"Don't worry, take it easy."

Seemingly the Brazilian mantra. So many people have said that exact phrase to me. When I asked the owner of my last hostel in Santa Teresa, Rio whether she wanted paying now or later for the laundry she laughed and said "You're so funny! Don't worry, take it easy." (I took that to mean she didn't want paying. I was wrong).

Other Brazilian things I've noticed: 

No one will happily accept a note larger than R$20. To put that into perspective, the next note up (R$50) is worth £12.50. Drives me crazy. 

If a taxi driver doesn't know where a place is, he will kick you out of the taxi. 

Flip flops and shorts are the national uniform. 

Spoken Portuguese is nothing like Spanish. If you think it is, you're wrong. If you think speaking Spanish will help you understand when someone speaks to you, re-evaluate your life. But on the bright side, written is generally okay. I basically just need the phrase 'I don't speak Portuguese, but would you mind writing everything you want to say down in my handy notepad?' 

Oh! And as a side note, more about travelling in general than Brazil. I'd read that when you're backpacking you meet people and then keep bumping into them along the tourist trail. I was like 'Yeah, maybe once or twice...' In the last two days I've bumped into four separate people I've stayed with in hostels in other cities. I'm currently in Paraty (a lovely colonial town four hours or so outside of Rio) in a dorm with two people who were in my first hostel in Botafogo, Rio. There's a storm outside, and the roof is leaking, but that's a story for another day.

It's a gorgeous place though.

Tomorrow Milena and I are going to São Paulo, with a change on the bus because you can't book in advance in Brazil without a Brazilian tax code (need to sort that out before foreigners descend on you for the World Cup/ Olympics, Brazil) or by paying commission to an English language bus middleman. And the plan is to be there for just one night before getting a bus to Iguassu Falls, but if all the buses are booked we might be there longer. (Again, sort it out Brazil!) 

Can't wait to see the Falls! Hopefully I'll sort my life out and get some photos up soon. 

Beyoncé Party in Copacabana

'Nuff said.

Sambadrome Parade

Wow.

On Sunday night Milena and I went to the Sambadrome (Sambadromo in Portuguese) to see the highlight of Carnival. 

And wow. 

It's where all the major samba schools compete and do hour-long (ish) parades in an effort to be crowned champion. 

It started at 9pm, but Milena and I had been told that the best ones parade after midnight, so we slept for a bit (which was easy as we'd had a massive feijoada lunch at our friend Nicky's house earlier that day) and then went for midnight. We took motorbike taxis, which I hadn't done before. It was great fun to cling onto the back of a motorbike for dear life while the driver goes one-handed to take out his helmet, readjust it, and put it back on. At one point his phone rang, and I was thinking 'You bloody dare'. He didn't, thank god. But it was actually quite exhilarating. 

And then the show. Dear god, it was fantastic. I have never seen anything as colourful, dramatic and fabulous as that parade. Anyone who says that you can go to Carnival and just go to the blocos (street parties) and experience it all, is wrong. The blocos were fun, and I enjoyed seeing that side of it, but the Sambadrome was on another level. Even if you get cheap tickets for a less-good view, do it! 

We stayed til the end, which I was glad about, because the last two were the best. And we saw the sunrise over the last parade as well, and it finished at 5.30am. 

Getting a taxi home was a laugh a minute, but we managed it in the end. And we arrived in time to have breakfast at the hostel! Nothing like a toastie after five hours of parade watching. 

I will upload photos when I have the chance, but at the moment I'm draped over a beanbag chair in a hostel on Ilha Grande, an island just outside Rio. Life is hard. 

Tomorrow we're going to explore the island and then on Friday continue our travels along the coast towards Argentina. Will post again when I can!

And here are some photos to prove just how incredible it was...

Booking Brazilian Buses and Collecting Carnival Tickets

Okay, this is when I knew travelling would be a bit more stressful than being a beach bum. Actually trying to make things happen.

I'd heard of foreigners having trouble booking buses online because you need to input a Brazilian tax number (CPF) when you pay. I was keen to book in advance because Milena and I are going to Ilha Grande on Wednesday, straight after Carnival, and a lot of other people I've spoken to are planning to do the same thing. So my friend's mum booked it for me with Costa Verde and I gave her the cash. We had to provide our passport numbers, but because Milena was on a plane at the time we put my passport number in for both passengers. So tomorrow we're going to have to go and explain that we need to change that passport number, just in case they refuse us boarding to the bus on Wednesday. So fingers crossed we can sort that out. (My friend wrote out an explanation in Portuguese, so with any luck that will be sufficient).

And then I thought, okay, let's make this a productive day, I'll go and collect the Carnival samba parade tickets I ordered for me and Milena from Rio Carnival.net for this Sunday. I found the place without trouble and handed over my photocopy of my passport and the debit card I used to buy the tickets. The man disappeared for a second and then came back. He waved me over to the side and then said "There's been a bit of a problem". Right.

Apparently they are waiting for more tickets for Sector 8 (which I ordered because it's meant to have one of the best views of the whole parade) to arrive, so he offered me two tickets for Sector 7. Now I knew that Sector 8 was one of the most expensive sectors, so I told him that that wasn't good enough, and he insisted that the sectors cost the same. So I said I would return on Sunday, which is when he said they'd have more Sector 8 tickets. (I checked when I got back to the hostel, and did the sectors cost the same? Did they my foot.)

I asked the woman at the door when I left the collection point, and she said they might get more Sector 8 tickets tomorrow afternoon. Conflicting information! So I might go on Saturday during the day and see if they have any. But considering today is the first day we were able to collect the tickets, it's pretty poor that they didn't have enough for everyone.

My worry now is that they won't have ordered enough Sector 8s and we'll miss out. Of course I'll kick up a fuss if that's the case, and ask for more than the CD of samba music the guy offered me as a "present". But will I end up regretting not taking the Sector 7 alternative and cutting my losses, when I'm stuck in Sector 1? We'll see.

Anyway. Here's a picture of the sunset at Copacabana yesterday. That's just nicer in general.

Favela Tour of Rocinha

Yesterday a group of us from my hostel did an escorted tour of the largest favela (shanty town) in Brazil, home to 300,000 people. We did the tour with a company that the hostel is linked with. (I think it was Inside Rio, but I could be wrong about that). It cost us R$75 each, which is just under 20 pounds, and that included private transportation from outside and hostel to the favela and back again.

The favela culture is widespread across Brazil, and the government lets people settle on hillsides in and outside major cities simply because it's cheaper for them if the people build their own houses. Then the government will bring electricity and public services such as schools and healthcare to the areas (although these are renowned for being sub-par).

There are 1,024 favelas in Rio alone, which is incredibly difficult to comprehend, even for me being here. 900 of those are still not pacified and are run by drug dealers and gangs. The government has put into place the UPP, a sub-section of the police force designated for the pacification of favelas, but with 900 still to go, there's a lot to do before the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics here.

And even Rocinha, a pacified favela, still has outbreaks of violence. I found out from a Brazilian friend last night (after having been round Rocinha) that two weeks ago there was a shoot-out in the area and there were a couple of deaths. Oh, thinks I.

I studied Rocinha in Geography in Year 9, so I was really keen to go and see it while I'm here. So I was very happy when the tour guide told us that's where she was taking us. She did ask us not to take photos of people, but that views were fine. I had heard about trouble from locals when tourists ignored these warnings, so I made sure to avoid having any people in my photos. Overall, the locals seemed really happy to have us there, and many wished us a good day as we walked past. Children were a bit more disparaging, with a couple of choice phrases shouted at us, including a particular quote from Team America. None of us were American, but okay.

The first stop was a row of craft stalls, overseen by a group of armed UPP officers. One of the reasons tourists are welcomed to areas like this is that they bring in revenue to the local shops (of which many wouldn't have looked out of place in my local area in Birmingham).

And from there we walked over the top of the hill and down through the favela to the other side. It was a real mixture of areas, with some nice brick buildings, many colourful apartment blocks surrounded by trees, and narrow, winding, cockroach-ridden alleyways surrounded on all sides by rubbish, dripping water and people's front doors.

These photos should give you an idea of what it was like:

Seeing the favela was a really good experience, and I'd definitely recommend doing it. But even going round a pacified area in the middle of the day I could tell that it wasn't an area to wander into by yourself, and it would be easy to get lost. Definitely a big part of Brazilian culture to experience if you have the chance though.

First Few Days in Rio

Oh Rio! Oh Rio! What a place. It's a soup of energy, beauty and excitement. The last few days have been a blur of beaches, cityscapes and amazing food. And when I call Rio a "soup", that may be because it was 38 degrees by 10am this morning. I'd been using factor 30 sunscreen until yesterday, but I was still burning. (Some may blame my weak British skin). So I bought some factor 50 today and that seems to have done the trick. The sun is so intense here. You have to be really careful.

I've done quite a few touristy things, including the beach. On my first full day at the hostel I'm in at the moment I went for a wander along Copacabana and Ipanema, and sat on the beach until I overheated and had to run into the shade to drink a coconut. Life is hard.

Ipanema is definitely my favourite beach in Rio. And possibly the world. It is so beautiful, the way it stretches along the front of the tall buildings, ending in the 'Two Brothers' mountains. A friend and I went and sat at the opposite end of Ipanema last night to watch the sun go down behind them. I felt like the world was completely at peace - it was lovely to sit on the rocks and watch.

 I also went up to an observation tower behind Ipanema to see the view, which was fantastic. But I did take a wrong turn and found myself in a favela (shanty town), albeit a pacified one. An old woman walking past me smiled and wished me a good day. So not everything you hear about the favelas is true! I did a favela tour a couple of days later, which you can read about here. 

Today I went up to Christ the Redeemer with two girls from Norway who are staying at my hostel. I'd seen it from various places around the city, but to see it up close was great. And again, fabulous views over Rio and the Atlantic.

So I have four days left before my friend Milena, who went to my Uni, meets me in Rio for Carnival! The big shabang! We're moving into a different hostel closer to the action on Friday, and then we'll probably leave Rio after Carnival finishes. So I've got plenty of time to keep soaking up the sun in this wonderful city. His name is Miles, and he fully intends to dance on the sand.

Touchdown!

I am here! I am so here! I've actually been here since Thursday night, but things have been such an amazing blur I've been neglecting my blog. The flight went surprisingly quickly, and I got chatting to an Irish couple who were going to Argentina to get married. What a nice thing to do! And then suddenly I found myself in Brazil. At several points I've had to check myself and think "Hold on, I'm in Brazil." But it's a wonderful feeling.

I got to my hotel without incident, although don't go to the first taxi company you find at the stands in the airport - they are much more expensive than the others! When I got to my hotel I found that I'd been upgraded for free to a Superior room, which had a sitting room, a bath, a shower and air-con. What a treat!

And now here I am, sitting in a hostel in the middle of Rio, sweating buckets but very happy.

Ready and Raring to Go

And that's that! I'm pretty much packed, I've crossed the final thing off my to-do list, and I'm actually really excited to get on a plane tomorrow and arrive in Rio. The great unknown! (To me...) 

It's feeling more like a holiday now than a huge humbling trip. It helps that the weather forecast for Friday in Rio is 31C and sunny. Can't complain! Well, I'm British. I'm sure I'll find something.

The last few weeks have been a manic blur of sorting things out, buying a ridiculous amount of stuff and seeing people for various goodbyes. And it's all culminating in tomorrow morning, when my family and I get up at 5am and make our way to Heathrow for my flight. I've got to have an entourage when I leave the country. Why break the habit of a lifetime?

Having done a practice pack a few days, I knew that everything would go into my rucksack, so I wasn't worried about that. But it was still a relief to see it all go in there. And it only weighs 13kg, which I'm quite pleased with. (I don't find it easy to pack light, so I'm happy with that. I still might lose some disposable things along the way, but from looking at advice online I think I've got the right stuff.

So now all that remains is to have a nice final evening - I'm about to have a bath, and then we're having pie and mash for dinner. Oh yes! That'll keep me going on the British food-front for a few weeks.

My next post will be from Rio, most likely tapped out on my iPod over wifi, so I guess let's see what happens between then and now.

Wish me luck, and I'll see you on the other side!