Getting from Iguacu to Rio involved a 25 hour bus, which was nowhere near as bad as that sounds! I also met a guy (Mark) who used to live in Withington about five mins from where I did who was also staying at my hostel. It also turned out there were three more people on the bus who all lived in Withington at one point - small world!

We arrived into Rio on the 2nd March, it was the build up to carnival and we were very excited. By the time I got settled on the first day it was time to head for a few beers, I went to meet Isaac and Robert and then we went to their hostel where we met Sandra (who'd also been in the Pantanal with us). We started the Rio trip as it was going to continue - with a lot of booze, we hit a club - I picked up my carnival tie (which was to be part of my uniform for the rest of the week) and we drank loads!!

The following morning I woke up relatively early, checked the time and figured Tara should've arrived - I headed down stairs and there she was (how's that for timing)!! It was time for the party to begin!! We spent the morning wandering around Copacobana, had a couple of early morning beers on the beach (it's carnival - anything goes - don't judge us) and just chilled and caught up! We found out that fatboy slim was playing a gig the following night and spent most of the afternoon going to get tickets for that! We spent the evening at the hostel bar and had a few beers - we got a relatively early night to be ready for Carnaval kicking off the following day (and neither of us had had a lot of sleep the night before).

The following day was the first day of Carnaval. As it was a nice day Tara, Mark and I decided we'd head up to see Christ the Redeemer (as hangovers and weather may not allow it to happen again). Mark had actually been before but the weather had been really cloudy so he was trying again. Turns out Mark is a massive jinx when it comes to Christ the Redeemer and when we got up there it was really cloudy!! We did get some views of the massive statue but none of the city below…. L

Ah well, these things can't be helped or controlled so we returned to town, grabbed some food and then hit the hostel party. I didn't have a costume other than my carnival tie (luckily class goes with everything) but luckily someone donated a multi-coloured wig so I was all set. We hit the booze pretty hard the first night of Carnaval, after the hostel party we headed to see fatboy slim - I would love to say it was an immense gig but I just don't really remember - I'd maybe hit the sauce a little hard! I do remember having fun and snippets of fatboy slim being on stage!!

The following day the hangover was bad, I spent a lot of the afternoon in bed, the boat party had been due to be that day but due to the weather and what the hostel called unforgiving hangovers (they weren't wrong) it was postponed! After my nap a group of us headed to Ipenema to a block party (or bloco if you're down with the lingo). We got their a little late, but joined the party - it was awesome to see all these people dressed up, partying. Just living carnival!! This was also the start of our carnival family, there was an awesome group of people staying at our hostel and a group of us spent most of Carnaval together!On the way home from the bloco on the train there were some transvestites dancing in our carriage providing entertainment for everyone! Unfortunately I caught one of their eyes and he came and sat on my knee - ah well all part of the carnival experience. Unfortunately he wasn't quite done and put some lipstick on in a massive dramatic gesture - as there was nowhere to run I just sat and covered my face - he planted a big kiss on the top of my head - ah well I'm sure some light molestation by a transvestite is part of most people's carnival experience - and at least I wasn't alone and he planted two big kisses on Cat and Ami's foreheads!! Certainly one of the most interesting train journeys of my life!

We returned to the hostel for the free BBQ (I say free I was paying an arm and a leg for 6 nights' accommodation in an 18 bed dorm), which was awesome, again it was time to booze. We sat drinking in the hostel for a while and when that was closing we decided to head out - we eventually arrived in Lapa, it was amazing the streets were just buzzing, there were more people dancing outside the clubs than inside!There was so much going on - we ended up in the smallest dingiest club under the Lapa arches - it was awesome! We partied for a few hours and then that was the end of day 2 of carnival - no worries plenty more fun to come!

I got up relatively early, had breakfast and then headed to another bloco with Amina (who I'd shared a dorm with in Peru 3 months earlier), Devina and Rob (who I'd met the previous evening and introduced myself with a knee in the balls - a mistake obviously). So we hit the bloco at the botanical gardens - it was 11 am, the weather was scorching - nothing for it bit to get on the beers - this was an even better bloco and we were nearer the music! It was absolutely heaving and roasting and the beers were going down well. After the bloco I had one of my favourite carnaval experiences - we got on a bus back to Copacobana - it turned out to be "the party bus" - it was amazing everyone was singing and dancing, banging on the ceiling, jumping on the seats - it was so much fun and we weren't shy about getting involved! We decided we'd hit another bloco - we picked up more of the family and after some debate we decided we'd head for Lapa to get their nice and early before the bloco started - we got their really early because there was no bloco - but have no fear there's always a party at carnaval - first we went and danced down an alley to some guys playing the drums. Then we watched a children's fancy dress show - as it was a bit weird we decided to play musical bumps instead! It was here that I inherited carnival pants (bright green and yellow (the colours of Brazil and Donegal) very very very baggy trousers)! From here we went to a free concert near the Lapa arches - when that ended we wandered around and ended up back at our dingy club!! This was one of my favourite days of carnival - well I guess they're all one of my favourites but this was an awesome day!

Then it was Monday - no depression in Rio during Carnaval on a Monday! We decided today would be the day when we got to a bloco early - so we set off for the 2 o'clock bloco in Santa Teresa - we got there at 3, and fortunately were in the wrong location - but this is where the 3 o'clock bloco was due to kick off. This was my favourite bloco - we were right up in front, right by the band in the thick of the action! It was awesome - we followed them down the street for a couple of hours before heading back to hit the sambadrome!

The big samba competition happens during carnival - often when people ask if you have a ticket to carnival this is what they are referring to (for future reference you don't need tickets for many things at carnival - and it's really easy to come by sambadrome tickets once you're in Rio - or it certainly was this year).I didn't have massively high expectations for the samba show - I just didn't really think it'd be my thing! However, it was absolutely amazing; the floats are massive, like really massive and so intricate! It's just a really amazing show and it really keeps your attention - unfortunately at about 3.30 am (it runs from about 10pm to 7am) it started to pour and although we were enjoying the show Tara and I decided we'd head home! It really was an awesome show though!

Tuesday (the last day of carnival L) was our boat party! It started with cocktails in the hostel at 12, then we headed for the boat - it was awesome - we went out into the bay around Rio, drank, danced and partied hard (at one point I started a conga line - which is quite hard to do on a crowded, small boat that is moving). We went for a swim - which was incredibly difficult - the current was incredibly strong (I guess made harder by my determination not to spill any of my beer or lose Carnival hat). Unfortunately on my third jump into the sea carnival hat was lost to the Atlantic (moments silence please)! We returned to the hostel and went for dinner - this was the first time I'd eaten off a plate since the first day of carnival - after that nothing really for it but to head to Lapa one more time! As many of you know I'm a creature of habit so after having a bit of a dance in a petrol forecourt we ended up in the same dingy club (it became my mojos)!

I woke up on the 9th, Carnaval was over and I was a mixed bag of emotions. My initial feeling was one of relief that I could rest but that was soon followed by a massive sadness that Carnaval was over - the only thing I can compare carnival to is Glastonbury, obviously very different but the feeling of happiness I had there was the same feeling I get at Glastonbury (this is why we are having a family reunion at Glasto 2013). As this was my last day in Rio we decided to do some sightseeing - we ended up joininga city tour from the hostel - we went to see Christ the Redeemer again - it was an awesome day and we were hopeful. Unfortunately Mark was with us again and therefore it was cloudy - it wasn't too bad and we did actually get some decent glimpses of the city below! We also visited the football stadium (currently closed for renovations for the world cup).the sambadrome (a lot less impressive in the day), the cathedral (for some reason modelled on a dalek from Dr Who.) and the Lapa steps (we had been near them alot but never been to see them - also famous because they were once in a snoooooooooooooooooooooooooooop dog video).

My time in Rio was just about over - only time to have one last family dinner, we went to a Brazilian restaurant where we ate a LOT of meat! I was leaving at 3am to head for El Calafate, I was also briefly parting company with Tara to allow her to go to Iguazu and me to trek the W trail in Torres del Paine!