Rio de Janeiro eh. I have been wanting to go here since I was a kid, for my 18th birthday actually, and never thought I would ever be here. We arrived by plane after a short stop in Sao Paulo and the first thing I noticed was that one mintue your flying with the clouds below and then the next the skyline is punctured by countless numbers of cloud and rainforest covered peaks. Then you pass through the cloud cover and below you lies the stunning setting in which the city is placed. There are half a dozen or so glorious beaches with the sand and the water gleaming up at you in the sky and looking back from them, the mountains tower impressively overlooking the city, covered in the remains of the Atlantic Rainforest which once dominated the landscape and the favelas which creep their way up the slopes. We stayed the first couple of days in the more upmarket area of Botafogo, which contains the marina and the expensive yachts. We spent the second half of the week in Copacabana in a hostel called Cabanacopa which I would recommend. There is so much to do in Rio that fitting it all in in a week was tough. We arrived on a Friday and had heard of a street party which happens every week and is meant to be amazing. Well it was raining but along with a Brasilian girl and three Spanish guys from the hostel we went along to Lapa anyway to check it out. It was amazing and this was in the pouring rain. The street gets cut off and there is countless numbers of vendors selling you beers, hot dogs, pizza, burgers, tequila and of course the Brasilian drink, Caipirinha, nice but absolutely lethal. We decided then that we would have to stay at least a week in order to experience the street party in the dry and in the dry it is class. There was so many people, backpackers, rich locals, poor locals, everybody was at this party. The clubs blare out music so loud that you can dance on the street and under the Lapa Arches there is always someonoe banging away on a drum with a crowd of revellers dancing to the beat. If you go to Rio, make sure it includes a Friday night at Lapa. The first touristy thing that we did was walk up the steps to Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa itself is cool on top of a hill with nice views down to the city but the steps are the real attraction. Decorated by a Chilean artist with tiles from almost 200 countries around the world, the steps are awash with colour. We were lucky enough in that the artist was actually there the day we visited and pointed out the Scottish tiles to me. If you know the song ´Beautiful´ by Pharrel Williams, its the steps in the video. We took a trip to the Jardim Botanica on the Sunday as its meant to be full of music and parties. It wasnt unfortunately and trees arent really my thing. Taking the cable car up Pao de Açucar may be expensive but its well worth it. Its the third oldest in the world and how they got a station up there I have no idea. The views from the top however are what its about. Looking back west into the city you get views of Botafogo, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the airport to the north with the planes flying straight towards you, the mountains surrounding the city and the even larger peaks to the north of the state and of course the Big Man on top of Corcovado looking down at everybody. I could have spent all day up there. The trip up Corcovado itself is also amazing. The train is probably best but the queue was huge so we took the bus. I dont think the view is as nice but standing next to the giant (its huge) statue of Christo is seriously cool. As for the beaches, well Copacabana is everything I imagined it would be. Long, golden with great waves, the tiniest of bikinis, people playing beach football, head tennis, volleyball and keepy uppy all along the beach. Its amazing, theres just a great buzz about the beach as well with wandering bands and kiosks selling all kinds of refreshments. Tried green coconut a couple of times as theyre supposed to be incredibly refreshing but a bit disappointed really. Ipanema is just as cool I think, there is less tourists there for some reason and more just locals which gives it a different vibe. Both are awesome and I spent a couple of days on each. Centro is worth a wander as well as some of the old buildings are stunning and the place is just buzzing with little markets everywhere and juice bars and cafes on every corner. Some of the old churches are gorgoeus although not overly impressed with the Catedral Metropolitana. Whilst it may hold 20,000 people it looks like it belongs next to Cumbernauld Town Centre and thats not a compliment. Sadly the Maracana is getting rebuilt for the World Cup so theres not much to look at right now. Sadly also we didnt make it on a Favela tour which I reckon would be very interesting. The night life in Rio is just as you imagine. There is something on everynight of the week and caters for every taste whether its Samba or salsa, rock, reggae or dance youll find it. We had a couple of cracking nights out including the two nights at Lapa. The grub in Rio, whilst mostly very expensive for S, America, is fantastic. Salgados, deep fried batter with a variety of fillings are a nice snack as are espetinhos (bbq skewers) whilst if you have a sweet tooth then you need to try chocolate filled churros. We also managed to find an all you can eat Brasilian style steakhouse and buffet that was really cheap, Monchique in Copacabana. The buffet itself would feed a family easily but then you would miss out on all the delicious meats that the waiters bring round, still on the skewer that it was bbq´d on. Argentinian steak is probably the best I´ve had but Brasilian comes close. I must admit, Buenos Aires was seriously cool but Rio is maybe just a smidgen better. Its awesome.

Heading south to Iguaçu falls via Ilha Grande, Paraty and Sao Paulo...great start to the Brasilian leg though.