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Viva Brazil!
We are now back in Rio. We arrived at around half 6 on friday and four people left us at the airport so there was only a small group of us left to go out to Lapa, an area of Rio. First we ate in a "per quilo" place, which is where you literally go around a buffet and pay for the weight of what you eat, then we went to Lapa where they have street parties. Its like lots of streets of bars and clubs, but with street vendors selling food and drinks so people are standing around talking and dancing in the bars and clubs as well as mulling around in the streets. Its such a good atmosphere! We saw proper capoeira dancers (its a form of dance and martial arts) in a big group, which was pretty impressive to watch. Then we went to a bar with a live samba band.
Yesterday we chilled out in the morning, then in the afternoon I went with one of the guys from the tour to do a favela tour. It was such an eyeopener!!! Nothing like in City of God at all. Our guide was telling us so much about their way of life, and we walked around some of the streets and the favelas. There were parts where it could just be any high street in a little town in Brazil, and others where you walk down narrow stairs with no lights and walls on all sides! He was explaining how it actually isnt dangerous at all as the number one rule of the favelas is not to rob people; either that live there or who are visiting, as it attracts the police, and that only 5% of people living there are involved in crime, the rest are just living normal lives.
We went past one stall where they were selling live chickens! They had probably ten per cage, it was madness and so noisy! But I'm really glad I went.
On the evening I moved my things to my first hostel - which seems ok, it has all the basics. Then met the only four people left from our tour for tea. Its going to be so weird not seeing the people I've spent the last 2 weeks with, I'm really going to miss them aswell, we were quite lucky and everyone bonded really well.
I then went back to the hostel and planned to just get some sleep but somehow ended up going out with a group of people from the hostel. We went back to Lapa and went to this really quirky club that was packed with antiques hanging from the walls and the ceilings! They had samba downstairs with a live band, then the first floor was for chilling out and had a corridor that went above the road and joined onto the next building where there was a club playing dance music - madness! But so fun! We left at around 6 this morning, went back to the hostel for some sleep, then I met 2 of the guys who are leaving today to chill out this afternoon at Ipanema beach (though its not greatly sunny today!).
Later I'm going to the Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) to hopefully get pictures of Rio at sunset. Then I think one more day in Rio and then moving on to Ilha Grande, an island down the coast which is meant to be bliss.
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