... I can see by the look smeared across your chops, like a satisfied cat with a milk moustasche, that you're pleased its blog time... you're excited, you've been waiting day and night to hear of my adventures in Paraty... well here it is, the long awaited blog...
... So Paraty is a little town... it had the feel of one of those places where everyone knows everyone... people are constantly saying hi to each other in the street as everyone but the tourists is familure... as the bus began to pull in I became instantly reminded with some of the places I loved in Asia... with Hue in Vietnam, Battenbang in Cambodia, even Koh Chang in Thailand... I had the fait feeling like in one of those romantic films where the girl and the guy finally get together after ages as friends, but it happened just at the moment they were to separate forever (probably because he was going on some space mission in quasi-Armageddon style... it was like, in my last week travelling, this girl, her name Brazil, finally started showing me a bit of leg... she started showing me her beauty... (I know I've seen lots of beautiful things in my time here, but I like this metafore so I'm gonna run with it)... I have that sense of excitment and enjoyment, but also denyal, as this travelling lark will soon be finished... for now... ... ... ... Ooooooh, I smell a sequal;)
... but that elongated metafore to one side, its really a nice little place... not quite as beautiful as some places in Asia, and not quite as easy because of the lack of English-speakers here... also the food is crap here, that and lack of funds have finally pushed me to cook for myself! ... but generally its still been a great little stop near the end of my trip... the beaches are isolated and lovely, the old town is cobbled with beauty and cobbles, the people smile and are friendly... a nice place to be...
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| Cobbled... not wheelchair friendly |
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| My hostel |
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| Quiet drink at the beach |
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| Bridge over troubled water,or, a bridge too far? ... can't decide which to use as the caption |
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| The beast emerges |
... I also got one more beautiful taste of what I've called Transient Friendships... those beautiful little friendships you build up, literally, overnight... I've kind of lost my mojo in terms of being the lovely affable traveller who can accost any person as a new friend, I think it went with the hair cut, Samson-esque... so I'd just chilled on my own for the first couple of days... then this Israli girl accosted me, she saw I had spagetthi and so invited herself to cook and eat with me... obviously my first response was, 'Oh Christ, me talk with someone? Cook with someone? This just aint gonna work!'... but we cooked and ate and then visited a waterfall the next day... it was a cool waterfall you could kind of slide down like a flume at a water park... Anyway, after I thawed a bit I got on really well with this girl, then others joined us and we had a nice little group dinner for my last night in Paraty (not in honour of it or anything)... it was good to meet new people again, build up a new repore with people, get a bit of cross-culture banter going (I can't believe I asked the Isralie girl, Ella, if they had KFC in Israle... Kosher Fried Chicken... Oh, I was very pleased with myself for that pun:)... it was another metaphorical Armageddon style last moment kiss for my travelling... a moment I relived the joy of meeting people traveling and got that warm feeling inside (not indigestion, trapped wind, or internal bleeding... I just mean, like, cheesy happiness:)... I'll miss those moments, they are enjoyable... I only spend a day and a half or two days with Ella and the others, but I genuinely left with a heavy heart, as much for leaving a good new friend in Ella as from the thought that these moments won't happen back in Blighty... these fleeting friendships which happen so quickly and seem so intense but are gone in an instant... but to make myself feel better about coming home, I know the whirlwind friendships will be missed, but they will be replaced by something a bit deeper and longer lasting... I'm going to replace the whirlwind witha constant cooling breeze, perhaps not as exciting, but better in the long run:) ... ... ... OK, I should stop this cheesyfriendship talk... I'm getting confused by what I mean as a metafore and what I mean as literal... but thanks for accosting me and my Spagetthi Ella, I needed someone to pull me out of myself and show me one of the greatest things about travelling, the friends you make and the cool people you meet... So I guess that's not just to Ella but to many people out there... Cheers:)
(singing) And now, the end is hear, and so I face, the final city... yes, my last city of traveling (at least for now... gotta find myself one of these "lives" I hear people talking about so much!), Rio... I arrived today and it is blazingly hot with blue skies... I'm in a cheap hostel today but tomorrow I move to a 'not quite as cheap' hostel (Still under 15 quid) a stones throw from Ipenima beach...
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| I'm trying to find the girl from Ipenima... it's like a game of Where's Wally! |
... Tomorrow, me and the German lad Martin (I first met him in Na Trang and I distinctly remember writing a blog about what a tight ass him and another guy were when I was in Munie... but he's a good lad... Hope he didn't read the blog though... I hope he hasn't bided his time for retributuion! ;) are going to look at the Big Jesus... Can't wait:)
OK, I'm off for some spagetthi (only thing I can cook:), watch El Clasico on TV, and then a couple of beers with Martin... :)
Keep well people... ... ... strangley, after this blog I really want to watch Armageddon... and I've now got that damned Aerosmith song stuck in my head!!!
Love you,
Matt the Redeemer:)
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