My travel blog: Leaving Sao Paulo

... So I arrived in Paraty today, a costal resort between Sao Paulo and Rio... the 4am start is taking its toll so it will be an early night tonight... also its bloody boiling here... I'll just sit by the river reading, drinking a quiet beer before bed... its a tough life:)

... but to reflect on Sao Paulo, its a pretty cool place and I hardly touched the surface... of all the things I'd heard about the city, most were negative with the words 'hole' and 'shit' often used... but that seems very harsh to me... it may be because my South American travels have been largely urban, so I'm used to the hussel and bussel... and that is really what you get with Sao Paulo... with 6 million cars, it has more automobiles then Ireland has people... ... In retrospect, I probably should have spent far more time in the nature of South America... as I arrived in Paraty I felt calmed by its small town feel... it reminded me of the cool little places I visited in Asia, especially Hue in Vietnam... although it is still more difficult here then there (but I only say that to stress how easy it was in Vietnam!)... As the bus drew up I thought, 'yes, this feels right'... but I don't regret my pinball of city breaks across South America... I'll admit, football held a large factor in my attraction to South America so I had to immerse myself in it... but given more time and motivation and money I would be more vast in how I dived in to this continent:) ... ... ... but anyway, back to my Sao Pauloian reflections... ... yes, it was far nicer then I expected... the hostel was nice and the staff were lovely... I had to sleep on an extra bed which I asked for over the email because the whole city was booked out because Bono and his friend The Edge decided to play some songs there... everyone in the hostel was obsessed with U2 so I had to try my best not to piss on their parade by saying how I feel they're not all that... bless 'em, these people had come from all over Brazil, I should let them have their fun without putting my unwanted two pence in... I did feel a bit uncomfortable with one member of the staff... he was gay and I think he took a shine to me (they seem to like me!)... yesterday I was cooking pasta and he came in to bake a cake... he kept making me feel nervous and at one point I actually broke into a sweat (a sweat of uncomfortability... I won't have any lude suggestions from you people;)... but he was an OK lad really, just a bit obsessed with Lady Gaga... oh yeah, and the cake he made was bloody lovely:) ... ... One thing I learnt from him and some Brazilian girls I met last night (I always seem to make friends the day before I leave a hostel... sods law at work again!) is their opinion of English people... we are very Nervous and Serious... after I gave them a lecture on how they are wrong and we are really a fun loving people as long as the fun is ordered and organised and people form a que, I started to listen and I did kind of understand... just as my English pride came out in Argentina I can understand that we are a more reserved people relative to Brazilians (but that statement can be interpertated in various ways!) ... generally it was a good time in the hostel, especially a festival of Mario Party 8 on the Wii on my penultimate night at the hostel with Rowan, a lad I went to a Corinthians game with on Sunday... I won't dwell on the game too much, my reflections are much the same as with the Palmeries game, surprisingly good atmosphere for a little game... the only major stumbling point was that they lost... they ruined my 100% record as they lost 2-1... and the heavens opened into what seemed a typical Sao Paulo heavy-flash-downpour! ... that actually improved things for me as people began to bounce around to keep warm... ... it's a shame that my 100% record has gone... but it was another nice experience:) ...

... OK, so time for some photos... of me around the city and at the football game... also, yesterday I went up this tall tower in Sao Paulo and took some photos of the panoramic views of the city... when you look at them I think you will also be struck by the vast urban sprawl of the city... it's really, unbelievably vast... anyway, enjoy the pics:)