Hello all!

Well we finally arrived here in Rio, after all the planning and excitement! We got in late Sunday night... and it´s been raining since!! The hostel is in a really nice area, Ipanema, which is one of the nicest suburbs of Rio. We´re five mins from the beach, and there´s lots of bars and restaurants around. We spent Monday getting our bearings, eating, sleeping and then eating again. We had a fab salad bar dinner last night, then went to a Brazilian bar and I had my first caiprinha (Brazilian cocktail with lots of lime and sugar) - was incredibly strong....! Jay had Brahma, which is the local beer. We took some beers back to the hostel then and sat on the rooftop terrace, was just so chilled.

We went on a tour of one of the favelas this morning - we had reservations about doing it, as we thought it was a bit strange to pay to go to a really poor neighbourhood for a nosey around... But we were so impressed with it. A van picked us up at the hostel, with a group of Canadian, Swedish and Scandinavian tourists already in it. Our guide used to be a lawyer, but packed it in to set up his company, which brings tourists around the favelas and then invests money back into the community, by giving them building materials to improve their homes, provide childcare and that kind of thing.

The van dropped us at the bottom and then guys on motorbikes are paid two reals (about 60p/1e) to bring each of us up to the top on their bikes. I was TERRIFIED - they zip into tiny spaces between buses/cars/people and fly around blind corners, I was holding onto my driver for dear life!!! My guy caught up with Jay´s, ha ha! I was shaking like a leaf when we got to the top - v exciting!

Then we gradually walked down to the bottom, which took about an hour and a half. It was just incredible to see how people manage to live literally on the side of a mountain. There were bakeries, shops, bike repair places, butchers, all crammed into tiny spaces. We were brought to a bakers shop, an art gallery and a daycare centre. The favela is one of the calmest in Rio, as it´s managed by one gang, the ATA, who maintain the peace and keep everyone´s businesses running. We were really safe, as the guide´s company has been going in there on a daily basis for five years, and as they contribute to the community, he was really welcome everywhere we went. We took lots of pics, so have a look through if you have time.

We´re back in the hostel now, we had to move out of our room to dorms today as the double room was already booked. I´m in Lipstick, the female dorm, and Jay´s in Taxi. The lucky git got the bottom bunk in his, I´m on the top (of a three storey bunk bed - Lord knows how I`ll negotiate that ladder after a few drinks tonight...). We were planning on staying in Rio until Friday, but we´re thinking now that we´ll make a move north up the coast tomorrow. We´re just looking into whether it will be quicker/cheaper to fly up in a couple of hours or take a 22hr bus ride and break it up with a night in a hostel...

Plan is to tackle the Sugarloaf mountain this afternoon after lunch, then head out to the strip in Copacabana tonight. Then we´re going to go see the Christ the Redeemer statue in the morning - we wanted to do it today, but the mountain is completely covered in fog, so we wouldn´t actually get to see anything today. Fingers crossed for a clear sky tomorrow....

Jay´s beside me sorting out the pics, he´ll put them up in a mo. They´re the ones of our goodbye dos and the trip so far (all two days of it!!).

Hope all is well at home, will update again soon...

Lorraine & Jay