We saw the Iguazu Falls from both the Argentina and Brazil sides and they were absolutely amazing. Pictures just don't do it justice, you have to see it with your own eyes!!! The majestic water falls along with the roaring sounds they make were just unreal. I heard that the Angel Fall is great but it's one big fall, whereas the Iguazu Falls are made of a number of falls and it's massive!!!
The next day, we headed off to Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. We were there for 2 days and frankly speaking, it was disappointing. I guess it's a monstrous city, more for living instead of visiting. The so called landmarks looked like buildings that have been bombed!
One good thing though, there is an area called Liberdade, it has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan in the world! That is, where you will find RAMEN!!! Both nights we just hung around Liberdade and ate double our body weights.
Further, we had a rather interesting experience the first night. We booked into a sex hotel accidentally (we found it on hotels.com and someone had actually rated on it so we thought it was a legit place); we weren't in a very good area and it was getting late. So we decided to stay for one night. Our bed was octagon with full length mirrors on each wall. There was no duvet or blankets on the bed, everything looked disgusting and the only English chanel they had was hardcore porn. Later that night, we heard someone getting spanked. It was an interesting experience.
We were in Sao Paulo for 2 nights before heading off to Fernando de Noronha, the Hawaii of Brazil.
It houses some of the world's best beaches such as Praia do Sancho and it is where many Brazilians go to for their honeymoon. Fernando is also a turtle sanctary so it was nice to see baby turtles being dug out of their birth ditches and watched them race to the sea. Fernando is bloody expensive. The longer you stay, the more tax you have to pay. The accommodations and food were really expensive but it was totally worth it.
We were in Fernando for 2 weeks and were lucky enough to stay at a really nice place with air-con, hot water and cable TV. Soft sand, crystal clear water, beautiful beaches but most importantly, there were NO RUBBISH on the beach. And basically NO ONE with you. Most of the time, you go to beaches with like a zillion people around you and tons of rubbish and crap all over the place. But you don't get that in Fernando which made it worth it. We felt like we had had the beaches exclusively to ourselves for 2 weeks.
After 2 weeks of doing absolutely nothing but sunbathe and swim, we headed off to Rio for 4 days.
Rio de Janeiro - January River - the marvellous city. It houses one of the New Seven Wonders of the World i.e. Christ the Redeemer, a massive statue overlooking the city. It was great but why that's on the New Seven Wonders of the World list but Angkor Wat isn't is beyond me.
Anyhow, Rio was lovely. We visited some of the famous beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana, Sugar Loaf and Santa Teresa (colonial area, cobblestone streets). Rio's setting reminds me of Hong Kong. A magnificient city among hills and mountains with river/sea surroundings. It's funny how sometimes, the things that you want have always been there, you just don't notice it.
Anyway, you haven't been to Brazil if you haven't had the Brazilian BBQ where you eat till you die. Before your drinks come, you would find meat whacked onto your plate and I shit you not, the meat is incredible. The lamb, beef, pork, you name it. There were so many different types of meat, different cuts and different ways of cooking them. We had a great time but we nearly died from eating so much.
We didn't see any Gisele walking around but we saw a lot of butt cheeks hahahaa...Brazil was the most expensive city we have visited in South America but all in all, we had had a fantastic time in Brazil. If anything, we will definitely go back for the Brazilian BBQ!!!
