We arrived in Paraty early evening on Thursday 12 February and we were booked into the Historic Centre Hostel in the Old Town. The taxi could only take us so far as once you get into the Old Town the streets are all cobbled so only fit for pedestrians. We only had to walk a little way though and found the hostel easy enough. When we got up to the door we saw a couple we had bumped into early who had been on our bus from Rio and they said they hadn´t booked a room. However, the staff said there was one double room for them so they went to check in. At the same time a scruffy looking middle aged man was walking out of the hostel with a backpack on and he asked us if we had a booking. We told him we did to which he replied we were lucky as they were fully booked. Rob asked if he had been unlucky and just turned up without being able to get in. He looked at us as if we were stupid and replied "What?! I am the owner!" LOL - like he had a big sign around his neck telling us that! Anyway, we gave our name to the other staff and as they got our booking ready they turned to the other couple from our bus and said they no longer had a double room free and sent them to the hotel next door. If we hadnt been on that same bus I think our room would have been given away.....

First impressions therefore weren´t all that great. The room was quite dirty like it hadn´t been dusted in years and there were wierd bugs all over which looked like squashed snails! Not very pleasant. We weren´t looking forward to spending 4 nights there.

Once we´d got settled in our room we had a wander around the town to see what was about. The streets were really pretty, lots of little cobbled streets and pretty old buildings with churches in each of the squares dotted around. We were really tired from the travelling so decided just to get some food from the supermarket and go to bed early.

The next morning we had breakfast at the communal table in the outside courtyard of the hostel. We got talking to some of the other travellers staying there and arranged to meet them later that night for some food and a couple of drinks in the main square where there was a big stage set up with huge posters advertising a jazz festival which was starting on the Friday night and running until Sunday. The rest of Friday was spent walking around the Old Town and sussing things out. All the streets looked the same so we would walk up one thinking we hadn´t been up it before, then would recognise some of the shops and realise we´d been walking in circles most of the day! There was a street band playing in one of the smaller squares practising for the festival starting that night and they would wander up and down the streets singing and playing instruments. They ended up with quite a large following...like the Pied Piper and his rats! We also had a walk along the small beach which wasn´t far from the hostel but the weather wasn´t too good so it was deserted.

That night we met up with the girls we had met at breakfast and some of the other people staying in their dorm and went for food at a buffet restaurant recommended by the hostel owner, John. It was cheap and cheerful and the food was quite good. Afterwards the 8 of us went along to the main square and sat by the side of the stage listening to the jazz and blues bands and drinking beer and caiphirinhas. It was good fun and a few of us got up to dance along near to the front of the stage....it was fab! Like a proper concert with people cheering and singing along to all the classics!

The next day we had booked onto a jeep tour which took us on a ride through some small rain forests to some beautiful waterfalls. One of these was really flat and smooth and people were actually sliding down it and landing in a huge rock pool at the bottom. One Brazilian guy even stood up and surfed the whole way down! Rob had a little swim in the first waterfall we came too which was freezing water, but I was the bravest and managed 2 rides down the huge slope! Great fun! We visited a little museum on the way round where there was a small distillary and Rob tried chocolate flavour cachaca (the alcohol used to make the caipirinhas) and I tried caramel flavour. The drink itself was nice, but I was nearly sick after feeling something hard in my mouth and then looking in the glass and seeing a dead blue bottle fly! Urrrrgghh! Had to spit the rest of it out in front of everyone, knowing that the hard bit in my mouth must have been the fly´s friend! Disgusting.... Afterwards we visited the proper cachaca distilleries where we sampled a few more different flavours of cachaca. Lost count how many samples we had....!

Later that night we went out for a few drinks with our friends from the hostel and met a few more that had just arrived. It had been raining on and off for most of the day and by the night time it was chucking it down so the jazz festival didnt seem so appealing that night. We all had our waterproofs on, mine wasnt really keeping me dry at all, so we retired back to the hostel around 12.30 am. The cobble lining the streets were more like huge stepping stones so in the dark after a few cervezas (beers) and after heavy rain, it was quite a skill trying to dodge the puddles and rivers running down the streets!

The next day again was cloudy and rainy. Rob and I decided to have another wander down to the beach area to see what else was around there and we found what was supposed to be a fort - although the only evidence of this was a few cannons lying around. There wasnt much else to do when the rain came down so after using the internet at a rubbish internet cafe, we went back to the hostel where everyone was lounging around on the settees watching DVDs. We had some lovely(!) supernoodles for lunch and sat around for the rest of the day watching films with everyone else, looking at the rain and sulking about the lack of sun!

The DVDs finished around 9pm when we all felt really tired and lethargic so I certainly was ready for bed. But then there was a suggestion about going out for the last night of the jazz festival so everyone perked up a bit and ran off to get showered and changed ready to party....

Rob and I joined some of the others around the courtyard table once we were ready and joined in with their drinking games. We ended up having quite a few beers and making a lot of noise as more and more people joined in. In the end there was about 12 of us around the table which was full of empty beer bottles and cans. The owner John told us if we cleared the table he would give us a crate of beer....he only had to say that once...the table was clear in under 30 seconds! The games went on until about 1 am when we decided it was about time we actually left the hostel or we would miss the festival. We´d all got used to John´s strange ways by then and he was actually really nice, if a little bit of a character! We invited him out for drinks and he came along and bought everyone a cocktail before disappearing again back to the hostel. The rain had stopped by the time we got out and we had a brilliant night dancing and singing along to the bands and getting very merry.

We left the festival about 3 am and wandered back to the hostel. Me and one of the lads Dan decided to have a walk around the block as we were chatting and getting on well so we told the others and turned off down the little side street by the hostel. We had felt pretty safe in Paraty after being in Rio and we were eventually feeling like we could relax. I still wasn´t taking a bag around with me but had my camera in my hand, swinging it around..... Literally two minutes after leaving the others two young lads appeared from nowhere and grabbed hold of me and Dan. One of them shouted at me to give them money and Dan tried to fight the other one off but he was tackled to the ground. I threw whatever I had in my pocket to the other lad thinking that would make them leave but it didnt. It went on for a few more minutes. Luckily they didnt get away with much, they didnt take either of our cameras, and Dan put up a good fight and wasnt badly hurt - he probably hurt the other guy more and they eventually ran off. It was a shock though something like that happening in Paraty which we were told was a really safe area! The hostel staff told us the next morning that the police have an agreement with the residents of Paraty that they dont rob the tourists ..... Just goes to show you cant get too complacent anywhere.

We were supposed to be leaving the next morning (Monday) as we had originally only booked 4 nights hoping to go to Ilha Grande for the next 4 nights, but we couldnt find anywhere to stay as all of the hostels were fully booked. So we ended up booking another 2 nights at Historic. At first we werent all that happy about it as it was a grubby hostel, but by the Monday we had met so many lovely people that we were quite happy to stay on.

At last....the sun arrived to Paraty on the Monday morning....what a great day to go sunbathing on the beach with the worst hangover of the whole stay! We didnt want to miss out on the sun though so 6 of us got a bus out to Trindade beach which was gorgeous. The sea was really clear and refreshing and the swimming made us feel loads better! Had to sit in the shade of an umbrella for most of the time though as sun does a hungover head no good at all! We managed to spend most of the day, around 5 hours, at the beach and then went to the supermarket and bought loads of pasta, tuna and veg for tea. Hannah and James cooked for 5 of us and...ohmigod....the size of this pasta dish was unreal - it was dinner fit for a king (and all his kingdom!) It could have fed the 5 thousand! We planted ourselves at the courtyard table, knife and fork in hand, and dug in. There was no way we were going to finish it, but there was always lunch the next day..... However, the hangovers from the night before and the full day on the beach obviously made us more hungry than we thought and after 4 portions each, 5 for Kez and James! we managed to finish the whole lot! We´ve never been so full in our entire lives! We had to practially roll each other to the kitchen to clean up! It was definitely time for bed....

On our last day, Tuesday, Rob , Julia and I went on a boat trip around the islands. Another sunny day so we wanted to make the most of it. That evening we cooked in the hostel kitchen again - I made a lush ratatouille and jacket potatoes for me and Rob. The oven was rubbish though and the potatoes were in there for 2 hours! Hannah and Kez made a stew which was cooking for even longer so we eventually sat down to eat at about 1030pm. As it was our last night and there were so many icecream shops around, the four of us went out at midnight for icecream - where in the UK can you go out for icecream at midnight and sit around people watching?! They did the most amazing flavour - Ferrero Rocher! We well and truly pigged out...

On Wednesday after 6 nights at Historic it was finally time to leave. We were really sad to be leaving as we had met so many nice people there and had some fun days and nights out, but Ilha Grande was calling so we said goodbye to our new found friends, promising to meet up again in Rio in a few days time.....and off we went to board the bus for 2 hours, and then onto a boat for 2 hours to reach the island. Ross at the hostel had managed to get us an apartment for two nights through a friend so it was the perfect stop off before returning to Rio for Carnival......