Carnival in Rio!

Feeling a little glum ...
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Hotel isn~t bad, but it is what it is.  Arrival didn~t get off to the best start when I waited 2 hours for my transfer to turn up, which didn~t in the end.  So I had to pay 169 Real to get from the airport to my motel... I think that's like USD$80-90.  That was a bit annoying I must say.  Then when I arrived at the motel, found I was sharing with another chick. Not that it was too bad coz she was pretty cool, but after 30 hours of being awake, I did not want any company.  Thankfully she went out for Carnival.  I stayed in bed for like the next 24 hours. So its a very unfortunate thing, but I have only been able to partake of the day activities because I have no tickets to any of the events, and the security thang is something taht shouldn~t be taken lightly.

Serious packing ... thanks Liz :)
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Anyway the cab driver who drove me to the motel said he'd lost 3 cabs in the area of the motel in the last year by hijackers!  He told me on no account to walk in the area after dark on my own, that there~s a favela only 2 blocks from the motel itself. He kept on warning me of the dangers of the area I'm in, and to NEVER go out alone after dark. Its 10 blocks from the beach, so not reliable security in this area apparently. Better to be closer to the beach areas, more tourists and more police about.  Soooo being a bit of a wuss, decided to heed his advice and do all the stuff during daylight hours.  It would be a shame for something to go wrong at the start when I have 6 months of amazing travel ahead of me.  So yeah Julie, I heeded your advice and decided that discretion is the better part of valour (particularly in this city!) and I chickened out, stayed in and watched Carnival on cable!  How sad!  But tons of stuff happens during the day too, so that1s pretty cool too.

Carnival in Rio... at least during the day :)

Moments before leaving...
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Note to self:  Next visit to Carnival, arrive no less than 1 week before it starts to acclimatise and get tickets!