General Info

Nowadays national flight tickets in Brazil can often be cheaper than the bus. If it's a long ride and the flight ticket is cheaper than the bus then I choose to fly without doubt. In the early nineties the cheap flight tickets were very rare. Back then I mostly travelled by bus. Sometimes up to 60 hours journeys. It's something I never regret. Very fascinating seeing the sertão, jungles, mountains, meeting nice people, having sex on buses and also experience 40 bandits attacking a large bus convoy in the middle of the night.

Regarding the bus ride São Paulo-Rio, it's "only" a 6 hour ride in a very comfortable bus with a very scenic ride passing by beautiful mountains. I recommend it.

[QUOTE=Sperto;2038289]snip ... Regarding the bus ride So Paulo-Rio, it's "only" a 6 hour ride in a very comfortable bus with a very scenic ride passing by beautiful mountains. I recommend it.[/QUOTE]I got lucky the other day and found a RT ticket Rio-SP for only $100 USD. So I snagged it. I was set to fly out of Rio this coming week, but I extended a week so I can go back to SP: the. Figured I would just fly out of SP GRU (1. 5 hour bus ride from Moema). Then I called my airline and the change fee to fly out of SP was going to cost me $150 (even though I'm on miles) plus a one way ticket to SP was $120. So $270. Instead of doing that I got the RT Rio-SP. Saved $170. And flying right out of CGH which is just 15 minutes the apartment.

[QUOTE=Sperto;2038113]BOPE is much more trustworthy than the average UPP PM. Most bandits are easy to spot as they carry weapons and radios.
When UPP police are more interested in eating aa than to take care of heavily armed bandits standing 30 metres away, then there is a serious problem. Police who doesn't get their salaries payed are happy to accept bribes from the bandits.[/QUOTE]Things are very rarely that simple on the ground and the problem I'm sure has many sides to it. But you also need to ask why don't BOPE heavily target the police who except bribes or the corrupt politicians and officials that run the country into the ground.

[QUOTE=JustIncognito;2038287]I live on Aruba. I have a US Passport.

How can I get a visa so I can visit Brazil?

It seems ridiculously difficult.

WTF?[/QUOTE]Just do it by mail using a visa service.

[URL]https://brazil.visahq.com/[/URL]

When I first go to a new location, I gather as much information as possible, then ask informed and specific questions. If someone shows a particular expertise, then I will send them a PM.

During or after my visit, I report on my experiences.

I have found that this approach produces excellent results and I even have had some members in new locations go out of their way to serve as tour guides.

When you have no reports even though you have asked multiple questions in various locations you are the kind of person most of us wish to avoid. These peer-to-peer forums succeed because everyone contributes. Not 10 people contribute and 200 seek information. Everyone has their own views and tastes. The important thing is to share your experiences.

[QUOTE=RioBob;2022574]This was 2001 , if you look closely at time 12:03 to about 12:16 you can see a young Bobby blame it on Rio.[/QUOTE]If this is Bobby who owns a business down the block from Rio Othon Palace. It is good to see you here. My first trip to Rio three years Bobby was a great help to me. So belated thanks. Does Boynton Beach sound familiar? If this is you I will stop in my next trip down. Still have a few friends down there.

[QUOTE=Vet1567;2048668]If this is Bobby who owns a business down the block from Rio Othon Palace. It is good to see you here. My first trip to Rio three years Bobby was a great help to me. So belated thanks. Does Boynton Beach sound familiar? If this is you I will stop in my next trip down. Still have a few friends down there.[/QUOTE]LOL no I'm not that Bobby but I know Bobby F for close to 20 years, he's a survivor for sure. But he was caught walking in this video close to 20 years ago.

[B]Bruna[/B]: A gringo asked me the other day why there are so few program girls working Copa. I told him there are a lot of reasons, but the main one is the stupid gringo running around taking pictures on their phones and putting them on the internet.

[B]Aline[/B]: Yeah, right. No girl wants to take a chance of her family or boyfriend seeing what she is really doing during the day when she says she is working at the mall. Stupid gringos are their own worst enemies.

[QUOTE=ExecTalent;2048134]When I first go to a new location, I gather as much information as possible, then ask informed and specific questions. If someone shows a particular expertise, then I will send them a PM.

During or after my visit, I report on my experiences.

I have found that this approach produces excellent results and I even have had some members in new locations go out of their way to serve as tour guides.

When you have no reports even though you have asked multiple questions in various locations you are the kind of person most of us wish to avoid. These peer-to-peer forums succeed because everyone contributes. Not 10 people contribute and 200 seek information. Everyone has their own views and tastes. The important thing is to share your experiences.[/QUOTE]Exactly, here in Brazil we give a name for this kind of member, is called "Chupim" (shoopeen), Chupim - (it's a parasitic bird) It's a member of forums or communities that always pick up information, but never share what he knows.

Can't afford Viagra? This Brazilian spider works with some side effects!

"A four-hour erection and then death: The fate awaiting any man bitten by deadly spider.

A family have been left terrified after fearing one the world's deadliest spiders has taken residence in their home after entering Britain in a bunch of bananas.

Michaela Egan, 24, from Rainham, Essex, noticed a suspicious white spider cocoon on a bunch she bought had from her local Tesco four days earlier and took a picture of it.

She posted the image on her Facebook page and friends suggested it could be a Brazilian wandering spider, whose venom gives male victims a painful four-hour erection before killing them.

The Brazilian wandering spider is known for building webbed nests on bananas and according to Guinness World Records, they are the most venomous arachnid on the planet.

Its venom is currently being studied for use in erectile dysfunction treatments after it was found that a bite from one of the spiders can give male victims a painful four-hour erection. . . ".

[URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3137383/A-four-hour-erection-death-fate-awaiting-man-bitten-deadly-spider-feared-entered-Britain-bunch-Tesco-bananas.html[/URL]

Has it really come to this in the Marvelous City?

[URL]http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/troops-deploy-rio-de-janeiro-amid-increasing-violence-48916037[/URL]

I just came back from a month in Rio.

Where I stay in Copa-p5-theres a favela off Rua Sa Ferreira-popularly known as PPG.

Shoot outs happened every other night / early morning-I could hear gunshots many nights.

The week before I came, there was a revenge killing of a policeman on Sa Ferreira for some shootings in the favela.

Someone threw a hand grenade into a cafe where police where eating.

It is always pretty hectic around there to be honest.

The deployment of troops won't last and it will return to normal.

Rio will have civil war mainly in the favelas in zona norte but also in PPG and Cantagalo some times as long as the population are suffering.

[QUOTE=FuckAfMedDig;2067050]I just came back from a month in Rio.

Where I stay in Copa-p5-theres a favela off Rua Sa Ferreira-popularly known as PPG.

Shoot outs happened every other night / early morning-I could hear gunshots many nights.

The week before I came, there was a revenge killing of a policeman on Sa Ferreira for some shootings in the favela.

Someone threw a hand grenade into a cafe where police where eating.

It is always pretty hectic around there to be honest.

The deployment of troops won't last and it will return to normal.

Rio will have civil war mainly in the favelas in zona norte but also in PPG and Cantagalo some times as long as the population are suffering.[/QUOTE]That's about a block from where I'm staying. I sleep with earplugs, but even then the gunshots woke me up the other night. I figured someone was on the run. There was a round of shots exchanged five or six times with 30 seconds to a minute or two between volleys.

Military truck and about 20 troops were parked on Atlantica at Sa Ferreira Saturday afternoon. But, that's Rio. While I'll miss the beach, I'm looking forward to getting back to São Paulo. Girls are better looking and less footwork is required. Admittedly, it takes more ubering. If you haven't spent much time there, I highly recommend it.