So after another overnight bus journey we arrived in Rio. I have to say the bus journey was not as good as the others, they didnt give us any drinks and they didnt feed us!! We were allowed to get off at a bus station for something to eat but it was all wierd stuff that we didnt really know what it was, id rather have stopped at McDonalds at least you know what you are getting.

We got a taxi to our hostel called Lemon Spirit and were shown to our room. Here we came across a new sleeping arrangment - triple bunks!! Thankfully the room was not full and we got a bottom and middle bunk. For the rest of the day we had a quick look around the surrounding area, found somewhere to eat and went to bed.

The next day we got up and had our free breakfast, booked a city tour for the next day and decided to explore the beach! What an eye opener that was!! We didnt know where to look!! There were men everywhere in tiny, tight shorts - some might even say hotpants! Lets just say they didnt leave much to the imagination at all. There were young, old, fat and thin men just wearing the tiniest things you have ever seen!! They werent just standing or sitting still, Oh no, they were jogging along the street, playing volleyball or doing gym exercises, like press ups, in what looked like a bus shelter on the beach! We also saw lots of girls in bikinis and some were the thong bikinis!! We walked quite a long way feeling slightly over dressed compared to everyone else to Copacobana beach. Here the sign told us it was 30 degrees, a welcome change to being cold, so we were happy. After a while we headed back along the beach back to our hostel.

The next morning we had breakfast and waited for the tour bus to pick us up. When it came there was only one other person doing the tour, he was called Ben and was from California. The first place on the tour was the Christ the Redeemer statue on the highest mountain in Rio. There was a long queue when we got there but thankfully we could push in half way as we were an organised tour. It was very busy because it was Sunday and it was Valentines Day. We took photos and admired the view. I kept cutting Jesus head off when trying to take a photo of me and Sarah so in the end Sarah had to take it for me and did it right first time! The next stop on the tour was Santa Tereza, a famous neighbourhood in Rio. There was a market and little craft shops, it is the home of all the artists in Rio. There was also a tram that still runs to town and back for only 60 cents. After that we drove through the Lapa arches and went to see the Lapa steps. An artist has decorated a flight of steps with tiles from all over the world. It took him ten years to complete and he still is there today keeping them clean and replacing tiles when needed. Next we went to see the carnival street. It was a long street where the parade takes place with high seats either side for people to watch from. They also hold music concerts there during other times of the year. Then it was the last place on our tour, we went to Sugar Loaf mountain. Once again there were long queues. We had to get two cable cars to get to the top stopping on a different mountain halfway up. By the time we got to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain it was dark so we got a view of Rio at night. All the city was lit up and the beaches were also lit up. The statue of Jesus was also lit up and stood out on top of the mountain looking over Rio. After taking photos it was a long wait in a queue to get back down and then a dri ve back to the hostel.

We then went out again to find something to eat and as it was Valentines day we had a candle lit dinner - how romantic! We even treated ourselves to dessert. After that it was back to the hostel for bed. The canadians that were in our room and all on the top bunk of the triple bunks decided to go out. Most of them managed to sneak in without waking any of us up but at 3:30am Sarah woke me up saying ´ Vìcky there is a guy in my bed!` I looked down to the bunk below me and there was a guy in her bed, he was obviously too drunk to make it to the top bunk and had crawled into Sarahs bed instead. We tried to wake him but he had passed out and wouldnt wake up so Sarah had to mo ve and sleep in a different bed! It was quite funny at the time!

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150227002503961.322075.516178960&l=385d30569f