brasil Part 2

Hiya!!

Back talking about Brasil...how could you not! I could write a million posts about this country..but I won't, because I can't remember it that well as it was 2 years ago :(

Before leaving Arlei to go to Rio (oh yeah Rio!) he and his friends took us on more adventures. We went to this cute little town that had a massive river running through it so we went swimming and explored! I'm not going to publish pictures of myself as I had got my clothes went from falling in a fast paced river earlier in the day so I had to use what we had in the car and it was not pretty...a bright green sarong and an overly big black t-shirt...I looked like a butch.

The river was so nice, people even had houses coming off it and they had this river in their backyard! how amaze would that be! This one woman was sitting by the river for hours reading and it just looked so relaxing and nice!

Driving to get anywhere is Brasil you drive through big mountains that are covered in Rain Forest, even though it is not technically the Amazon it still feels like you are in it! the mountains and rain forest roll on forever and there are so many side road stands selling fruit that people grow around the mountains!

When we left Arlei it was a sad day as we had spent so much time with him but at the same time quite nice just to have time to ourselves. We caught a bus to Rio De Janeiro which took about 6 hrs, not too bad!
We arrived in Rio and stayed in a hostel in Copacabana - it was so exciting staying there as i love the song and have always wondered what it is like! It is so stinking hot in Rio it's a joke... the hostel had no air con..just a fan..for 10 people, please! we went to the beach nearly every day but we must have come at the wrong time because the waves were so huge they would easily dunk you and that is a fear of mine. We just couldn't win apart from perving on them sexy brasilian men walking around in a little thong bikinis! loved it!

Our hostel had planned a trip to the biggest favela in Rio (Shanty Town) so we definitely went with them. It was pretty exciting as I had never seen anything like this before and was so curious. We all took a bus to the bottom the the Favela, the tour guide who was taking us had made friends in the Favela so we were not in any danger. We met quite a few guys who lived in the Favela at the bottom of the mountain and we had to get on the back of their motorbikes and they took us up to the very top (so scary). The Favela looks like it is in a valley but starts at the top of a mountain and makes it way down to the bottom

You can see those big buildings at the bottom - That is wear the richest people in Rio live...it is such a big contrast to their neighbours who look down on them.
Once we got to the top our tour guide told us to not take any photo's when we saw guys waking around with big guns and walkie talkies - these were guys in the gang that was ruling the Favela at the time and they did not like photo's as the police did not know who they were. We were also told if we see or hear a loud bang it is a flare going off warning everyone that the police are coming up the hill. The gang ruling the Favela are called ADA, i'm not sure what it stands for but someone tagged it on a wall and I got a photo of it.

As we were walking through the buildings (making our way to the bottom) we met some wonderful people, they were so nice. They had their own shops selling whatever they could and I bought as much as I could without making myself poor! We were told not to give any money to little kids that asked for it...the tour guide has been teaching them to do something for their money so we had a few performances which was cute and we gave them a few coins, they were ever so grateful!

 The whole time you are walking through their tiny streets, stepping over rubbish, toilet smells over powering your nostrils we couldn't help but feel so sorry for these people...this next picture is something that was in every corner without fail, kids playing in it and picking up whatever they wanted.

At one stage a group of guys around my age were smoking the good stuff up on a roof...I nearly lost the tour because I wanted to hang out with them! ha!
After weaving in and out of tiny streets, going up and down steep stairs, meeting some lovely people and seeing guys from ADA with big guns and mean stares we had such a great day, we learned so much and it really was the biggest eye opener! If you are ever going to Rio do this tour, it is great! could not recommend anything better.

Peace xx until next time