Printable View
[QUOTE=Lorenzo]We call it as we see it.[/QUOTE]Here here. And the guy did not deny it.
As far as the board getting out of hand, I see your posts are now getting edited or deleted by the moderator. Don't take everything so personally. It is just a group discussion/debate. Lots of good info can be found here between all of our "fun and games". Enjoy life dude. (And please post your evidence of the IOC's demand for oil from Brazil. I can always use some interesting reading.
Cheers!
[QUOTE=Sperto]If you ask a carioca who lives in bairro X if bairro Y is safe, the carioca most certainly will tell you that Y is a bad neighbourhood and very dangerous.
If you ask a carioca living in bairro Y about bairro X, this carioca will tell you that bairro X is very unsafe.
If you ask a gringo living in Rio if bairro X or Y are dangerous, he will tell you that both are war-zones. Many gringos living in Rio suffers from paranoia.
What you should do is ask a carioca living in bairro X if bairro X is dangerous.[/QUOTE]This holds true for damn near every city on earth. My theory is that people watch too much TV. I have friends in other cities throughout Brazil who have never been to and won't even consider going to Rio because it is too dangerous. I have friends in metro Bogota who will not go downtown after dark. My friend in Johannesburg won't let me ride in the car with the window down. Even in my own city in the U.S. people say it's dangerous. Granted I hang out, usually alone, in the shadiest of places around the world and can count on one hand the incidents that I have encountered.
On a Saturday while walking around downtown Rio at dusk waiting on a friend I saw a homeless guy breaking a car window with a broomstick. Another time I saw a guy get pistol whipped in the middle of the street in VM. And ONCE while staying with my girlfriend in City of God I heard gunshots followed by sirens about 3am.
[QUOTE=Sperto]Cariocas working with tourists will most certainly tell you that most bairros in Rio are unsuitable for you. A gringo outside Copacabana is where he isn't supposed to be.[/QUOTE]Unless they can make money off of us. I was sitting at Balcony with a friend the day before yesterday when a guy, Luiz Albanese from Fast Copa Line Tour, came up soliciting apartments. Then like all other apartment renters he mentioned that his driver could pick me up from the airport. I told him that I take the bus. He goes on like they all do saying how dangerous the bus is. I told him that I have been taking the bus for years all around Rio and have not had a problem yet.
[QUOTE=Mr Enternational]
On a Saturday while walking around downtown Rio at dusk waiting on a friend I saw a homeless guy breaking a car window with a broomstick. Another time I saw a guy get pistol whipped in the middle of the street in VM. And ONCE while staying with my girlfriend in City of God I heard gunshots followed by sirens about 3am.
Unless they can make money off of us. I was sitting at Balcony with a friend the day before yesterday when a guy, Luiz Albanese from Fast Copa Line Tour, came up soliciting apartments. Then like all other apartment renters he mentioned that his driver could pick me up from the airport. I told him that I take the bus. He goes on like they all do saying how dangerous the bus is. I told him that I have been taking the bus for years all around Rio and have not had a problem yet.[/QUOTE]
I've had a fireworks display of gunshots even in Copa. I waited till the buses were running again before crossing the street (NS Copa - they were spilling down from the favela). I stood on my balcony for a bit, which overlooks Princesa, idly watching the tracer fire. But before I got home I passed some mates outside Bar Prado, their backs pressed to the wall, beer in their hand, and a smile said that a mere war was not going to interrupt their night's drinking. One of the funniest things I've seen.
Sometimes Brasilians will tell gringos such and such is dangerous just as a default position. They hardly want to be responsible for saying somewhere is fairly safe and then you get your head blown off. At the tourist office (that I've been using for several years for last minute info and complicated phone calls), they first ask people if they use buses, watching the reaction. They give out bus info once they're confident you're not a newbie who's a danger to himself.* If someone asks about something inside a favela they'll usually suggest a tour guide. They'll just show me where it is on the map and maybe discuss the locale I need to walk through from the bus stop. That's only cos they've seen me for years.
Finding your comfort zone isn't about whether you're a pussy or an experienced traveller. It's more about whether you know your own limits in this very big, very varied. city. Start slow, and gradually extend. Take advice from cariocas that know you well enough to know your limits. Or, where possible, as Sperto suggested, get information from a carioca who knows the area you plan to go to as someone who lives and breathes that locality. It's not whether the advice is right or wrong. Just right or wrong for you.
Hope this helps.
[i] If you are very nervous about dipping your toes into using a bus - I know some people are - try the Metro integracao buses (most westernised). Then progress to something like the simple journey from Copa to Urca (Sugar Loaf), which is a short few stops in nice neighbourhoods and lots of tourists (most of them Brasilian). Once you are familiar with the system, start using the buses into town and back. Then VM. Then, when you are really confident - and at this point you'll probably have a copy of Ruas to work out your route - a more distant location in the North Zone. As you get to know the routes, you can grade them yourself. Some by location/route, some by time of day. For instance. The Metro Integracao buses are generally the most sanitised. But the dark Integracao route from the main bus station late at night is less warm and fuzzy than a main city bus getting back to Zona Sul.[/i]
[QUOTE=Christopherd]I've had a fireworks display of gunshots even in Copa. I waited till the buses were running again before crossing the street (NS Copa - they were spilling down from the favela). I stood on my balcony for a bit, which overlooks Princesa, idly watching the tracer fire. But before I got home I passed some mates outside Bar Prado, their backs pressed to the wall, beer in their hand, and a smile said that a mere war was not going to interrupt their night's drinking. One of the funniest things I've seen.
Sometimes Brasilians will tell gringos such and such is dangerous just as a default position. They hardly want to be responsible for saying somewhere is fairly safe and then you get your head blown off. At the tourist office (that I've been using for several years for last minute info and complicated phone calls), they first ask people if they use buses, watching the reaction. They give out bus info once they're confident you're not a newbie who's a danger to himself.* If someone asks about something inside a favela they'll usually suggest a tour guide. They'll just show me where it is on the map and maybe discuss the locale I need to walk through from the bus stop. That's only cos they've seen me for years.
Finding your comfort zone isn't about whether you're a pussy or an experienced traveller. It's more about whether you know your own limits in this very big, very varied. city. Start slow, and gradually extend. Take advice from cariocas that know you well enough to know your limits. Or, where possible, as Sperto suggested, get information from a carioca who knows the area you plan to go to as someone who lives and breathes that locality. It's not whether the advice is right or wrong. Just right or wrong for you.
Hope this helps.
[i] If you are very nervous about dipping your toes into using a bus - I know some people are - try the Metro integracao buses (most westernised). Then progress to something like the simple journey from Copa to Urca (Sugar Loaf), which is a short few stops in nice neighbourhoods and lots of tourists (most of them Brasilian). Once you are familiar with the system, start using the buses into town and back. Then VM. Then, when you are really confident - and at this point you'll probably have a copy of Ruas to work out your route - a more distant location in the North Zone. As you get to know the routes, you can grade them yourself. Some by location/route, some by time of day. For instance. The Metro Integracao buses are generally the most sanitised. But the dark Integracao route from the main bus station late at night is less warm and fuzzy than a main city bus getting back to Zona Sul.[/i][/QUOTE]I have been using the buses for years all over RIO, Niteroi, Sao Goncalo, etc. Never a problem just find a seat. I also take the little vans a great way to travel around really. I find the people are great, I have been doing this over 10 years now.
Doesn't list B&W, but [url="http://maps.google.com/?q=http://bitchmaps.com/kmz/rj.kmz"]B*maps[/url] is worth a look occasionally if you want to find new places.
[QUOTE=Sperto]A survey based on 320 people in Copacabana.
I wonder if they only asked the people working in Kice-Suco, Bob's and in the beauty saloons?
"72% of Copa residents want to keep Help open". Pure BS. Lying with statistics is easy.[/QUOTE]
Sperto, the survey -- particularly its finding -- sounds specious to me, too. But 320 is a big enough sample to be valid, if (and it's a big "if") the survey was done correctly. No?
[QUOTE=Rio Joe]the survey -- particularly its finding -- sounds specious to me, too. But 320 is a big enough sample to be reliable, if (and it's a big "if") the survey was done correctly. No?[/QUOTE]
Even if the survey were done correctly, and even if the sample were randomized, and even if the 320 surveyed were relevant stakeholders, the poll would still have a ą6% margin of error by my calculations. It could be anywhere from 66%-78% by the same "data."
Not enough for an earth-shattering difference, yes. But no self-respecting polling organization would release a poll with a margin of error that wide.
I find the latest posts by Mr Enternational, Christopherd, Bravo and Sperto very useful. And it struck me that I have probably been taking more risks (or equally the same) on previous trips to Rio, than the risk it will be to go to terma Black & White.
I have been walking alone in Copa, late at night. (I even got mugged once.)
I have been walking alone in Lapa in the nighttime (and I remember noticing some shady characters hanging around in some of the streets).
I have been walking alone from Copa all the way to Solarium, when it was dark.
I have been using the public buses to go around Rio.
So I guess taking a cab back and forth to B & W wouldn't be more risky than the things I have already exposed myself to. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm curious to see if anybody will come up with the telephone number to terma Black & White.
[QUOTE=Torinofreak]I find the latest posts by Mr Enternational, Christopherd, Bravo and Sperto very useful. And it struck me that I have probably been taking more risks (or equally the same) on previous trips to Rio, than the risk it will be to go to terma Black & White.
I have been walking alone in Copa, late at night. (I even got mugged once.)
I have been walking alone in Lapa in the nighttime (and I remember noticing some shady characters hanging around in some of the streets).
I have been walking alone from Copa all the way to Solarium, when it was dark.
I have been using the public buses to go around Rio.
So I guess taking a cab back and forth to B & W wouldn't be more risky than the things I have already exposed myself to. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm curious to see if anybody will come up with the telephone number to terma Black & White.[/QUOTE]
Why are you sweating this 1 Therma, just doesnt make sense.
[QUOTE=Gfe Finder]Even if the survey were done correctly, and even if the sample were randomized, and even if the 320 surveyed were relevant stakeholders, the poll would still have a ą6% margin of error by my calculations. It could be anywhere from 66%-78% by the same "data."
Not enough for an earth-shattering difference, yes. But no self-respecting polling organization would release a poll with a margin of error that wide.[/QUOTE]
I doubt that even the low end of the margin error (66% of Copa's populace) are fans of Help. I'd like to believe they are, but I know that's wishful thinking.
Which celebrities besides Sean Combs have been linked to Help over the years?
[QUOTE=Torinofreak]I'm curious to see if anybody will come up with the telephone number to terma Black & White.[/QUOTE]I say you go and provide US with the number, some photos and some firsthand knowledge about this terma. Go or don't go, but do something or just drop it. How bout that?
RonnyRon
[QUOTE=Rio Joe]Which celebrities besides Sean Combs have been linked to Help over the years?[/QUOTE]I was hanging in Help and ran into Houston Rockets Guard/Forward Tracy McGrady and his boys partying in there about two years ago.
[QUOTE=Torinofreak]I'm curious to see if anybody will come up with the telephone number to terma Black & White.[/QUOTE]I will be there in a week. I will chat with some friends I know and see if I can come up with a working number for you.
[QUOTE=Chris H]Why are you sweating this 1 Therma, just doesnt make sense.[/QUOTE]
I don't know if you have read my recent posts, but the reason to specifically go to terma Black & White is because the big ass pornstar Luana is supposed to work there!
And just up until yesterday I have believed (from being told here on the board) that B & W was situated inside a favela and that it would be very dangerous to go there.
I'm grateful to the enlightening discussions about safety issues that has made me realize that going to barrio Bonsuccesso and B & W may not be so extremely dangerous as I had imagined it to be ...
[QUOTE=RonnyRon]I say you go and provide US with the number, some photos and some firsthand knowledge about this terma. Go or don't go, but do something or just drop it. How bout that?
RonnyRon[/QUOTE]
Iīm sorry, I realize asking again was excessive. I got a little bit carried away.
[QUOTE=Smooth Slim]I will be there in a week. I will chat with some friends I know and see if I can come up with a working number for you.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, I appreciate it a lot!
[QUOTE=Hughdad]I jumped on a 9 am flight from Campinas to Rio. Landed at 10, had some hustlers try to get me to pay R$80 for a ride to Copa. Told them to f off. Then was waiting for the shuttle bus to try this economically friendly way to Copa. After 15 minutes wait, I jumped in a yellow cab going by. Hit a major traffic jam and told the cab driver to divert the ride to Centro and drop me off at the Carioca Metro station. Got out around 11 am for R$26 (including tip) and decided to hit Av Rio Branco 185 Casa #2114 with my nap sack and small bag in tow. I had been there once before after reading Sperto's reports and maps. [/QUOTE]Is Av RB 2114 still the same thing as BelPrazer.com?
I guess you've established veteran monger creditability with the mama at RB 2114 by not having even bothered to drop your bags at the hotel before stopping at their casa. That is classic.
I sessioned at this casa (Bel Prazer) in June. It sounds like the situation has improved. I had a garota named Isabella who didn't want CIM and I am fairly sure that we didn't get a clean sheet before the session. She had good ratings for completa on gpguia, so I was surprised.
Thanks for the report, I will be giving them another chance the next time. I might even get crazy and stay in Centro at Ibis through the week, just going right now through Sperto's list one-by-one to hit the casas that I haven't been to before!!!