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The Not-so Short Trip to Natal. I had planned to take a bus as early as possible to my next stop in the North of Brazil; Natal. However upon checking my email I heard from my new hosts in Natal and they had informed me they would not be home until after 7:30pm - meaning there was no real need rush. I got up early anyways and gathered my things and helped Rachel with cleaning-up. I headed to the bus stop at 9am and had a very long and confusing trip to the bus terminal; first I had to take a bus to the airport (which I waited 30 minutes for). Once at the airport I could not find the metro station so I wandered around lost; I then took the Metro into the city; in the city I swapped lines (waited another 30 minutes) and caught the bus all the way out to the long distance bus terminal - all of which took me 2.5 hours. By the time I arrived I was dehydrated and exhausted and hoped I could find a bus heading to Natal soon. I found a bus but it was very expensive so I looked around but there were no other buses except one to Joao Pessoa (2 hours from Recife) - a city on the way to Natal. I decided to take the Joao Pessoa option and when I arrived would try find a ticket and another bus onwards to Natal. The bus ride was quite quick and we had arrived by 2:30pm; the first thing I did was try and find a cheap onward ticket to Natal of which there were only cheaper tickets in the evening. This usually wouldn't bother me (having to take a bus later for a significant discount) - however my hosts were expecting me at 7:30pm and this bus would have me arriving to their place around 11:30pm. Paying more $$ for the convenience of the hour is something I detest but it really was unavoidable in this situation; Brazil continues to prove itself to be one of the most expensive countries in the world to travel within. I had time to wander around for 30 minutes in the shopping district of Joao Pessoa but didn't find anything very interesting so decided to sit and wait at bus station for my 3:30 bus. We arrived into Natal at 6:30pm and what a ginormous city it is; taking over an hour from the outskirts to the interior; at one point we came very close to where my new hosts place was so I banged on door and asked driver to stop of which he would not. At the bus terminal I got very confused and had absolutely no idea in what direction I should walk and to go with that there were no buses heading passed the terminal as there were roadworks happening. I picked a direction and started walking; I know not the best idea at night but get walk with confidence and its dark at night so no one can tell I have foreign blood. Eventually after about 20 minutes I found a bus stop and figured it was better to take a bus through these slummy areas of the city. The bus driver confirmed the bus was going in the right direction and so I was sweet, I did however get off far too early which meant I had to walk another 30+ minutes but atleast the neighborhoods looked safer. To be honest my first impression of the city is not overly good and you can tell it will be hell trying to get anywhere in this place. I eventually made it to my hosts and on arrival at the apartment block realized I didn't have their apartment number; as luck would have it I met a nice young couple who new Walter and Bruna and they kindly let me into the building and up to the apartment. Bruna who is the Brazilan girlfriend of Walter was home and welcomed me in; I chatted with her a whole before asking for directions to the supermarket and going to get some groceries. The supermarket was really good with very good fruits and vegetables at very good prices. On returning I met Walter - an American who has been living here in Brazil for the last 8 years. Walter and I hit it off straight away and spent the whole night talking about everything from life to travels to the current political situation here in Brazil. Both Bruna and Walter are English teachers and have been involved in couchsurfing for many years and really like the interaction couchsurfing brings. I made myself some dinner, chatted more and soon it was passed midnight so I called it a night and tried to get some sleep in the hot and humid Natal.
OBSERVATIONS:
- Difficult arriving to Recife LNG distance bus terminal
- Recife Metro - difficult to find stations
- Long-distance bus very very expensive (pay for convenience of hour)
- Joao Pessoa - short visit; no time to see beach
- Natal - huge city, terrible bus system - going to be very difficult to try and get anywhere
- Slightly unsafe feel to city
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