Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2008
1
15
Trip End
Ongoing
Asuncion,
Paraguay
Friday, April 11, 2008
Ok...please be patient with this blog. Its the first time Ive created one and am very confused by it. Please also forgive me for the massive amount of spelling and grammer mistakes, generally the computers out here are very slow, have odd keyboards and charge me per min so I want to get them done as quickly as possible.
The mugging:
Soooooo......I arrived on Saturday 29th April in Rio De Janiero after a rather long flight from Heathrow. Got a cab to the Rio Hostel, in an area of Rio called Lapa. Was starving so I trotted down the road to the town, saw this massive cathedral only a couple of blocks away and decided I might as well see it and get it over and done with. Anyways, as I was walking down the road, a big main road might I add, two lads crossed and grabbed my bags. Was slightly shocked and upset by it as you can imagine but luckily these 3 LOVELY locals who saw it calmed me down and explained what had happened to the tourist police. Then the police took me to the station, helped me report it and then took me back to the hostel. They really calmed me down and even made me laugh. one of them evn asked me to marry him 3times! apparently i was one of the most beautiful tourists he had taken to the station, lol (i dont know how to take that!). alas he couldnt speak any more english than that so the engagement ceased when they dropped me off at the hostel.
Anyways, I was pretty shaken up and wanted to move hostels out of the area but when I woke up on Sunday morning I started to chat to the other hostel residents and realized how sweet everyone was and I began to have fun. That sunday was spent sunbathing by the pool,
The Rio Hostel, Lapa
drinking beer and then going to the Maracana Stadium for a local league match. Brazilian football fans are crazy! Obviously not as cool as the Geordies ;) but nearly...On Monday I went and bought myself a new camera and then went for a tour of rio. It is soooooooooooooooo beautiful. I dont think I will ever find a city so gorgeous. Photos are included I hope in this blog for you to admire.
Rio
Ok...... Im going to be as brief as possible otherwise I will be here hours before Ive caught up with my self.On Tuesday I met my tour group. They are all really nice. Im the youngest (av age is about 30) and blatently the biggest liability. So far I havent caused too much trouble though, honest ;)
On Wednesday we travelled to a small town on the coast called paraty. Its used to be an old pirate town but unfortunately I didnt get to find out much about this. Instead I just admired its perfectly preserved buildings and cobbled streets. Apparently the streets are designed so that on a full moon they flood with sea water and get washed. There are little risen walkways to help out during this time. That afternoon we went sliding down these cool waterfalls. We were all so scared we slid down on our bums
The waterfall slide in paraty
but the this local boy was sliding down it on his feet. It was crazy.
local jumping over Jitz on the waterfall slide
The next day we went on a boat trip which allowed us to admire the gorgeous coastline and go snorkelling. Sweet....On Friday we went to Sao Paulo, one of the biggest cities in the world. Was not expecting too much so was not disappointed - its not half as attractive as rio. However, we enjoyed the nightlife and went to an art gallery which made me very happy :)
On the Sunday we went to Curtiba, this "student city". Nothing was open as it was a sunday and monday that we were there so we just trotted round and got the night bus to Foz de Iguazu. Luckily I have the ability to sleep at any time, anywhere (a key skill developed at uni obviously) so the buses have been an excellent opp to catch up on my kip :)
When we arrived we headed to the Brazilian side of the falls and as expected, I was absolutely gobsmacked at how beautiful they were.
Iguaza Falls
They are so impressive, I cant explain it but I have to urge you to go there if you get a chance.
Iguaza Falls
Iguaza Falls
Iguaza Falls
The next day we went to the Argentian side of the falls which were even more impressive and we went on a speed boat ride under some of the less powerful ones. BLOODY BRILLIANT! The day was slightly marred by being held up at the border by some argentian protesters for a few hours but by luck we happened to get stopped by a hotel were I got to have nap in the sun, ideal.
Thurdays 10th April: Got a bus to Asuncion in Paraguay. The border crossing was a bit of a mission as it doesnt seem that organised (difficult when thousands of people every day try to cross to take advantage of the duty free prices in Paraguay). Am very glad Im in a tour in situations like this. I wouldnt have a clue what to do otherwise!
The next day we had a free day to explore Asuncion. I decided that I would do it by myself as I wanted to go shopping but I ended going in completely the wrong direction and luckily this random guy stopped me and offered to take me for a tour round his city (yes I was scared and wouldnt want to do it again but I couldnt get rid of him and it turned out to be a really good insight in to Asuncion). Anyways, its not the greatest of cities so wouldnt advise going there that much but Im glad I got to go :)
