Hola! We know the postcard for Rio is a little overdue but now our first week is over, boy we have done hell of a lot in Rio! Since touchdown after a 12-hour flight from Blighty, we instantly smelt a whiff of the warm 'Brazilian' air and we have arrived South America at last. Arriving @ Botafogo, where our youth hostel 'El Misti' is situated, a good recommendation for those who are tempted to fly out to Rio after seeing our photo album! It is very homely and the Brazilian staff are so helpful and laid-back, probably too laidback for our likings! Breakfast were included, don't worry Moms & Dads.

Despite have few hours sleep on the plane, we were still determined to check out Copacabana beach so we took a bus journey there. It was quite an experience with the driver going above 80mph like the scene in US movie 'Speed' (literally!) Copacabana beach was exactly what i had imagined - warm sandy beach with Brazilian beach bums walking along, not forgetting to mention their skimpiest bikinis and thongs! Andre & I tested the waters and I was bit like 'whoa' when the current took me by surprise. Andre, to this day, still can't pronounce 'Copacabana' so we'll give him another week or two so he'll get it right.

Marcelo, who worked at our hostel, took us to a hidden beach near Tijuca for surfing, costing us only R$50 for the whole day including transport, bodyboard hire, which later broke off the attachment string by the waves, and guidance. Andre managed to surf the immense waves and loved every minute of it. The views were stunning and it felt real secluded where Aman & myself were like almost the only females since the sea was full of 'prof' Brazilian surf 'dudes'. You'll see from our album that we later went to a hidden location where very few people know about. We climbed through the forest and in the middle, hidden was the most beautiful & invorigating waterfall I have ever seen (yet).

As you also can see from the photos, we have not only lapped up the sun at Copacabana, we went to a street party in Lapa with the people from our hostel and drank caiprinhas (induced with lime - so strong & sour that you can have a few!) We laughed, mingled with crowd and danced to samba music all night long.

The Favela tour was another highlight which we felt our money's worth, our guide mentioned the 3 words the people in the slums know, 1) Gringo - means 'foreigner' a polite term to greet tourists 2) Photo - the kids are overwhelmed and excited about digital cameras that they encourage you to take pictures & 'see' themselves and 3) Money - obviously! We rode up to the largest shanty town by scooters (which I will not comment on the scoot drivers again), which accommodates 200,000 people. After reaching the top, and getting myself burnt from the catalystic converter thingy grr, we were welcomed by friendly excited faces of little kids, running behind us. We were guided through the slums and told not to give kids any money as their principle is to get them to make jewellerys or drawings/paintings to sell for money. Andre bought a canvas painting from an art studio, let me tell you, by extremely talented artists! Though it was worth R$400.

Even if anyone is an atheist (*eyes* @ certain people), the statue of Christ the Redeemer (proper name - Christo Rendentor) is a must-see. In every youth hostels, images of Jesus Christ overlooking the city of Rio is a popular attraction for backpackers/travellers, seeing Brazil is also a Catholic country. We took a ride in a VW van, which I admit I was excited about, all the way to the top, and thankfully with the glorious weather out. It was thought we are only able to be transported by cable cars but there were people living up in the hills so there were roads for taxis, tour buses as well as scooters. There were two views at the top, one overlooking the city of Rio and the other, of course, of the statue. Ãgain I wont go into details about the 1st view but the 360o view (where the statue is situated) was amazing! It was swarming with tourists with every digital camera models ever known to man - we didn't stay too long but managed to take couple of pictures.

Come by night, after a tiring week, the Favela Funk party was due on the same night. We are unsure about going, especially the fact the few people (from our hostel) orginally planned to go. Kevin, one of our American dudes talked us into coming, whilst on the other hand Aman & I befriended an Italian, Marco in our room. Seeing as it was Marco's last night and we have only just got talking, we agreed in going out for dinner but then Andre goes off cooking pasta (yes, we insisted he cooked 4 us this time!) We all were so indecisive with our evening plans so we ended up eating in and going to the Favela funk party *last min style* near where the City of God area *winks*. We even lured one of the hostel guys in missing uni the next day to join us. The night was definitely worth it, unfortunately we weren't permitted to take our cameras indoors. The party was like an indoor rave, with the ear-bashing music - much louder than deaf rave! The atmosphere was friendly, everyone was in for a good time dancing and drinking as well playing some MTV music. Can I also add, gentlemen- the Brazilians know their stuff - they strutted all night and shook their thang endlessly than I would never imagine! Must be down to their stamina, I shall say no more....

Our fun & frolics @ El Misti had to come to an end as the hostel was already booked - so we had to find someplace else around the corner to relocate. After spending half a day, dragging our load around, we then made our way to the Maracana Stadium by the metro. Fearing the worst that we may not be able to enter the stadium as it was under 'construction', someone said it was being renovated for the Pan-American Games due early 2007. When we arrived, we only had half a hour to view everything. Refering to the photos, we have seen the changing rooms, press room (it was teeny!), the training hall inside the stadium. We took couple of pictures of memorabilias of football legends as well as the Sidewalk of Fame. Yes Hogan & Brinho we have got the brochures & photographs to show you, we even tried to nick a soil sample for you guys (Aman took photo as evidence) but we were not permitted. All I can see to you guys is we feel really privileged to have come all the way and see this wicked stadium. The colours of Brazil, the trophies & life-sized photography & autographs from the likes of Ronaldos, Zicos and of course Peles. You guys just gotta be here, this explains why this GAP year is once-a-lifetime even Aman & Andre are not exactly football crazy!

As promised, we went climbing for Andre so he got some suggestions from people to climb Pedro N, next to the Sugar Loaf Mountain. The weather was not exactly spectacular but we insisted on finding the boulders in the rain. We asked around for directions and found a path. which we walked all the way up and then down when we found out it wasn't the right route. The boulders were found 1km away from one of the beach end and spent a hour for Andre to show off his profess climbs. For your information - he climbed V6 - V8, which the rock only contains tiny finger hand holes. Nearing the end of the day, the weather worsened, chucking down while we headed back to our youth hostel. So no climbing news today due to poor weather.

We will keep you posted about our news @ Ilha Grande (an island dubbed as 'Backpackers Paradise')