attn: xebsball

[Sharky]

i am thinking of going on a tour of S.America with my mate summer. i'm thinking of going to brasil for 2 months, would you recommend it? what's it like for tourists? no offence but i heard it was pretty sh!tty :)

bah! gotta go! sorry, this makes no sense but i dont' wanna delete it - i'll post later and make more sense but gimme your opinions!

ps - where abouts in brasil are you?

[Xebsball]

I'm in south region Brazil in Rio Grande do Sul state.
Its the dark blue one way down on the map (RS)

http://www.arquivobrasil.com.br/indicmap.htm

Is your summer at the same time as here? Right now its summer here.
My country is pretty big and i dont know even half of it. What tourists generally come looking for is party (specificly Carnival in Rio de Janeiro or in Bahia for example). I guess since it seems to draw such attention i think id recomend Carnival. I lived in Rio until when i was 3 years old, but cant remember how carnival was. The only memory i have from those times is chasing some pidgeons on a park (i didnt catch them).
Besides Carnival, Rio have beaches, tourist places to visit such as Corcovado and Cristo Redentor...
I'm sure a travel agent could explain it better to you :D

If you are thinking of jungle and such things then its Amazon you might want to see but you'd need someone to guide you, of course, you dont wanna be killed by tigers and stuff (hahaha, there are no tigers there, but there are nasty snakes). Never been there either, just seen on tv.

I dont really know about how is it for tourists. I know they can get robbed but that can happen to anyone i think. What sort of things have you heard on this subject.
I'm not offended at all since im not on the tourism bussiness :cool:

There is a change i'll get italian citizenship pretty soon since my great granfather came from there, so i would have access to the Euro contries wich is really cool.

[joedoe]

My GF went last year and she loved it. She went mainly to see the Iguasu falls, and she said that it was worth going to Brasil just to see that.

[Xebsball]

I've seen Iguasu falls (Cataratas do Iguaçu), i was somewhere between 7-9 years old at the time i think.

There was a rainbow on it wich made it look even more cool altough i belive rainbows must be common there.
Actually i was scared of getting close to the edge of this platform area where you could watch it closer, i have a lightly moderated fear of heights. My brother still calls me a wuss for that.

We were camped on Foz do Iguaçu with this other family who are friends of ours. After that we also went to Paraguay since its close from there.

[Xebsball]

In Rio de Janeiro state there is also Angra dos Reis wich is very beutifull "nature-wise".

[joedoe]

From what I saw in the photos, it looked like an awesome sight. I guess I will have to go and see for myself someday :)

[joedoe]

My GF also stupidly mentioned that the Brasilian women are mostly very beautiful and wear next to nothing in the way of clothing. Hmmmm. Better make that trip to Iguasu soon I think :D

[Sharky]

i just don't wanna get stuck up for my sh.it at gun point like 6 times n stuff. thing is like i've only ever been out of the UK once, i was born here, and i went to spain in december and loved it.

but now my mate wants to do a 2-3 month hardcore back packing thing and i think that's just too much for me. i know i seem like amiserable fu.ck but i don't really wanna sleep in sh!tty hostels with 7 people i don't know, and backpack. i'd rather hit up some nice hotels. Or even crap hotels, as long as it's private. I just think it's too much for me! I need to goto paris and spain and italy a few times before i leave europe! i'm new at this!

i also thought of going to mexico and peru and doing the same thing. it's just that i don't think i can hack 2-3 months.

i heard brasil has like stupidly high street crime and poverty, so like going there and not knowing the language and having this huge f.off back pack is like having a sign saying " jack me ".

i dunno. i would love to go.

i heard that about the women too joe :o :p :rolleyes: :cool: :D

[Shaolindynasty]

Just don't go there for a bar brawl! We know how you Europeans are. You'll probally get shot trying to fight there.

I went to Rio and Juiz De Fora about 2 years ago. I had alot of fun, no crime problems for me. Rio was a little to dirty for my taste. Ya'know big city smog etc. I don't know how to compare it but it's dirtier than chicago. Juiz De Fora rules.


Do you speak portugese? You'll probally need some help. My sifu speaks portugese and he took us but most of the time he made us figure things out. I still think he did it for a laugh.

Overall I'd give Brasil a recomendation. Allot of fun, allot of women(some easy women).

[fa_jing]

I did the backpacking thing 3 years ago. The countries I visited were, in order, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica. 7 months in total. 5 of these were in Colombia (ah, Colombia...I met my wife there) Don't go to Colombia now, according to travellers I spoke with, it's said to be the coolest country along with Venezuela and Brazil, but you can't get around these days at all because of the increased guerrilla activity. I was watching the news and they were shooting across a route I took. I got my backpack stolen, twice got shook down by the police. Mostly because of mistakes I made that I would now never make, knowing better. Go to Venezuela or Brazil. You're a little off base with the hostel thing. There's practically no reason to stay in a youth hostel in a 3rd-world country. You can stay in a cheap hotel for like 5 bucks a night. Stay away from the red-light districts, except that a lot of the cheap hotels are located there. Have a plan, though realize it might change. Trust no one! Don't bother going to Costa Rica, unless you are doing aventure backpacking or white-water rafting vaction package or something. It's a severely touristic place and you are more likely to fall prey to robbery and other tourist crime than most of the so-called "dangerous" places. If you can make friends with a local, that helps alot, but remember the caveat. Even your friends might rip you off, then again they might show a lot of hospitality. Beware also of expatriate hippy types. It's better to meet locals if you want an authentic experience. Do speak to travellers you meet along the way to get recommendations. Also, make sure you have a couple source of money. Most cities have cash machines that will take your VISA credit cards, and some also take your regular cash cards. Pick up the "Lonely Planet" travel guide for the places you are going. If you want you can e-mail me with specific questions. You'll have fun and I do advise you to make the trip.

[Xebsball]

ttt and stuff...

i was gonna post something but i forgot what it was