The Other Way Half Way Round The World: Rio De Janeiro

So we have made it to Rio, we have been in Brazil for 3 weeks now and finally made it to the big city!

Getting from the long distance bus station Rodiviara to the hostel was going to prove difficult, everyone you meet seems to have a horror story (urban myth) about how dangerous Rio is:

"Don't get the bus its dangerous"
"Don't walk to Christ the redeemer I know someone who got mugged once"
"Don't take you r camera to Lapa its really dangerous"
"Don't walk round Centro at the weekend its really dangerous"

I'm not sure if any of these claims have substance......

Anyway I digress! Where was I.....Yes the bus.

So we arrived at the Rodiviara and were advised don't get the bus its dangerous, a taxi however was £20 for a 15 minute ride which we decided was not worth it.

After much stress in the local bus station we started to realise we were not going to find the bus the hostels web site had told us to get, nobody spoke any English and my pigeon Spanish was not working today!

Eventually one bus driver told us to get on his bus and it would be ok, so we decided to take a leap of faith!

Whilst on the bus, (hanging onto our stuff in fear of being mugged) he told us to get off the bus and pointed to another one, which we guessed meant we needed to get that one... After the bus pulled away we realised we had no idea which bus he had pointed at! After a little more stress we finally succumbed to a taxi however from here it was only £5. When we got to the hostel we found out that all the bus numbers have changed- great, thanks for telling us via email!!

Anyway we were welcomed at our hostel with a 3rd story terrace where we can see Christ the redeemer and Sugar Loaf mountain.