With a backpack around Brazil

In the last two weeks I took advantage of my relaxed schedule before the Olympic Games’ kick-off and I transformed into an adventurous backpacker to discover this amazing country.

Weekend trip in Rio de Janeiro

The number one destination of Brazil leaves you breathless for the first time. She slowly and imperceptibly captures you and when you think you had enough, she teases you even more. Whoever gets in touch with Rio is going to have a hard time to let her go. Rio, you beautiful bitch!

It wasn’t an easy task to squeeze all the major sights in a weekend trip, but I tried to accomplish this mission together with Szimi. Hosted in Copacabana we had a strategic base to conquer Corcovado, Lapa, Ipanema and other key areas of this marvellous place. The Brazilian ’winter’ was generous to us by offering over 25 degrees and sunbath for the first day on Copacabana, however Saturday’s lazy afternoon was cancelled by the windy weather on Ipanema.  There we accidently run into a young salesman who knew that Hungarian is an extremely difficult language and he even explained us that we use many affixes and suffixes. Wow, impressive! This is how to sell deck chairs for us!

If there is one thing that a backpacker will not like about Rio is the huge horde of tourists taking over the city’s most visited points. There is no season in the year when you would find Rio without tourists taking selfies in the corners of Copacabana, the Selaron Steps of Lapa or beneath Christ the Redeemer. At this latter, you can get into a massive fight to be rewarded with a photo lacking backpacks, cameras, hands and other parts of the human body. It is hard to imagine what will happen during the Olympic Games when hundreds of thousands supporters will invade the city. 

Favela tour in Sao Paulo

If you are coming to Brazil, you were probably advised to avoid favelas as far as you can. These slums are the indispensable parts of the average Brazilian city landscapes characterized by extreme poverty, criminality and drug trade. Although favales have long history, most of them where erected during the seventies when thousands left rural villages in search of better conditions in rapidly expanding economic centers, like Sao Paulo.  In contrary to their expectations many of them ended up in slums without employment opportunities, adequate living conditions and hope for a better life.

Shortly after our return from Rio to Sampa I had the opportunity to take part in an organized favela walk in one of the marginalized communities of Vila Albertina. The walk was organized by Gol de Letra Foundation and lasted for about 1,5 hours. It was guided by experienced social workers who are in day-to-day contact with the members of local community. In contrary to your expectations many of favela dwellers are welcoming and hard working individuals who are trying to make a change in their circumstances.  I was not allowed to use my phone on the streets, but I managed to take some sneak peak pictures inside the favela.

Discovering the Iguaçu Falls

In Brazil distances are enormous and a single bus ride within a state can last for several hours (yes, Brazil is a Federative Republic with 26 states). If you are travelling overstate get ready for even longer rides. Domestic airlines are good alternatives of coach companies, however if you are about to book a week before your departure, you will probably not find a ticket at a reasonable price. Having decided on the trip on my last week in SP, I went for the cheaper and less convenient option, taking the courage to sit on a coach for 16 hours. Not even a slight delay of 2,5 hours could overwrite my first day program at the Brazilian side of the falls.

Foz do Iguacu is the primary destination for tourists visiting the Falls. The city is situated in the close vicinity of the Argentinean and Paraguayan borders, and not surprisingly its economy is largely dependent on tourism. Besides the flourishing hotel business, AirBnB is also a lucrative economic activity of local citizens, it was super easy to find a cheap room for me online. Shortly after my arrival I rushed to catch the first bus in the direction of Iguacu National Park. The Brazilian side of the falls offers less opportunities in terms of outdoor activities (hiking, rafting), however is still visited by hundreds of thousands tourists per year. Weekends are especially busy, but the entry system and the transportation are surprisingly well-organised.  Inside the National Park a double-decker takes you to the starting point of the trail where hungry little animals called coatis welcome you in order to get some food. Taking the trail, the visitor will have amazing views of the largest waterfall system of the world:

My visit to the Argentinean side of the falls was scheduled for Sunday. This daytrip turned out to be more adventurous than expected. Buses to Argentina have no schedule on Sundays and their departure time is unpredictable to foresee. Fortunately I only had to wait 40 minutes to catch the ride and after an easy border check I found myself in the Argentinean side. My portunol knowledge helped me a lot to find the bus taking me to the entrance to the Parque Nacional de Iguazú. It was only there when I realized that non-MERCOSUR citizens have to pay almost the double amount of fine Argentinean pesos to enter. Of course, I did have enough cash with me and the teller machine was broken. I tried to convince them in all possible ways to get the discounted ticket: pretending to be from Venezuela (fail), pretending to cry like an abandoned baby (no success). Instead, I was suggested to withdraw money from inside the park’s eatery district. So they let me in, but as I returned to the gates the guy was no more there, he probably went for a lunch break..... Sorry Argentina for not giving my money to support your future project in being the most organised country of the world... and Gracias for this amazing view of the Devil’s Throat:

Quick visit to Curitiba

In Europe, not many people have heard about the capital of Paraná state, Curitiba. Better to say, the majority of the European citizens do not even know it exists. However, with its two million inhabitants and booming economy Curitiba is an important regional centre connecting Paraná state with the rest of Brazil. In overall, Curitibans enjoy the highest standards of life and the city is just as well organized as some of the Northern European cities. It was my honour to be hosted by Guilherme, personal trainer and former visiting student of the Budapest based University of Physical Education.  He took me to the best burger place of the city and he provided me with advices concerning the main sights of the city. I followed his suggestions and visited beautiful places just like the botanic garden or the historic city centre: 

...... and now it's finally time for Rio 2016! 

Brazil: the land of football and food

During the first week after my arrival to Sao Paulo, I was given the most appropriate answer from Eduardo, trainer and social worker of Gol De Letra Foundation, to describe the essence of Brazil:

“You will see, Brazil is all about football and food!”

Maybe he exaggerated a bit, but I can already bring up a set of examples to prove his statement.

When my girlfriend, Szimi, arrived to Guarulhos International Airport, we took an uber ride back to the city. For curiosity I started a conversation with the driver, and just by mentioning the name of Palmeiras football club, he took us to the other side of this enormous city (without us acknowledging the change in travel plans) to take a look at the newly built Allianz Parque, home of Palmeiras FC. Needless to say, he was a Palmeiras fan and a self-made tourist guide without any knowledge of English.

In contrary to others, Brazilians don’t just talk about football, but they practice it. During this short time, we have seen as many football games as homeless people randomly sleeping on the sidewalks. The game is played basicly everywhere:

Football in the city park

Football on the beach

Football on the street

Football on the walls

Food is another essential part of Brazilian everydays and we already had the opportunity to taste various local specialities, like the one and only feijoada. Taking advantage of the generosity of our hosting organisation, we were invited to the 16^th best restaurant in Latin America, called Mocotó. At one point we lost in the huge variety of the North-East Brazilian dishes and exotic coctails.

Last weekend we visited Santos, a city lying on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, about 50 kms South-East to Sao Paulo. Accidently we run in to the yearly coffee festival which made us possible to freely enter the famous Coffee Museum and consume as much caffeine as we have never done before. Santos played an important role in making Brazil one of the major coffee exporters of the world as a significant portion of Brazilian coffee production was shipped overseas from the city’s port. Maybe the only mentionable attraction of the run-down city enter is a tourist tram, called streetcar by locals, offering a 30 minutes ride around the colonial buildings of the old-times Santos.

Just like Brazil, Santos is also characterized by huge social-economic differences. Taking a bus from the run-down city centre in the direction of the always busy Southern cost reminded me of a quick time travel from the colonial times to the modern Brazil. Undoubtedly, Brazil has experienced a robust development in the last decades which made it one of the biggest economic powers of the world. 

And what do I do on weekdays?

I follow the activities of Gol De Letra Foundation, a Brazilian NGO funded by two outstanding football players, Rai and Leonardo. Gol de Letra uses the magical power of sport to educate young people from marginalized, disadvantaged communities, such as Vila Albertina in the North part of Sao Paulo. Unfortunately, I arrived just before a three-weeks long school holiday (called winter break) during which the foundation runs limited activities. Still, I managed to take part in some outdoor programs organised by young people (called monitores) to young people:

As a great honour, I was also assigned to teach English for some Brazilian youngsters at the office. As you can see below, I not always succeed. 

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

It’s never easy to start a blog. But maybe this time it will be easier. My head is full of creative ideas, impressions, hopes and expectations ahead a two-months long journey to the other side of the world. Still, what to expect from your blog entries, Bence? – I asked myself wondering in one of the hidden corners of Heaththrow’s Costa coffee waiting for my flight to Sao Paulo.

Well dear friends, if you know me, you won’t be surprised by the delicate social, political and sport issues dominating my writings. So, don’t expect a plain traveller’s story introducing places, cultures, costumes and cuisine of my host country. Being a tourist is boring. Why waste your time in hotels, restaurants and packed beaches instead of discovering the true spirit of the place? One can only gain true experience through late-night conversations, personal interactions and exchange of views with local people. Thanks God, I cannot afford to stay in a 5-star hotel drinking my daiquiri at the pool having some empty chat with boring businessmen.

In the following weeks I will try to introduce this colourful wonder called Brazil, topped with a huge quantity of Olympic craziness and flavoured with some political and social and economic unrest. I have been long inspired by this country and the Latin American spirit. Finally, the perfect moment has arrived to take a closer look at the Brazilian way of living in a historical time for this country. This blog cannot truly reflect the first-hand experience I live in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but I will try to do my best in order to depict the true ‘Olympic Fever’ for you. Let’s see what comes out of it.

Episode n. 1:  Budapest – London – Sao Paulo

Boarding in Budapest. British Airways flight full of English pensioners having spent a long weekend in Budapest. Brexit is still the main topic in the newspapers so I take a proper English tea in order to celebrate the European freedom of movement and our common achievements. It’s a bit of a delusion, but my companions are not that talkative, probably some of them are still dreaming about the greatness of British Empire while consuming their well deserved gin-tonic imported from the Queens’s diamond territory. After having arrived to British soil – luckily - I still get through the border while waving my less-welcomed Hungarian passport with a huge EU Commission sticker on it. First challenge completed.

At Heathrow terminal 4, Geri, my ex-teammate welcomes me. He has been working at the airport as a check-in agent and due to his brilliant skills and competences he has been promoted recently. My dear fellow English pensioners: he is not that kind of guy who lives off benefits L  He even returns to Hungary for his medications just to avoid the overloaded British HealthCare system run by those unnecessary economic immigrants...but let’s leave the Brexit topic behind and head to BRAZIL!!!

My flight takes off at 10 pm, a pretty short journey of eleven and half hours is foreseen. Expected arrival time to Sao Paulo is 5:20 in the morning. The super-sized BA airplane looks like exactly the sky rider edition of a London double-decker. Due to some fortunate coincidences, I sit next to a US-educated, Italian descendant young Brazilian, Gabriel, with who I have some lengthy conversation about the recent developments in Brazil and his views on the Olympic Games. Although he is proud that Brazil is hosting this mega sport event, he also admits his fears and concerns about the level of organisation at Rio 2016. I am extremely thankful to this guy who later helped me to get around in this unknown soil and provided with much needed advices and tips. Muito obrigado!

The first two things I have to face in Brazil are a one-hour waiting before border check and an almost lost baggage at the drop of station. To follow-up, Guarulhos International Airport cannot be more distant from my accommodation for which reason I decide to take a transfer together with Gabriel and his family. This could have been a great money saving idea, but we had to realize that the minimum waiting time would be at least an hour till the next transfer. Bem vindo ao Brasil!

However, sharing economy rocks in the Southern hemisphere too: I use a uber ride to reach my destination which is a small and cosy AirBnB room in the south part of this enormous city. For European eyes, the extent of city is somewhat unbelievable and the level of traffic is unprecedented in this massive urban jungle. Upon arrival, Thais and Fabio welcomes me in my new accommodation which is situated in one of the newly built residences of the Southern part of the city. I take the liberty not to discover the surroundings but to have some rest instead.

To conclude, a big part of my presumptions and expectations have been proved already in the first days. Brazilians are extremely helpful and welcoming people who adore their country and culture. On the other hand the way of organisation of life reminds me somewhat of a lazy summer season in the Mediterranean Riviera. Festa até de manhã!