I get on the bus and basic is about what I expect. No double decker, but a single level of uncomfortable seats that only slightly recline, no a/c, and no toilet. As the bus is filling up with younger Brazilians, the seat next to me remains open. We start to pull away and I breath a little sigh of relief as I now have plenty of room. Just then the bus stops and on jumps this big Brazilian guy, breathing heavy, with a dirty-clothes-looking canvas bag over his shoulder and no shirt on. Of course he sits right next to me. He sits there sweating, putting his arm right on the arm rest, and has his shirt on his lap. I look at him, look at his shirt. and look at him, in a universal communication of, "Are you going to put your g-damn shirt on?" He of course is oblivious to any of this and proceeds to spread open a newspaper which he unbelievably takes the entire 16 hour trip to read.
The trip is long and brutal, with 2 guido-looking Brazilians next to me trying to scam on all the women on the bus, which in the absence of any movie becomes my entertainment. They fail one time after the other, but strangely seem to not lose any confidence as they continue to return to their seats in yet another defeat, laughing to each other with their muscle-tīs and gold chains. I find it amazing that the girls on the bus donīt find their tactics appealing. In what Portuguese I could understand, I hear one of the guys ask a girl, "Can I kiss you?" Why that one doesnīt work boggles the mind.
I do run into some good luck on the trip, as I meet a very cool girl on one of the stops. I assume she is Brazilian at a stop early in the morning and ask her in Spanish, how much longer or something like that. In a look that I am now very familiar with, she takes a last drag from her cigarette and crushes the butt on the ground with her boot. She squints her big eyes at me with a ton of skepticism, lets out an exhale for effect, and says to me in perfect English that she doesnīt speak Spanish or Portuguese.
After she learns that I speak English, we talk and decide on sharing a cab upon arriving at the bus station. Her name is Liselot and she is from Holland. Her original plan is to immediately fly out the next day to Peru, but I convince her that she needs to at least see Rio before she leaves Brazil. Liselot doesnīt have any kind of plan or accommodation in Rio, so she just decides to go to the same hotel as Dave and I are staying at. Liselot, as it turns out, ends up hanging out with Dave and I the entire trip, and becomes one of the boys. She is only 23, but is mature, confident, and incredibly funny. Dave and I immediately take to her, nicknaming her Princess, really more because of the irony of her being anything but.
Our first day it POURS rain, so we are ecstatic as we awake the next morning to beautifully sunny day and immediately hit Ipanema beach. I manage to burn all the skin off of my back but still have a good time. Dave and I are in duress as we realize that the dental floss bikini is now going out of style and how the speedo is unfortunately not with all the men sporting them regardless of age, weight, or amount of body hair they seem to be carrying around. We speculate on what would be our personal choice of our own speedo, and mine happens to be just wearing the tighty-whities. I figure I could start a new trend.
Ipanema Beach in Rio is very nice, but the only thing that bothers me about the beach and the city, is it seems like you are constantly getting taken for your money. Everyone tries to sell you crap everywhere, which I am used to, but for everything, taxis, etc., people almost always try to rip you off. It gets tiring.
Also some of the things they try to sell you as you try futilely to relax on the beach are just ridiculous. I got used to saying "no obrigado", or "no thank you", 500 times a day. No obrigado, I donīt want to eat your block of cheese you are trying to sell me as appealing as that looks. No obrigado, I donīt want that hammock, although I can think of a million things that I would use a hammock for right now. No obrigado, I donī want a fake barbed-wire tattoo around my arm as intimidating that would be to the other guys on the beach. Eeesh..
After a couple of short days in Rio, we decide to take off for Salvador. Strangely the tickets to Salvador are 1/3 of the price that I was trying to book them for in Buenos Aires online ($80 one-way versus $230). When you are trying to book flights in Brazil, book direct from Varig or Tam (biggest Brazil airlines), since I think you can get a better deal. Also I think that the prices are fairly variable day to day given demand.