Leme Othon Palace Rio de Janeiro

... brighter weather but are running out of Rio time. We'll probably book into another hostel tomorrow closer to our Saturday, Intrepid trip rendevouz point hotel in Copacabana. We're currently interneting downstairs from a sex shop. But there are various Bible verses and what we think are warnings against looking at unsavoury materials because God lives here (all in Portuguese)! <br><br>Stay tuned for another amazing adventure, hopefully some time this week.

... and different impediments to social, political and economic progress. <br><br>However, it will be interesting to see if Lula, the leftist and unionist, will drive the necessary social reforms that are needed to overturn the massive inequality in this country with careful consideration not to disrupt economic growth and wealth creation. Brasil is gifted in people, resources and wealth. It will be up to her leadership to implement effective institutions ...

... a city I was not feeling good about and being unable to speak any of the language. Portuguese is way harder to pick up than Spanish and we were feeling very lost as we had become reasonably able to understand and speak some words and phrases of Spanish. So we took a tour and were shown Christ the Redeemer first. This is THE famous Christ statue up on the cliff with outstretched ars overlooking the city of Rio. The bus ride up the mountain to it was in itself spectacular as it ...

... a hamburger. An absolutely cracking night - my favourite night of the Carnival. If you let your proverbial hair down and jump in with the locals, it´s really good fun. The next evening I went to the Sambodromo (a stadium constructed entirely for carnival - basically a street with stands on either side) where the touristy TV parade is held. This is what you see back home but its not what Caarnival is really about (Nowhere else in Brazil but Rio - its why Rio´s carnival ...

... at night and you have to walk through an area that isn't quite a favela, but it's certainly very deprived. Once you get out of the Metro station there are lots of touts trying to sell you tickets and it's certainly intimidating. But in actual fact I don't think we were ever in any danger. My journey to Campo Grande and my experience of the people since I arrived here makes me feel bad about my original concerns over personal safety in Brazil. I did hear about other people's bad ...

... away, and a German girl I met on the plane decided to come too. Luckily we were really close to 'Walk on the beach' backpackers, and we soon able to put down our bags and have breakfast. I slept for most of the rest of the day, then got up to have a quick look around town. It started raining almost as soon as I'd left, but it was still hot so the ...

... mini bus, but it was locked. She tried again and was a bit frustrated when the driver still didn't unlock the door. <br><br>So she then tried the front door, to ask him to unlock the back door, but that one was also locked! <br><br>Frustrated, she stood there pulling on the door handle ...

... and stopped. An official boat of some sort, police/military, had run out and took a position on our starboard side. After awhile an announcement was made that the port authorities had a problem with some of the paper work and we had to hold till it was cleared up. They kept us for about an hour, by which time we had to go get ready for dinner so we missed the beautiful views as we sailed from Rio. <br><br>Carol had ...