Gigantic Sao Paulo

This place is one of the most heavily populated cities in the world: somewhere between 17 and 24 million!  Arrived here after 7 hours on a bumpy road in the rain.  The bus depot here was enourmous, seemed more busy than Heathrow Airport.  There were different terminals, hundreds of buses and thousands of people milling around.  We were whisked by taxis to our hotel right in the gay quarter of Sao Paulo.  And just in time for the annual Gay Mardi Graw parade! Music blaring, gays in outreagous costumes and thousands of people participating in the party.  We watched the parade from our hotel window.  The noise and music went on well into the night compromising our efforts to sleep somewhat.  Needless to say, the experience was entertaining.

Our hotel was close to one of the main downtown squares of the city and close to the beautiful cathedral, Bento monastery, historic centre, the theatre, and thousands of shops.  Again it was a day of walking, at least 10 hours on our feet.  We returned to the monastery in early evening to hear Gregorian chants by the monks - quite an experience.  We were warned not to walk around at night so we stayed and had dinner close to the hotel.  Others from our group took cabs to restaurants and clubs even though they were not that far away.

Sao Paulo has the best and the worst Brazil.  There is wealth here, good jobs, industry, its the fashion, cultural and educational centre and more.  But it also is dangerous and has millions of people stuck in poverty.  The incidents of car jackings and armed robberies at red lights are so common that motorists are no longer required to stop on a red light at night but drive on if they are able.  As much as we have been enjoying Brazil, Sao Paulo is a place we probably would avoid in any future visits.