Rio de Janeiro

After Salvador, I am now in Rio, "a cidade meravilhosa" or something like this. The hotel I am staying in is in the Copacabana district. So I've done all the standard touristy things: walk on what is arguably the most famous beach in the world, go up the Corcavado to see the Christ Redemptor and go up the Sugar Loaf just in time for sunset. I even managed to get to the coach station to buy tickets for my next two stops, Macae and Belo Horizonte. All in one day! And all on public transport. It was quite fun experimenting with Rio's buses. The only problem is you've got to now where things are in Rio to use the buses. Good thing my Lonely Planet has good maps. It didn't prevent me from taking the wrong bus at one point though. Luckily it was when going to Corcovado so it became very obvious very quickly that we were not going in the direction I wanted: if the big hill (700 odd metre high) with a big statue on top that you want to go to doesn't get closer, get off the bus.

Apart from that, Rio is supposed to have fantastic night life but the Copacabana sea front is a tourist drag with large expensive restaurants and mega-clubs where everything is on sale: at 10pm on via Atlantica, you can buy a painting by a local artist or a date for the night as easily as you can buy a beer. I miss Salvador and its simple nightlife where you just sit at the terrace of a cafe for a drink, chat to the people around you and end up a few hours later in a place with live music being cheered by the locals who are trying to teach you how to dance samba.

Nervermind, Rio is definitely worth seeing but for a good party, Salvador wins.