28&29.07 - Day 39&40 - Rio de Janeiro to Buzios to Rio, BRA

Rio de Janeiro to Buzios, BRA

Wednesday 28th July 2010

To break up our stay in Rio and to see a little more of Brasil we jump on a short-as-you-like bus journey of three hours and head North-East up the coast to Buzios – a supposedly swanky coastal town where well-to-do Brazilians have holiday villas. 

Apart from having a hostel booked we haven’t yet been this unprepared – no guide books, no maps, no idea what to expect. Luckily the hostel is a short walk from the bus station where we opt for an upgrade to a twin for 7 Reais (£2.60) more. 

From the hostel we stroll along past the boutique shops, smart restaurants on the sea front and on the narrow strip of beach left at high tide. A clearly affluent town, or at least aimed at the affluent – as evidenced by most eateries prices.

This is one of the reasons we end up at Selvagem, a Chilean restaurant – that and the chance for one last Pisco Sour. As we dine (well feast) there are two other patrons conversing in Portuguese. They shout across at us Oi! (that still seems an aggressive way to start a conversation but simply means Hello) to ask where we’re from. An intermittent, stilted chat takes place across the room covering niceties, each portion followed by them having a Portuguese discussion about our answer. 

They then invite themselves to our table – she, Rachel, a petite tanned blonde, he, Jorgim, a hulk of a man. Cautious with new people we are unsure what to make of their suggestion/pressure to go to a club with them. This uncertainty heightened by him turning to Krish at one point and asking

“Are you married?”
Krish: ”No.”
Jorgim: ”You will like this club then.”

They shortly also offer to take us to a secluded beach the following morning – Meet at MacDonald’s at 10. Fearing a little for our lives and with no intention of doing so, we say Yes. But equally the mood was lightened by Jorgim turning and pointing at me exclaiming “You look like Jack Johnson!”

They depart to go for a drink at nearby bar leaving us bemused and slightly on edge. Is he a bouncer, she a stripper? Or stronger; a pimp and a lady of the night? We will never know. 

Until that is Jorgim comes pounding back into the restaurant, points at us and says “You come for a drink.” More a statement than a question. So along we head and are thoroughly relieved to see them chatting to someone else at the end of the bar where it drops away onto the beach. 

Enter Brendan, 35 year old South African travelling on his own. He’d spotted Rachel on her own and had gone over to chat her up. He was affable enough but his desire to score some weed seemed risky in a foreign country. Firstly he chases two 50 year old ladies down the beach when he gets a whiff of their illegal smoke. They have none to sell but gave him a few puffs all the same. 

On his return an observant waitress takes him aside – 20 minutes later a shifty looking character appears on the scene and he and Brendan disappear off the bar veranda down the beach. Enter Eddie. An American accented 24 year old. Schooled in Boston but calls Buzios his home. Wide boy, hand on crotch when he speaks and constant swearing. He warns us that “our boy” (Brendan) is in danger of being fleeced by the drug dealer. Having thanked him the four of us Krish, I, Jorgim and Rachel shrug our shoulders and do nothing.

When Brendan returns we tell him of Eddie’s warning to which it transpires the dealer had said the same of Eddie. Who to trust? Enter Ladies: three older ladies, fully made up, wearing as little as possible. Brendan, game for anything regardless of language approaches them to initiate conversation. As Krish and I watch on, Eddie comes back over to try and persuade us to join Brendan to target who knows what. Despite his persuasive powers, we decline.

A short while later, two boyfriends of the three ladies appear. Still confused even now as to the relationships involved in proceedings. In the end the two we distrusted initially Rachel and Jorgim appear to be the most genuine – Rachel with her faltering English is an English teacher in Sao Paulo, her boyfriend Jorgim has the bling as he’s a jeweller. 

As he once again gets up for some cameo appearances with the singer on stage complete with Indian style dancing, Krish and I slip into the night still confused but in the end having enjoyed the experience of the evening.

Buzios to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Thursday 29th July 2010

We delay our leaving the hostel until 10:30 to ensure we don’t accidentally run in to Rachel and Jorgim and then spend the morning wandering the streets and relaxing in the early sun before catching the bus back to Rio.

We’re back at the Cabana Copa where everyone knows our name for around 6pm – well not quite everyone but some newbies and some people we’ve met on our travels. 

Others not in our hostel but fall in the same bracket are the Irish girls Ruth & Jenny; we can never remember which one is which (from New Zealand, the Salt Flats in Bolivia, PAX hostel in Buenos Aires and Paraty bus station) with whom we meet up, show them the delights of all you can eat at Temperante followed by a couple of beers at at a tucked away local bar equipped with guitarist playing. (The surcharge for him costs more than our two beers…) 

Ruth and Jenny invite us out to a club which they’re heading to at 1am. Its now 11pm. We let them be, saving ourselves for the highly anticipated Lapa Street Party the following evening.