Welcome To the River Of January...

Or as its more commonly known, Rio de Janeiro!

Well, since were now in the final throw of our winter exploits, yes winter, believe it or not the last three and a bit months have actually been the South Americna winter, but anyway back to the blog... Finally managing to make it into paraguay for the day on the 10th, we managed to get through the brazillian border without getting stamped in and with a quick hop of the bus arrived in Punta este, the Paraguiayan border town that existed solely for cheap electronics, socks and pirated goods... Spending a few hours, and a couple of thousand Guarana (the local currency) we we struggled to actually get a bus back to argentina to stop for us, so rather than stand around like a bunch of lost gringos, walked to thge brazillian border point in hopes of catching a bus back to iguazu in Argentina... No such luck, and even un-luckyer still was being clocked by the border police. After only a minor ticking off we stamped in and out of Brazil and hopped a bus through the border point to the brazilian bus station. Alot of walking later and we finally made it to the Argentine border and the home stretch, Argentina, Iguazu and a rather raunchy Brazilian themed night of entertainment awaited our return to the hostal.

Checking out the next morning a 25 and a 1/2 hour bus ride awaited us, destination Rio De Janerio... well it did await until i had realised my ticket was burried mid way down my immensley rammed backpack, so, unwilling to repack after a 2hour solid effort the night before the only option i had for avoiding paying full wack for a new one was simple... My ticket was stolen the day before. My story rehersed, the company was willing to provide a free replacement... But only with a copy of the accompanying police report... Damn! What followed was a 20minuite dash across town to the police station, faining theft, and a mad run back to the office with only minuites to go before the 2pm bus... Moral of the story, dont pack your bus ticket half way down your pack!

Anyway, after stoppingg off briefly the next morning at a bus cafe for breakfast (they have the weirdest payment methods in Brazil, youve got to get a ticket from one person, served your goods by another, and then pay for it all at a third, tis very confusing and a tad confusing). Come 3:45 on the 12, we finally arrived in our final destination, Rio, and the first thing you noticed was the heat, it was like being back in cuba, so humid and in escapeable!

Dumping the machillas at our hostal in Lapa, when we finally arrived we set out for food and not alot else, it really wasnt going to be long before i got my first taste of the Brazilian party scene as me and about 8 other people from our hostal descended onto the street party literally just around the corner... Dancing to the sound of the samba beat, sipping the overwhelmingly strong Caipariskas (sorry cant spell them) the night passed in a musical blur before i finally got my head down onto my pillow by 5am. A definate night to remember!

After merely a cup of tea for breakfast, i opted to avoid the beach for the day, and instead opted to explore the local area with Rafa (Madrid), a chap also from the hostal who had spent the last year working in Bolivia. So within the day managed to explore a massivley huge comne shaped cathedral with the most amazin stained glass, explore the local historical sights, barter my way through the local markets (yes i was even shopping for prezzies) and even fit in time for a trip to botafogo and explore the immensely green region and its Jardin Botanical (botanical garden). Not bad for one day with only two hours sleep the night before.

Next day was a little less thrilling, travelling to the markets of Ipanima to pick up some goods proved to be a tad depressing, everyhitng at the infamous hippy market was drasticaly overpriced, only able to afford a cob of corn, i headed off with Rafa once more to see the areas surrounding the beach, truly amazing, its justa pitty that it was all very cloudy. With little else other than a game of footvolei to hold passing crowds attention along the beach (think volleyball but played with any part of your body except your hands) we made our way back to the hostal for a jumper, well not before being scared to death by a skateboarder wearing nothing but y-fronts zipping around the place. Heading out for beer and pizza, and even a visit to the flicks to watch hellboy (Awsome film), it was eventually time for bed.

Again as with yesterday today (15th) has been nothing special, wandering the centre, shopping for odss and a trip to the oldest coffe joint in rio has been just about it really... Oh did i mention its been raining all day??? I thought this was supposed to be Rio...

Lol, well anyway, im off, got some birthday planning to do... Miikas 22nd tomorrow... wonder whats going to happen...

Ciao pr Ahora amigos!