Gloria Hotel Rio de Janeiro

... Caiparnia - is very strong!! Had an interesting trip back to Rio, the ferry was pretty full, im in my seat and this old granny-esk lady hobbles towards the vacant seat next to me - did i say granny-esk - i meant CRAZY-ESK!! I should have realised when i noticed that her brigh red lipstick looked like it had been applied with a paintbrush held be her foot! Yeah, she didnt speak a word of English, just Portugese, nothing wrong with that, except for the full ferry ...

Well back to Rio. The 4th time I have been here. It feels like home. Iguaçu was pretty awsom. Stunning scenary and also pretty exciting getting close to the falls!

A few days of beach before Katharine goes back to London and I fly to BA. Back to work (or traveling)

... people live in Rio and Sao Paolo's metro areas, a quarter of the country's population lives in the top ten largest cities and 80% of Brasilians live in urban areas. We would find out the following day that even life in the favelas is not cheap by developing country slum standards.

A favela is a Brasilian shantytown. Originally established as Barrao Africanas (African neighborhoods), following the mass urban migrations that resulted in many ...

... stalls (like cheese on sticks!). And after a lot of wandering (Paula wanted to choose the perfect one) we chose a club and danced the whole night away, with a few more caipirinhas to help through the embarrassment! So, the next few days we´re saying goodbye to Susan and then Jo and us three are heading off to Ilha Grande since Rio is far to expensive for us to spend any significant amount of time!

... Rio's nightmare traffic in the commercial centre! Nevermind, regardless of the nightmare traffic I still love this city, one of those drawbacks of living or staying in a Metropolis I suppose. I'm really sad to be leaving Rio, I've met some great people who have really looked after me and shown me a good time. Some of places I've been and seen wouldn't have been possible without their local knowledge. Staying in Ipanema with my Portuguese friend was perfect, it's safe ...

... all Rio´s statues). 30m high, same as a 13 story buliding apparently, sits on top of Corcovado hill whichs is about 700m high, so the view over rio is amazing. Got loads of great pics, which I´ll put up at some stage when I have the time or the inclination! Also went for a walk around Santa Teresa and had a teppanyaki meal there with Aodhagan and Julie. Its a really nice area, remided me a bit of Montmartre in paris, very arty, loads of artists workshops and stores, and ...

... crop it was, but my best guess would be soybeans. I was reminded of the map of Parana province we saw at the national park showing a tiny patch of natural forest in the west that had not succumbed to agriculture, and that only because it was protected. I can't imagine what it's like up in Amazonia. We arrived in Rio in the middle of the day and had a mild panic attack when only one of the backpacks came out from under ...

... appeared to have been named after my best friend (and worst man) Mr Bartram!



We wandered around for 20 minutes hoping that other shops would open, but there was absolutely nothing happening so we walked back to Copacabana.

We strolled down the beach, with the sun beginning to poke through the clouds and ...

... br>Must say I really love traveling solo. I have met so many people so far and everyone is so interesting and friendly and want to tour rio with me so its been fairly easy to jump into. People from Holland, Israel, England and Aussie have been in my main group thus far, mostly australians which I´m a huge fan of. The hostel´s bar is one of the hot spots in town to start your evenings at so I really can´t complain.

However, the reasonnnn I wrote ...