Well, here we are in yet another destination! We're getting good at this travelling lark now - 6 hour bus journeys are no longer a dread, more a good excuse for an air-conditioned nap! Although, speaking of air conditioning, its not really necessary at the moment, sadly the sun has decided to take a break and is refusing to come back out! Thankfully we do seem to have left the rain behind in Paraty, but its not the warmest when its overcast! (I know, I know....its probably colder where you are........!) So anyway, we're in Curitiba now, the capital of the state of Paraná in Southern Brazil. Its mostly regarded as a stop off point, or a way of breaking up the bus journeys, cause there isn't that much to do in the city itself. We left Paraty on Sunday, a 6-hour bus journey took us to São Paulo, where we had reluctantly decided we would need to stay the night. We booked an actual hotel though, as we felt that safety was a priority in the most dangerous city in Brazil! It was the most budget hotel I've ever stayed in, it was comedy. But it was fine for the night, and we were on the 15th floor so it would have to have been a very determined attacker that climbed up to get us! We didn't see much of São Paulo itself as we didn't have much time. On the advice of our guidebook we decided to wander down Avenida Paulista - described as a cross between Wall Street and Bond Street. In Nikki's words, we couldn't help wondering if the person that called it that had ever actually been to Bond Street! It was pretty rubbish, although in its defence it was a Sunday evening. We needed to eat though, and to our great distress the only restaurant we could actually find was a McDonalds! Oh the shame. We are chalking it up to a cultural experience and are determined never to do it again. Via another 6 hour bus journey on yesterday morning, we arrived in Curitiba. We spent the afternoon wandering the town centre - and pretty much managed to cover all the sites in a few hours! We're spending today having a quick wander of the shops (two weeks without shopping after all!) and planning for the next week or so - as fully paid up members of Hostelling International we can get one hostel to book beds in another hostel for us - takes some of the hassle out of it! Taking the most beautiful train journey in South America tomorrow so will let you all know if its worth it! Caroline x