On my 7 hour bus journey South from Rio to Sao Paolo I made some friends with the Brazilians around me. They were gay men and a girl who worked as entertainers on cruise boats, and as you can imagine they were quite extravert! I also met a hairdresser who kindly helped me with the underground system at Sao Paolo, and insisted on a photo with himself and I, since he loved blonde hair. He even insisted on walking me all the way to my hostel, very kind.
Sao Paolo is the largest city in the Southern hemisphere and has a bad reputation in proportion to it’s size. My preconceptions were that it would be dirty, dangerous and unfriendly. I was pleasantly surprised. The people I encountered were really friendly, helping me in any way they could, the streets were clean and public transport efficient. Saying this, I only spent one evening there and so have only a very limited insight. I made friends with some people at the hostel and we decided to go out. I rushed out to buy some shoes (in Sao Paolo you CANNOT enter clubs in flip-flops and they were my only shoes!) and we went out for the night. It was a great night of caipirinhas and dancing, and we all arranged to meet up again in Buenos Aires in a few weeks time.
The next morning after very little sleep I loaded myself up like the carthorse I had become (big bag on back, small bag on front) and walked, tubed, and bussed to the airport. I had always known that I had three weeks empty and on my own at the end of my trip, and I had had to make a decision about where to spend this time. So where do you think I decided to go…somewhere to relax, take stock of my situation and indulge myself for a couple of weeks? Read on.
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