It was a long old journey to Paraty. We had to take the night bus to Sao Paulo, which, after we'd eventually found the right bus, actually was quite good as night buses go. At the bus station there were 3 buses all pulled in at the same time and none of the drivers seemed to want our tickets to let us on. So full of comedy moments everyone was dragging their luggage form bus to bus, each time being told it was that one over there, or this one over here.But eventually we found our bus and our seats. The seats were enormous; it was like being in first class on a plane. There were proper footrests and the seats reclined right back. We were also given a small snack box to keep our stomachs entertained!

And apart from nearly getting left behind at the dinner stop it was a fairly uneventful ride. I went inside to use the toilet and when I came out the bus was just pulling out of its parking space. Had I really been that long??? Running after the bus frantically waving arms the conductor just waved back and smiled…what?! But apparently it was only going to get it's windows cleaned and top up with fuel…10 minutes later it came back for everyone who had got off!

We had to change buses in Sao Paulo and thankfully it was fairly straightforward. The tickets were there waiting for us so the most complicated thing we had to do was work out what type of coffee we wanted while we waited!

The next stage of the journey was slightly more tiresome than the last, partly because a 5 hour journey took over 7 as the bus kept stopping for pointless food breaks. And then the police stopped the bus and did a full search of everyone and luggage, which took forever. But satisfied none of us were trying to smuggle anything more illegal than a couple of apples and some water…we were on our way again.

We managed to find our hotel ok, but by this time it was night again and after 24 hours of travelling all most of us wanted was some food and bed. But the best laid plans and all that…we ended up going for dinner at a place called Paraty 33, which has live music. It's a really nice restaurant and lots of the locals get up to dance. So after dinner and a few drinks no-one really felt like bed any more…so we headed out for our first taste of Brazilian nightlife. Paraty itself is no more than a small fishing town, but still manages to have plenty of bars for the tourists to spend their well-earned money.

The next day was the only real chance to explore Paraty so I walked up to the fort for nice views over the bay, then decided to make the most of the first sunshine I'd seen in weeks and head for the beach. Rather than the beach at Paraty I walked around to the next bay, to Jabaquara beach, which was a bit quieter and more picturesque. I spent a really nice few hours there just relaxing and soaking up the rays on my pasty white body, determined to get some sort of tan before I returned home! And on the way back to the hotel I wandered around the town for a while…along by the harbour, through the cobbled streets, taking in the relaxed and holiday-like atmosphere.