Fun in the Favella

Hi everyone! Now when I was discussing my trip with people before I came, I often told people that I intended to go to every country in South America and that I would not be going to the Rio carnival because I wouldn´t be getting to Rio till a lot later. Well plans change. Once i´d actually done some research (on the plane) I worked out that i didn´t have time to do everything if i didn´t want to spend the whole time on the bus or the train. So I decided to cut out the Guiana´s (difficult to get around) and Northern Brazil (expensive) and have instead decided to head down to Rio by plane from Boa Vista in the north.

So i arrived in Rio on Saturday and i´m already loving it. I´ve really landed on my feet with the hostel, it´s called El Misti and is in Botofogo in Rio, one of the nicest areas. It´s set up for partying, full of mainly Australians wanting to party and run by a pair of hot girls. I´ve been out both nights drinking with people from the hostel, the first night in a club in the centre, and last night I went to a party in the Favella where City of God was shot. I know that probably doesn´t sound like the safest place to go out, but that just isn´t the case. It was a great night, a bit like a warehouse party, but on a much bigger scale. Also apparently it is the safest place to go out in Rio. This is because in the centre you are being protected by the police. In the favella you are protected by the drug barons. Basically the police don´t go into the favellas if the people in the favellas don´t touch the tourists when they go, it is an agreement that sounds like something out of the film Sin City, but i don´t care as it makes for a great night out.

Apart from that i went and watched Flamengo play football yesterday. It was a great game to go watch, the atmosphere was amazing. I sat amongst the fanatics (similar deal to the favella) with all the flares going off and constant chanting. Flamengo also won the match 5-1 which I think helped.

Anyway i´m off down the beach to relax, i´m in Rio for the next 9 days with Carnival next weekend so I think it is going to be a bit hectic. I´ll speak to you all soon.

Little P