Carnaval!

I ended up being stuck in BA for a further week, which wasn´t all bad. Got to hang out with my friends a little longer there and do the last of the tourity things that were on my to do list and which I wouldn´t otherwise have done.

The drama didn´t completely stop - I flew from BA to Rio, from where I was to fly to Colombia for a few days before going back to Rio and then London. But when I went to check in at Rio for my Colombia flight, they had no record of my booking. I wasn´t actually that disappointed - as soon as I´d ¨booked¨my return flight to Colombia at 580 quid, I regretted forking out so much to have only 10 days or so in Colombia, so it was actually kind of a relief. And being stuck in Rio for Carnaval turned out to be absolutely fantastic.

My friend Laura works for a tour company in London and they had a group in Rio as part of their tour around South America. A good 150 of them or so, so a big group and a big party. For 3 days, no sleep. I didn´t think anything could match the fun I had in BA but this was pretty out there. Rio´s a fucked up city and I don´t like it even though I had a great time here. It´s too edgy and there´s too much crime. It´s such a change after the relative safety of BA. On my first night, Laura and I were robbed as one guy stood over us with a broked bottle and his mates went through our pockets and emptied them. We didn´t react though, no point getting sliced or possibly killed for the sake of a hundred quid. In a different city maybe I´d have reacted differently but this is Rio, and they wouldn´t hesitate in using any weapon. A hostel down the road from Laura´s hotel was taken over by a gang with guns and grenades and all the guests were made to open their safes and relieved of all their vaulables. Apparently there were 3 places in Copacabana that had the same thing. Fucked up. So for us it wasn´t so bad. I was robbed of all my valuables in BA, and only took cash out that I was prepared to lose. Not my wallet, thankfully. You kind of expect this stuff in Rio, so we weren´t too fussed about it.

All the neighbourhoods have street parties all day, dancing and drinking and the occasional truck proceeding down the road blaring out music. The thing Rio´s Carnaval´s best known for is the Sambadrome, which is a huge parade involving all different neighbourhoods in costumes and with elaborate floats, some of them staggering in their size.

It´s an incredible spectacle and exceeded anything I thought might be the deal here. So all in all, a great time in Rio. We were sitting in a stand at the very end of where the procession finishes, and at the end of the parade all the performers ditch their costumes, so for the next couple of days and nights you see gringos all over the place in these weird costumes.

Laura´s group headed south to Paraty after Carnaval, I stayed for another day to catch up on some very much needed sleep. I came to Paraty 2 days ago but have been relaxing and not getting on it. I only have another week and it´s back to London, so I will stay here tonight and probably head back to Rio for a few days to finish off. I haven´t replaced my camera since it was robbed (all the pics on this entry were nicked from t´internet) but might get another in Rio so I can have some pics of Sugarloaf, Christ etc. Not sure though, I have a little hesitation about that in Rio!