Rio - the hard way

Landed in Sao Paulo 3 hours late and missed my connection to Rio while we were still in the air. When i bought my airfare back in april to Rio, it was only 80 dollars. But when i checked for a flight today, the cheapest was 450. Yikes

A taxi driver told me the terminal for that airline was a bit far. I figured the chances of getting on a new flight without paying the difference was low and asked him to take me to the bus station instead and salvage the lost day maybe without getting into a brazillian argument with no recourse. Sometimes you gotta weigh the battles vs the greater good. This felt low on the greater good scale and time was ticking to make the trek and arrive relatively early in Rio

My taxi driver also gave me awesome intel. Its not like back home with one bus company and one type of seat. There were 50 different bus companies and I had to know which one did express routes plus comfort levels. I learned this lesson in colombia years ago.

8 hours later, i arrived in Rio. Ugh. But I had a bed to sleep in on the bus... yes!! Still my day got wiped out but at least i was there.

Found a local restaurant near my hotel and met a nice local Daniela who spoke great english and ordered a crazy cold drink that was smoking and bubbling - so weird. After a few drinks she went home and i moved onto another nearby spot my lonely planet book recommended and met carlos and his friend who insisted on refilling my beer glass repeatedly despite my lack of portuguese language. It really is remarkable how people can communicate sometimes with minimal common words. People everywhere are awesome. Seriously.

Then finished the night at a copacabana beach bar which despite being super quiet, i felt was really apt. So anxious to see things in daylight tomorrow!! Actual brazil pics coming soon!! Stay tuned.

Edit: As I type this, the nice people two tables over invited me to join them. Even as i try to take advantage of a quiet moment to write this blog, i make new friends haha. Loving brazil 🇧🇷 alreadyRead more