The last border crossing of my trip was probably the most eventful and stressful due to a dumb arse driver that 'forgot' to stop at the Brazilian part of immigration.. which meant missing the direct night bus to Sao Paolo and subsequently to missing the Corinthians home match the following evening! The one upside was seeing the beautiful Brazilian countryside on the way over to Sampa during the day. Getting off the bus and heading to the tube station I realised how big and bustling Sao Paolo was, so many people and had Inner City Life tune in my head! It was great to catch up with a good friend of my cousins travelling trip and walking around the city felt a lot safer than had expected.

Having been in Spanish speaking countries for 3 months or so it was blooming hard work with Portuguese, a fair bit different! It was actually easier to comprehend with my Italian head on but been so used to speaking Spanish that the latter was second nature at the time. Caught up with a friend met in Fiji at Rio airport whom kindly picked up my girlfriend who had flown from the UK and I and took us downtown to our 'hostel' in Leblon.. or so we thought.. turns out the place was overbooked due to a Harley Davidson convention in town so ended up staying in an apartment.. initially was narked off but turned out real good and next day got a good idea of daily life in Leblon.

We hit the beach and it was real nice to just relax, catch some rays and catch up with my girlfriend! We headed out to Lapa at night with the lady we were staying with, turns out one of her projects was a band and they played on the streets of Lapa.. hearing songs like Mas Que Nada and a cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here amongst others was a real highlight.. coupled with Samba bands and beats in the streets it was an electric atmosphere!! They have mini vans in Brasil that are a cross between a bus and a taxi, it was hilarious coming back in the early hours of the morning with a pissed up Paolista telling everyone how great Sao Paolo is.. much to the amusement of the local Cariocas.. not!! Sunday headed with woozy heads to the dizzy heights of Corcovado, prior to getting to the statue bit had the pleasant surprise of bumping into good friends met in Argentina previously. It felt real good to finally complete the 7 wonders, furthermore just to be up there it was really tranquil once all the noise tourists jogged on so we just soaked up the immense views for longer. After a lovely meal with friends in Copacabana we headed on the bus back to Leblon.. only to miss the stop.. and end up in a flipping favela.. needless to say we did a woodpecker, sharp exit!!

On the Monday headed over to Ilha Grande a couple of hours south of Rio, had a nice chalet in the middle of the forest. The first full day there we trekked for a few hours to a couple of beaches.. the first one was called Palmas for obvious reasons but I reckon it should be called Demerara because the sand looked like Demerara sugar!! We could have continued the trek onto one of the world's best beaches, Lopes Mendez, but decided to stay in Pousos as there was hardly anyone around, absolute bliss! We feasted on plenty of fresh seafood and fish and whilst not cheap it was worth every penny. We had a choice between doing a half and full day trip around the Island, opted for the latter which cost more but we went to so many beautiful beaches that it was money well spent. Throughout the day the beaches kept getting better and better, our favourite was one called Aventureiro where we even saw a penguin on the beach! Been quite fortunate to see all sorts of wildlife including big butterflies, snakes, turtles, little monkeys but best of all hummingbirds!

On the Wednesday night watched the super clasico de Americas, a friendly between Brasil and Argentina with some hostel buddies. I was real glad didn't end up going to Goiana where the friendly was held as most of the big players on both parts were missing due to the champions league. After a perfect and hot day previously touring the Island, which hit about 39c, the weather turned but we still needed to go to the elusive Lopes Mendez beach.. it was still worth the 3 hour trek over however as just as we got there the sun came out.. walking on the sand was awesome, it was ever so soft and made the same squeaky noise like when walking on snow! On the last night we had an excellent churrasco del mar (seafood grill) which perfectly ended our time on the island.

Friday morning headed on the boat back to Angra Dos Reis, we'd just missed the bus connection to Paraty so walked around the former for a few hours. It was bustling but also bursting with people waving flags and blasting out political carp for the upcoming local government elections in Brasil. Paraty is a beautiful colonial town and even though it was raining it was still a pleasure (and pain) walking around the cobbled streets. In the evening post meal we headed over to the sound of drum beats.. turns out there was a free concert celebrating the first day of spring, the band were brilliant!

The last weekend in Rio was spent with a good friend from Fiji and his father in their penthouse apartment in another part of Rio, Barra that will host the majority of events for the forthcoming Olympics in 2016. It was great to see another side of Rio and a different way of life to just over the hill back towards the south/centre. On Saturday night we went to a funk 'event' in a King Georges Hall type venue, what was bizarre was that the music was still blasting out however everyone stopped dancing when they broadcast a big UFC fight involving a Brazilian fighter. The last full day in Rio was spent wandering around the market in Ipanema and up Pao de Azucar (Sugar loaf mountain). Whilst the weather wasn't the best the views certainly were outstanding. Afterwards had a nice drink on the streets by the bay watching planes take off from the domestic airport nearby.

On the last day our flight was late on at night so our friend took us to a beautiful and desolate beach on the outskirts of Rio in the morning called Prainha (little beach) which was real good with a few surfers in the sea taking on the huge waves. Wanted to have a last dip in the sea but the water was bloody freezing! We baked on the terrace by the pool of our friends apartment before heading to the airport. Had a great time in Brasil and met so many nice friendly and funny people, there's absolutely no doubt will be back as still much more of the country want to explore like the Bahia region and Florianopolis.. anyone fancy a wee trip over for the footie world cup?? ;)

We arrived in London Tuesday afternoon and met my girlfriend's friend and had a few pints in a city centre boozer.. it was weird hearing so many people speaking English.. felt alien! Got the train up north the next day and surprised my family which was a fantastic feeling and great to see all my loved ones after nearly 11 months of travelling!! Now its time to soak the trip and memories up J