Rio De Janeiro - Hi everyone. I turned up in Rio on the Thursday night at about 8pm, getting off the flight it was absolutely pouring down with rain and quite cold compared to Lima. My first impressions were of a dark city and the reading on the plane didn't help, stating that out of all the cities in S America it was Rio that had the worst crime rate and even a just a few years ago the average number of murders in the city were 700.My impressions didn't get any better in trying to get a taxi. When I asked the first taxi driver for my address, he didn't seem to know where it was then he got 3 other friends to sort of help out, then they all start gesturing it's a really difficult place to get to and start quoting a fare of about 60 quid. Well I told them I wasn't interested but trying to get away from them wasn't easy. In the end I did, and decided to use the official taxis at the airport, these were cheaper at 40 quid and you paid in advance so no trouble from the driver. In fact my driver was Parisian, only been here 3 years and so we were able to chat about jersey, Paris, Rugby and football as his English was perfect and he gave me a reassuring feel about the city and that its safe if you know how to dress and where to go, or more importantly where not to go!Turned up at the hostel and its high on a hill in St Teresa district. This is the start of the hill of Corcavado, the big hill where the Christ the Redeemer statue is. Again it looked rough in the dark and wet but it was the place I had booked into and so I stayed the night in the chalet¨. The following morning , Friday up early and took the 100 year old electric tram, ah the IOM, halfway up the hill, but even this far the clouds and ,mist hadn't cleared and so decided it wasn't worth it going to the top and you wouldn't see anything,Spend the day getting the tube to Copacabana and Ipenana Beaches and walign along them stopping for drinks and snacks. The city is actually very beautiful and being so close the the sea with breathtakingly beautiful beaches with the backdrop of mountatins and rainforests is so wonderful. Took some photos as the 3 day weather forcast wasn't showing it was going to improve, with it being misty in the morning, rolling in from the sea, clearing a little around mid afternoon but then by early evening raining for the evening! Yuk! And this is meant to be Brazils summer!So after walking the beaches, into town to do a bit of shopping as my feethave decided just having my hiking boots is not enough footware.Then back to the hostel where over coffee I met up with some great people. PJ from London a risk assessor for a city bank who simply had had enough, Sarah and Lauren from S Africa on a world tour, Cedric from Tahiti and Magrus and Crystal from Norway just traveling around.In the evening, being Friday, we all decided to go out for a beer or two and see what we could find. We ended up in Lapa in a Samba venue, as Friday night is Samba night. The place looked like a run down theatre/church hall and was on the main strip, reminding me of the upstairs club we went to in Berlin in 2006.Everyone was dressed up and with a live band the Samba dancing went on…and on…and on….some were really good and it was good to see, but at around 2am we decided enough was enough and headed back up the dark hill to the hostel. Safety in numbers when youre all Gringos is always a good idea! Saturday, up and went on a Favela tour with 6 others including Sarah, Lauren and Cedric. A Favela is like the shanty towns around Rio that have built up with huge influxes from the countryside. Each one is run by Drug barons and have kids aged 14/15 walking around with what look like AK47 rifles to keep the police out. However they welcome the Gringos in with a proper tour guide as 80% of the tour fee goes to the Favela committee and they build junior schools etc with the money. It was fasinating. Open sewage, kids with guns and the poverty right in your face. Also to get to the top of the Favela, meant a mototaxi ride on the back of a motorbike. Well fun.Now I have been on buses, taxis, motortaxis in Rio, they all think their Ayton Senna, drive like mad and almost have a death wish! Its just part of the community.On Sat afternoon me and PJ went up the cable car to sugar loaf mountain, The weather was clear but not too hot. Got to the top about 4pm and the views of this great city were excellent. Took a few photos as you will see from the photo page.Came down and started to walk home, stopping in a district square for some food, and then just sat outside a bar in Lapa watching the people walk by…very relaxing. Sunday, decided to go for Corcavado again as the weather was finally beautiful. So up on the electric tram.