Pousada Águas de Paratii Paraty

... out of air conditioned buses wearing various shades of pastel and sit in restaurants where an extra 20% is added to your bill for the dubious pleasure of listening to a talentless mariachi murder your favourite Beatles tune. You haven´t lived until you´ve heard a tone deaf Hispanic with a limited grasp of English belt out You´ve got to hide your love away.<br><br>There were also a fine array of Yanks at our lovely Pousada most notably a chap who we (or ...

... fishing, boat trips, hiking, beaches, kayaking, swimming etc and its cheaper that the city. I did little of the above, but there is plenty of time for that later.<br><br>Got to Angra dos Reis around 6pm and caught bus to Paraty at 7pm. There are two buses, an express for R$20 or the local for R$8. I intended the former, but as the local was the first to arrive and i didn´t want to be stuck, i got that. First experience ...

... and Jerome, Helen and I are last to fall into bed - no- not together - Jerome and Helen are saving themselves for Justine :).<br><br>31 July 2009 - travellin<br><br>And so he we are - 6 hours bus to Sao Paolo where I´m in the bus station now and an 18 hour journey to come to the mighty Iguazu Falls which were the backdrop for the mission.<br><br>On my iPod<br><br>**** ALL as its broke - but National Express by the Divine Comedy would go down a treat.<br><br>

... stuff! The difference is....we´re Irish! To our rear, this Europeanesque (in other words European!) guy was sampling some major tunes behind the bar, Calvin Harris going down extremely well with the entourage! Can two songs in a row by the same artist be defined as a medley? Katy doesn't seem to think so, but it's not like i was looking for a megamix! On the surface, it appeared that the DJ was doing some serious megamixing of his own, although the songs fed into ...

... br><br>Ferried by Boat to Lopes Mendes<br>After a few days of hiking and diving, it was time to relax on the beach. We took the R$15 (USD7) roundtrip ferries that run frequently over to Lopes Mendes. The boat ride took an hour, we thought it was a much quicker ferry, but it was a beautiful day and nice ride that provided us with views of a different part of the island. Once we docked, we had a 20 minute hike over a steep hill through the rainforest to arrive at ...

... stunning coast of Brazil. I never thought I would say this, but the bus is a great way to get around. Big seats, reclinable etc. Quite comfy.<br><br>We are now in Parati, not in the B&amp;B we booked, but in a hostel where the room doesn't even fit a cockroach and Annemieke wants to book something else, but I told her to harden the f*ck up!!! It's a matter of a lot of caipi's.<br><br>I won't bore you with the beach stories over the next days........<br><br>Ciao,<br><br>Ivo &amp; Annemieke

... the main plaza with a huge stage for music acts. The food was just incredible. I was in food heaven. There ws a wok stand and a guy knocked us up a `frango Yakisoba`, chicken noodles with lots of fresh veg which was just delicious. Alter that I indulged in two Strawberry kebabs covered in hot white chocolate, divine. Still tired from the grossly long journey though it was an early one for us&#8230;.. The next morning we took the bus to the glorious becah of Trinidade, A 40 minute ride ...

... lunch and diner around there as well. There was no were to really have Any personal space, so most people just sate in their hammock´s day in and day out, listening to music reading, talking theirs only so much you can do, in hammock, by the end of it, between the scorching heat, the people not really showering and the cocking of the food, The stanch was so harsh, i will never forget it. It was in between, sweat, diesel,fesses ...

...ends rather abruptly. And we found this out the hard way. Driving from Sao Paulo to Paraty in our sub-compact rental car with 6 inches of road clearance taught us that there is a place in the universe for Hummers. Just after cresting a hill on SP Rt. 171, suddenly the asphalt was no more and in its place were large rocks, fallen trees and a stream in the middle of the road. We turned back and asked a local whether the road was passable and he ...

... I had collected, and to the disgust of their on looking wives!! Then one lovely person on our trip, and I shall change the name to protect their integrity, so lets say Beyonce,got rather ill and the return journey to the dock was spent covered in vomit as I was sat downwind whilst in aid of a very drunk person hurling overboard. I then assisted carrying Beyonce back to the Pousada up that very steep hill I mentioned earlier, and remember a drunk person is a dead weight ...