Well it was a 'tough' week and I must admit that I am now officially 'all partied out', but the Rio Carnaval will always be a very fond memory (with some rather grey blurry bits :-))

I had high expectations of the parade at the Sambodromo (the most famous of the Carnavals MANY events) and i'm very happy to say that they were exceeded. The Monday show started at 9pm and went on until 6:30 am and that was just 1 of the 4 days featuring only 7 of the many Samba schools. Each Samba school was quite literally a cast of THOUSANDS!. I can't begin to describe the size and complexity of the mechanised floats, but I took stacks of photos and quite a few little videos clips so as soon as I decide on the best way to embed the video, i'll post some up on the site.

Outside of the big Sambadromo event there are parties and street parades (blocos) all over the city. Almost every night the celebrations were finishing around 6:00 - 7:00am (for me that is) and you could always find something else to go on to. I'm glad its only a week long as I couldn't physically manage any more :-)

Sunset Over Rio

I managed to squeeze in a few of the other famous sites including a visit to Sugarloaf Mountain which affords stunning views over the city and the statue of Christ. Also, a visit to the Maracana Football Stadium to watch the local favorite Flamengo versus the Venezuelan team of Maracaibo. Much to my relief, Flamengo won 3-1. The game was reasonable enough (not that I know anything about football), but more dramatic was the home crowd. Large Brasilian drum bands played throughout the game, there seemed to be 2 complete sections dedicated to flag wavers and I'd say some competition for who has the largest flag! Smoke bombs, flares and full grandstand sized banners were dragged out for post goal celebration.

The downside of the game was that I got my pocketpicked. When I returned to my seat after half time, the rear zip pocket was undone and the lining hanging fully outside! The good news was that the pocket they chose was an empty one, the other rear pocket had some cash in it - lucky me!

So, I have now left Rio and made my way 4 hours south to the small peaceful town of Paraty. Basically a place to rest and recover, get rid of the 'party-lag' and transform from nocturnal party person back into regular backpacker.

Its been a very restful 3 days in Paraty and tomorrow i'll be back on the road again. Its a LONG bus marathon that lies ahead: 6 hours to Sao Paulo, 3 hours in the bus station and then another 18-20 hours onwards to Foz do Iguacu (Spectacular Water Falls on the Brasil/Argentine Border). So, by Tuesday I should be in Argentina.