Well I finally made it to the feet of Corcovada, the art deco figure of Christ, which seems to be an icon for Rio, but in fact may have little to do with the lives of most people who live in the city as they seem more concerned with their outer, rather than their inner being. The visit to the monument was a bit of charge uphill up in buses followed by an elbowing battle as everyone in Brazil seemed to be there on a Saturday afternoon to take pictures of the ...

Have survived two overnight bus trips - one lasting twentysix hours - but both in air conditioned reclining seat comfort so not as bad as I have expected from "local transport". Now in the lovely historical town of Paraty some 250 klms from Rio. Cobbled streets - which are so cobbled that you spend the entire time looking down or falling over - painted houses, colonial style churches and dozens of eating places selling every style from local to Sushi! ...