Rio de Janeiro Reports

[QUOTE=TJ Fannatic]Today, I also took the ferry from centro to Niterio. It is short walk from BA 85 to the ferry landing and costs R5 roundtrip. There are much expensive Bay tours that provide basically the same service for much more. This ride is really nice as they have upgraded the boats. The irony is that the older boats a few years ago actually provided more outside standing space where you can feel the cool breeze on your face. But then again the boats back then were dirtier.

I got back from Niteroi around 7pm.[/QUOTE]

Did you do anything intersting in Niteroi or just go for the boat ride?

It´s true, the newer boats are not as romantic as the old crates - I´ve got great photos with those old ones - but they get you there and back quickly and reliably. I´m not sure they give you the same as a boat tour, but there again Rio is not exactly Hong Kong. It´s a nice ride and you get a good view of Fiscal Island (the green building) - this is lit up at night and looks particularly surreal.

Doesn´t seem to be much on the board about it so here goes :-

There´s three reasons I go to Niteroi -
i) to get laid
ii) shopping
iii) the Oscar Niemeyer Contemporary Art Museum


i) Getting laid.
Probably this isn´t a good enough reason unless you just want to go somewhere different. The non-gdp talent is less amenable and less pretty than it is in Centro RJ and the GDP is ok, a bit cheaper maybe, but not outstanding as far as I´ve experienced.

This afternoon I tried Excentric, which is Rua da Conceicao 132. From the boat, cross directly over and walk along Conceicao a few short blocks and it´s on the right hand side. Up a flight of stairs, past reception and there´s two bars, a whiskeria, dance space, a DVD screen playing Brasilian music or football, lockers and so on. Today they were offering 15R admission which included 2 free beers, which I should have haggled off but didn´t. Prices for the girl include the room and are 90R for 30mins, 110R for 40mins, and 140R for the hour. The cabins are clean and basic, nothing fancy. Air-con but no DVD and the bed is clean but not much bounce to the mattress. Fairly gringo-free when I´ve been. And not a bottle of Jack Daniels to be seen on either bar. Robes aren´t worn. Opening hours are Mon-Fri, 6pm to 3am. I had forgotten this last detail so was a bit early. I tried a less respectable place near the bus station (the name eludes me just now so I´ll edit or add it later) but on a wet Tuesday afternoon that hadn´t opened either (guy next door said 6pm).

The girls were mostly all reasonable looking terma-quality appearance. Performance wasn´t brilliant, but I put it down to lack of either natural aptitude or lack of appropriate acquired skill rather than lack of effort.

ii) To fill in the time I went shopping. I like shopping in Niteroi. It´s cheaper than Rio and less effort. You can do the Centro shops if the weather is ok and while away time in Plaza Shopping if it´s not. The Plaza mall is like an only slightly smaller version of Rio Sul but for the most part without Rio Sul prices. Food venues are more reminiscent of Botofogo Praia Shopping (varied, some good quality, but not flash) and there´s plenty of coffee places and a multiplex cinema.

iii) Contemporary Art Museum
This is the best reason to visit Niteroi IMO. a) cos it is an awesome, futuristic building (same guy that designed the space age monument at the end of Sambodrome. The views are breathtaking - it´s a good place from which to view Rio. But another great feature is (b) the walk back. If you take a garota she will probably be impressed. Get your photo taken with the building in the background. Getting there is easy enough, but take a taxi if you are impatient or a windy bus if you´re not. Walking, turn right off the ferry and follow the coast. It´s open Tue-Sun, 10am-6pm and with free entry on Wednesday. Stuff inside is possibly not as impressive as the building itself.

NITEROI - getting there
There´s probably about six different ways so you can experiment, but the two and half reis ferry is the easiest. On the water´s edge at Praca XV you´ll see big signs saying Niteroi. Buying a ticket and going thru the turnstile is a bit like using the Metro.

For those of you who have got to know RJ Centro a bit or used my [url=¨http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=862916&postcount=8416¨]walking tour intro[/url] or have [url=¨http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=858119&postcount=8278¨] tried using a bus[/url], the place where you get the ferry is only five mins walk from 4x4 (turn left as you come out) or just get a 455 into town.

If you only learn one bus route, learn a 455. It´s an express bus that will get you to Centro and also to VM. For Centro, get off in the underpass (Praca XV). For VM, get off at the end of the overpass later on. Easy.

The bus drops you right at the ferry departure point. Climb the steps, you´ll see the sign, get your ticket. Coming back, when you get off the ferry, remember you want the [i]far[/i] side of the underpass, as traffic drives on the right and you wanting it heading to Copa (which is a few miles to your left). So don´t go down the first set of big steps. Walk a few yards further and you´ll see steps down heading back on themselves. As you go down there´s handy signs telling you which buses are express and so on. If in doubt just get a 455.

What is Niteroi?
It´s a separate city, not part of RJ. Many of the streets have the same name and it looks similar. The story goes that once upon a time the super-rich people of Rio got fed up with the merely tacky-rich, and so built a big long bridge that was too expensive for the riff-raff to get there and pollute their hideaway. Nowadays anyone can get there. Coming back on the ferry, look at the green Fiscal Island on your right - it dates back to the end of the 19th century when posh people were exceedingly posh and held wonderful parties there. (Worth exploring too, though the guided tour drags on a bit.)

i´ve spent several months a year for the past few years adjacent to prado junior and still don´t know it perfectly, but maybe it´s time to add a few notes on which are and are not gdp bars - for the adventurous or just those that like to get into trouble ;)

there´s four to speak of. none particularly good, but worth knowing about if you hang out anywhere nearby.

starting from the atlantica end and mabs (the 24hr grotty hooker restaurant that occasionally has a do-able worth a quickie . . . the restaurant itself isn´t 24hrs but that doesn´t stop girls sitting there - but i digress).

the first bar is bar alexandra. it is almost too posh to be in such a trashy district. it is clean and has a nice sound system. it doesn´t even sell bigger bottles of beer. i rarely drink there as i find it unappealing from the outside, but others have reported good experiences.

crossing over ns copa, still on the right hand side, you get to bar estacao dos docas. this is the first of two adjacent dives between ns copa and min.viv.d.castro. a [i]large[/i] bottle of skol costs 3.5 reis and is good for sharing. regulars who prefer not to spend to much know this and will share theirs when it´s nearly finished and yours is full. est.d.docas consists of a single narrow passage, dimly illuminated. the darkness prevents discrimination against the roaches nibbling your ankles. or the creatures that were once human females. there but for fortune you might sitting there, drug-ravages, eyes sunk several inches within your skull and so on.

the only reason for mentioning docas is that you might meet people there you have already seen somewhere else. these are the people you can safely talk to. if they are drinking in docas they have got a cheek asking upmarket prices.

many girls late at night do the ´gringo triangle´. starting at balcony, you see them wander off and reappear later on. they go to docas and back. the beer is cheap, they can gossip, and it beats standing around looking like a loser. there are exceptions. girls that started at help and have a ´reputation´to protect. slightly older girls whose reputation is more important than their looks. but the ones that can get away with it will.

while balcony is theoretically open late, docas really is. ordinary people going about their business in the morning hide their feelings of disgust as they wander past the beer-stained grubbies still drinking in docas when the shops have started opening. it´s still going even after nog has closed. the more respectable of the druggies on the car bonnets that can walk in a straight line might soften up for a drink in here. but there´s also local, more normal people. the atmosphere is always lively. and there´s always someone to take advantage of the unwary.

bar hta da prado. this is right next door and slightly bigger. if you buy a drink in one you maybe finish it in the other. bar prado also expands by taking up most of the pavement. respectable people (like the nicely-dressed rip-off girls from barbarellas, who, like most boite girls, knock off at about 4am) will cross the street to avoid it.

to give you an idea. one day i am talking to a seemingly very well-sorted gentleman. we arrange a sex party with two willing girls there, one of whom is hot. the four of us get in his expensive car. the two girls start arguing about who will do it with who first (with the intensity that carioca garotas bring to the tiniest dispute). the nice guy (i forget his name) is driving. or would be. the part of his consciousness used for this task seems to have been temporarily misplaced. the clutch is a considerable challenge. we accelerate around the block. the car accelerates forward in jolts. not synchronised to us or our stomachs. the girls manage to continue arguing unfazed. a few moments later we arrive back at bar prado. the driver gets out, obviously deeply puzzled by the incident. i wait for the girls to calm down and go across the road with the hot one to her flat. she snorts a line and offers me some but it´s finished. amazingly, she manages to remove all her clothes unaided. a fleeting smile then she is out for the count. i know there is a pulse somewhere but it doesn´t seem quite right. i go back to prado and tell her sister she´s konked out. sister wants all the details in triplicate. half an hour later, details still being cross-examined on the pavement, hot girl reappears and wants to know why i haven´t f*cked her. i say something to the effect of a mumble . . .

the next block has no gdp bars. i have seen gdps literally chased away. but there are exceptions. there are gdps who hold respectable positions in the local community - dancing in boites (where your id is largely hidden), waiting in restaurants, supplying coke to more discriminating clientelle and so on. if they sleep with someone they ask for some money on principle but don´t consider themselves gdps and don´t act like it. on the beach one day with such a girl she explained how she was trying to help a ´puta friend´ (queue expression of disgust) get a proper job. such charity and kindness is nice. ;) so bottom line, you can´t chat to them like they were gdps in such places - they would go a bit mental if you showed them up like that.

the last block is from barata ribeiro to felipe de oliveira. on the far corner is bar slat. next to ´diplomata hotel´. you will rarely get a gringo there so no-one thinks it´s a typo. bar slat is a place to go if the proprietors of bars prado & docas want to go to sleep. it´s open early rather than late. the food looks like it has been there as early as the week before but i´ve never come to any harm eating there. but bar slat is one of the strangest mixes. gdps, single guys, respectable couples and even families with their children. all co-exist in a tiny space without anybody pretending to be anything they aren´t. the gdps in bar slat (unless they arrived from an abovementioned bar) make bars prado and docas look exclusive. beer-stained and [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord109][CodeWord109][/url] stained, they are the next form of life up from the homeless families living on the nearby square. occasionally there will be one that has rolled down the hill from the nearby favela.

bar slat is end of the line.

the attraction is the absence of the loud gringo culture that sometimes afflicts balcony such as described [url=¨http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showpost.php?p=848391&postcount=8070¨]here[/url]. not that balcony is always like that, but it´s still a meat market. such characters, loudly defended by some on this board, could learn from their more refined countrymen in places like bar florida. the other attraction is the challenge. can you handle prado junior?

for me, it´s just less walk. prado has everything - 24hr supermarkets, chemists and wh*res. the best fresh fish, freshly roasted chicken to take back to your apto, a barbers, tacky boites, dry cleaners and laundrettes, bike rentals, good cafes, sucos bars, one of the top restaurants, one of the better travel agents i´ve found.

but sometimes i yearn for somewhere a little different . . .

I went back to Bar Florida on a wet weekday and it was more or less as I expected. The amiable American servicemen were away. There were only about 8 girls there. The one I did was fairly boring (should maybe have repeated with the nicer one I had at the weekend). She wasted more than five minutes powdering her f*nny (like they don´t have time to do this when propping up the bar??) Then the mama who looks after the cabins interrupted to ask if we wanted a new remote control for the DVD. Mood gone. (And she had the cheek to ask for a tip as I left).

As I think I said, when it´s good, it´s very very good. When it´s not it´s cr*p.

On the other hand, when it [i]is[/i] raining it maybe beats trolling bars in Copa. There´s not the mud and leaky roofs of VM. And not the high prices of other termas that are open in the evening. Cheap at the price, even if you pay for a taxi (for the bus-minded, get a bus marked Praca Maua or a 123 or a 177 or any of a great number of other buses - saves you 40R).

Something else I liked about it on a good night is that the atmosphere is good enough to hang around in and maybe take another girl later on. Didn´t detect any jealousies on either visit.

[quote=christopherd]i´ve spent several months a year for the past few years adjacent to prado junior and still don´t know it perfectly, but maybe it´s time to add a few notes on which are and are not gdp bars - for the adventurous or just those that like to get into trouble ;)

there´s four to speak of. none particularly good, but worth knowing about if you hang out anywhere nearby.

starting from the atlantica end and mabs (the 24hr grotty hooker restaurant that occasionally has a do-able worth a quickie . . . the restaurant itself isn´t 24hrs but that doesn´t stop girls sitting there - but i digress).

the first bar is bar alexandra. it is almost too posh to be in such a trashy district. it is clean and has a nice sound system. it doesn´t even sell bigger bottles of beer. i rarely drink there as i find it unappealing from the outside, but others have reported good experiences.

crossing over ns copa, still on the right hand side, you get to bar estacao dos docas. this is the first of two adjacent dives between ns copa and min.viv.d.castro. a [i]large[/i] bottle of skol costs 3.5 reis and is good for sharing. regulars who prefer not to spend to much know this and will share theirs when it´s nearly finished and yours is full. est.d.docas consists of a single narrow passage, dimly illuminated. the darkness prevents discrimination against the roaches nibbling your ankles. or the creatures that were once human females. there but for fortune you might sitting there, drug-ravages, eyes sunk several inches within your skull and so on.

the only reason for mentioning docas is that you might meet people there you have already seen somewhere else. these are the people you can safely talk to. if they are drinking in docas they have got a cheek asking upmarket prices.

many girls late at night do the ´gringo triangle´. starting at balcony, you see them wander off and reappear later on. they go to docas and back. the beer is cheap, they can gossip, and it beats standing around looking like a loser. there are exceptions. girls that started at help and have a ´reputation´to protect. slightly older girls whose reputation is more important than their looks. but the ones that can get away with it will.

while balcony is theoretically open late, docas really is. ordinary people going about their business in the morning hide their feelings of disgust as they wander past the beer-stained grubbies still drinking in docas when the shops have started opening. it´s still going even after nog has closed. the more respectable of the druggies on the car bonnets that can walk in a straight line might soften up for a drink in here. but there´s also local, more normal people. the atmosphere is always lively. and there´s always someone to take advantage of the unwary.

bar hta da prado. this is right next door and slightly bigger. if you buy a drink in one you maybe finish it in the other. bar prado also expands by taking up most of the pavement. respectable people (like the nicely-dressed rip-off girls from barbarellas, who, like most boite girls, knock off at about 4am) will cross the street to avoid it.

to give you an idea. one day i am talking to a seemingly very well-sorted gentleman. we arrange a sex party with two willing girls there, one of whom is hot. the four of us get in his expensive car. the two girls start arguing about who will do it with who first (with the intensity that carioca garotas bring to the tiniest dispute). the nice guy (i forget his name) is driving. or would be. the part of his consciousness used for this task seems to have been temporarily misplaced. the clutch is a considerable challenge. we accelerate around the block. the car accelerates forward in jolts. not synchronised to us or our stomachs. the girls manage to continue arguing unfazed. a few moments later we arrive back at bar prado. the driver gets out, obviously deeply puzzled by the incident. i wait for the girls to calm down and go across the road with the hot one to her flat. she snorts a line and offers me some but it´s finished. amazingly, she manages to remove all her clothes unaided. a fleeting smile then she is out for the count. i know there is a pulse somewhere but it doesn´t seem quite right. i go back to prado and tell her sister she´s konked out. sister wants all the details in triplicate. half an hour later, details still being cross-examined on the pavement, hot girl reappears and wants to know why i haven´t f*cked her. i say something to the effect of a mumble . . .

the next block has no gdp bars. i have seen gdps literally chased away. but there are exceptions. there are gdps who hold respectable positions in the local community - dancing in boites (where your id is largely hidden), waiting in restaurants, supplying coke to more discriminating clientelle and so on. if they sleep with someone they ask for some money on principle but don´t consider themselves gdps and don´t act like it. on the beach one day with such a girl she explained how she was trying to help a ´puta friend´ (queue expression of disgust) get a proper job. such charity and kindness is nice. ;) so bottom line, you can´t chat to them like they were gdps in such places - they would go a bit mental if you showed them up like that.

the last block is from barata ribeiro to felipe de oliveira. on the far corner is bar slat. next to ´diplomata hotel´. you will rarely get a gringo there so no-one thinks it´s a typo. bar slat is a place to go if the proprietors of bars prado & docas want to go to sleep. it´s open early rather than late. the food looks like it has been there as early as the week before but i´ve never come to any harm eating there. but bar slat is one of the strangest mixes. gdps, single guys, respectable couples and even families with their children. all co-exist in a tiny space without anybody pretending to be anything they aren´t. the gdps in bar slat (unless they arrived from an abovementioned bar) make bars prado and docas look exclusive. beer-stained and [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord109][CodeWord109][/url] stained, they are the next form of life up from the homeless families living on the nearby square. occasionally there will be one that has rolled down the hill from the nearby favela.

bar slat is end of the line.

the attraction is the absence of the loud gringo culture that sometimes afflicts balcony such as described [post=848391here[/post]. not that balcony is always like that, but it´s still a meat market. such characters, loudly defended by some on this board, could learn from their more refined countrymen in places like bar florida. the other attraction is the challenge. can you handle prado junior?

for me, it´s just less walk. prado has everything - 24hr supermarkets, chemists and wh*res. the best fresh fish, freshly roasted chicken to take back to your apto, a barbers, tacky boites, dry cleaners and laundrettes, bike rentals, good cafes, sucos bars, one of the top restaurants, one of the better travel agents i´ve found.

but sometimes i yearn for somewhere a little different . . .[/quote]from 5 till 8 or 9 you will see alot off gdp's go to alexandra bar, on there way to balconey. a few too help. nice inside, plays ok chilled out music. different kettle of women from around help though. had a few ok nights there though.

So this has absolutely nothing to do with Brazil, but since it's the first p4p I've done since I got back to the states I just had to get this out of my system. Tonight I banged a Craigslist girl on my way home from NYC at 5 in the am. When I was done we got to talking and she went over to a piece of paper and started scribbling numbers. I peaked over her shoulder and asked her if that was her income for the day and she told me it was. At 5:30 in the am she had racked in $2200 for the day. Being that she was hot and 18, I'm not that surprised but that number to me was mind boggling. She told me her best day in the biz was $3400 and she's only been doing it for 6 months. When I was leaving, there was already a guy waiting in the parking lot and another guy that called and wanted a Greek session before work. Let me be the first to say that I'm in the wrong line of work. I mean really. $2500 cash, tax free. can you imagine if the Brazilian GDP's knew what they were missing. They'd be building rafts and sailing to the US for work. LOL

[QUOTE=Lancer520]So this has absolutely nothing to do with Brazil, but since it's the first p4p I've done since I got back to the states I just had to get this out of my system. Tonight I banged a Craigslist girl on my way home from NYC at 5 in the am. When I was done we got to talking and she went over to a piece of paper and started scribbling numbers. I peaked over her shoulder and asked her if that was her income for the day and she told me it was. At 5:30 in the am she had racked in $2200 for the day. Being that she was hot and 18, I'm not that surprised but that number to me was mind boggling. She told me her best day in the biz was $3400 and she's only been doing it for 6 months. When I was leaving, there was already a guy waiting in the parking lot and another guy that called and wanted a Greek session before work. Let me be the first to say that I'm in the wrong line of work. I mean really. $2500 cash, tax free. can you imagine if the Brazilian GDP's knew what they were missing. They'd be building rafts and sailing to the US for work. LOL[/QUOTE]
They do build rafts but from another kind of wood. They start out by getting an American boyfriend. Then they get either a fiancé visa or get married. Then they disappear. Well, not really, you can find them working as escorts in cities around the US. One girl, who tried to rope me in, is now working legally in Nevada. This and that some guys bring Brazilians to the US to work for them as prostitutes is the reason that it is sometimes difficult for a single Brazilian woman to get a tourist visa.

[QUOTE=Lancer520] I mean really. $2500 cash, tax free. can you imagine if the Brazilian GDP's knew what they were missing. They'd be building rafts and sailing to the US for work. LOL[/QUOTE]

Look at the Craigs list for Northern NJ, this includes the Newark area, plenty of Brazilian bucetta for sale there.

Guys,

A couple of weeks ago the Help is closing talk started up once again. Now I have been reading the forum for a while and I have seen that talk before but usually someone finds out it is not true. I have not seen anything posted lately on the issue. (I might have missed it). But could someone who is in Country let me know if it is true and if so, does anyone know when it will close.

Thanks in Advance

[QUOTE=Iluvthatwoman]Guys,

A couple of weeks ago the Help is closing talk started up once again. Now I have been reading the forum for a while and I have seen that talk before but usually someone finds out it is not true. I have not seen anything posted lately on the issue. (I might have missed it). But could someone who is in Country let me know if it is true and if so, does anyone know when it will close.

Thanks in Advance[/QUOTE]

Strong rumours this time , O globo reports the building has been expropriated and that it will close May 1 , on the other hand the prefeitura is broke and doesn't have the money to expropriate the building AND the business , I believe there are 3 years left on the lease and the owners just did a major interior renovation.
No new news but people certainly talking.
Whether the closing is advised or logical is immaterial in Rio ,
I'd put thebetting at 2 to 1 that it stays open.
My best guess is they will expropriate the bldg and close it when the lease is up in 2012.
This is Rio anything is possible

[QUOTE=Apocalpso]Strong rumours this time, O globo reports the building has been expropriated and that it will close May 1, on the other hand the prefeitura is broke and doesn't have the money to expropriate the building AND the business, I believe there are 3 years left on the lease and the owners just did a major interior renovation.

No new news but people certainly talking.

Whether the closing is advised or logical is immaterial in Rio, I'd put thebetting at 2 to 1 that it stays open.

My best guess is they will expropriate the bldg and close it when the lease is up in 2012.

This is Rio anything is possible[/QUOTE]Thanks, but on what premise is the prefeitura atbrokeat?

I am only going to be in Rio for a few days. I have three questions:

1) Has anyone ever used Rio Apartments and are they reputable?

2) Has anyone ever stayed in this apartment and what are your thoughts?

[url]http://www.rioapartments.com/penthouse-barra-da-tijuca/FrameSet.htm[/url]

3) Has anyone ever stayed at RIO OTHON PALACE and are they girl friendly?

Any help is appreciated.

[QUOTE=Beach Star]Thanks, but on what premise is the prefeitura atbrokeat?[/QUOTE]I'm at the moment in Rio and when I talk to some locals people at my office and also a "working girl" that i know, they both say its some kind of process. The goverment dosnt see Help as an normal disco and therefore want to close it. And i guess they have a point its not a normal disco ;) But why close the place it collect the people at one place instead of spreed it.

But i have not see any official about it. It still going strong.

[QUOTE=JuiceGuy]I am only going to be in Rio for a few days. I have three questions:

1) Has anyone ever used Rio Apartments and are they reputable?

2) Has anyone ever stayed in this apartment and what are your thoughts?

[url]http://www.rioapartments.com/penthouse-barra-da-tijuca/FrameSet.htm[/url]

3) Has anyone ever stayed at RIO OTHON PALACE and are they girl friendly?

Any help is appreciated.[/QUOTE]To answer your question no I have not stayed there but it looks very nice and places that give you pictures on the website are usually pretty reliable!

My advice is that this place is probably a little too much for mongering! I myself love to splurge on my apartment but have learned my lesson with my last 3 visits to Rio! Renting a pimped out place like this usually causes higher prices from the garotas and they come in with a different mentality; right off the bat they see $$$$$$$. So 1 of a few scenarios will occur; 1) you will always get a higher sucker price, 2) If you negotiated a decent price once you get back to your place her mood and mentality will completely change causing poor performance or re-nig on the deal. 3)You will have a drama filled garota who will not leave you alone your entire trip and will want you to invest all your time and money in her cuz she knows you got the $$$$ (this is the worst in my opinion; they can cause you plenty of headaches).

My advice keep it a little more low key (trust me) save yourself some money with a nice low key place and you will have more money to spend on activities and less drama!

I would only go with a place like this if a handfull of my boys were going to stay there as well then that's a different story!

Ciao,.

Musze

Rio Othon is not girl friendly, in fact they have two goons watching the elevators most of the time, great views and location, but a shitty hotel for the money. Rio Roiss next door is a little seedy but same great location!