomodation. Shetty was not impressed as there was only beef on the menu a trend which continued for the next two days. After Lunch we hopped on a safari truck with out local guide Diago and the rest of the group and headed for the Farm. This was comical as we changed Trucks three times Luggage and all in stiffling humidity before we moved an inch on the road.

Actually I still to this day don´t no why. I hope this was not a taste of things to come. Thankfully it was not.

The accomodation was basic, infact we shared one giant shed in comfortable hammocks with the rest of the 14 people in our group. Although this does not sound all that flash it was not that bad at all except for the communal bathrooms fitted with insects and Frogs. I did say it was basic.

The first activity we undertook on the day we reached there was a 1hour walk into the lush wetlands of the pantanal.

Whilst it was no African safari we did get frightfully close to lots of Caiman a member of the Aligator family. One whould say too close. Suprisingly they were quite passive and did not seem to phased we were invading their personal space.

Infact the Wasps were more threathening and managed to Ping 4 members of our group in the buttocks, which I think would not have been good for first activity the following day-Horseriding.

The next morning after a suprisingly good rest in the hammocks despite having no fan or AC and after the worst breakfast I have ever had-Dry Bread and dry cake, we set off for a two hour horse ride. I must have got a pregnant donkey as it refused to move and respond to my kicks and was atleast 10meters behind for half the ride.

Only after Max our other local guide handed me a Whip like branch did it start to catch up to the rest of the trail group.

Harsh on the other hand was doing exceptionally well with her noble steed, too well infact as her horse Patchy got bitten by another trying to overtake too many times.

Overall the ride was fun, we saw lots of Capybara and different types of birds [Sarath would have loved it] but no illusive Jaguarrr. My respect goes out to all the jockeys and cowbows as it was tough work when the Horse started to trot let alone gallop. Mind you hanging onto a video camera, still cam and backpack did not help my cause either.

After Lunch and a snooze we set off for what was the most exciting part of the whole trip. Piranha fishing.
Yes I did say Piranha Fishing. Once again we hoped on our safari truck, this time no comedic transfers and travelled for 45 minutes to this remote riverrrr. The climate had changed drastically thanks to a spurt of tropical rain and was pleasantly about 10 degrees cooler than the day before.

We reluctanly hopped off the truck and ventured through lush green vegetation deep into the Pantanal, on our way we passed a smaller creek which was guarded by Caiman, I was hoping we did not stop there, thank god we did not. Diago and Max had other plans, we penetrated the forest more into a larger lake. However We were wondering where the fishing boat or the pier was, to our dismay Diago Pointed in the direction of river signalling us to submerge ourselves waist deep in the river which was infested with Piranha , Caiman and Many other creatures unbeknown to us. Reluctanlty the group tip toes into the river which was filled with leafy vegetation on its surface and gooey,slushy murcky mud at its base. The Filling on our feet was something I had not felt before. I w were in a beauty salon we would have paid big money for this natural mud solution but as we could not see what was under us we felt quite squirmish.

After the intial fear of entering the water we were fine although we did stay very close to one and other when we were surrounded by Caiman in front of us and behind us. Diago managed to put our mind at ease explaining that we were too big for them to attack and they did not bother humans unless they threathened a nest or provoked them. All the same it was a bit nervy being with 5 meters of a member of the alligator family in the water and not knowing where they were when they went under water. All ¡n al though we had a fantastic time piranha fishing despite having creepy crawlies surrounding us in the eater, Katrina the norwigien girl was the first one in our group to catch Piranha, she seemed to do it with ease by simply throwing in the bate then yanking the line and up came these ugly looking terrors of the river. Infact she caught about three in quick succession so too did most of the group some even catching about 4 each. It seemed like they were trowing a line into a bucket, even Sarah and Lily who feared getting into the water the most got lucking close to the bank. So your probably wandering how many did De Silva and Shetty manage to snare between them, well not 4, not 5, not 10 i think the corrosponding word in spanish for what we caught was ´Nada´´. That´s right sweet Fu&ck all. The rest of the group caught about 15 piranha and we contributed with nothing just a few unfruitful bites and poses for happy snaps.

Luckily later that night the group was unselfish and let us eat three fish between us despite not cathing anything. Boy it taste good, Harsh was finally able to eat something else in the pantanal other than beans and rice.

We left the Pantanal the following morning after a 2 hour walk, all in all it was a good destination. The highlight being the Piranha fishing and the close proximity to the Caiman and the horse riding. Unfortunately no Jaguuaaarrr!!!