Paraty

Finally left Rio today and took a 5 hour bus ride over here to Paraty, which lies conveniently halfway between Rio and Sao Paolo (since my next and final stop is Sao Paolo). It turned out to be a good day to spend on a bus since it rained all day. And I was lucky enough to have a young guy from Argentina sit next to me on the bus, so we talked about quite a few things and he helped me get set up here in a hostel with some people he knows. We are going to head out for dinner in a little while.

At any rate, Paraty is a clean little historic town, which seems to be besieged with backpackers who have come here to find refuge from the chaos and expense of Rio and Sao Paolo (if anyone actually goes to SP other than to fly in or out...seems like most other backpackers want nothing to do with SP, but I, for one, am looking forward to seeing it). Besides finding comfort in a place full of other backpackers, people come here mainly to do outdoor activities like see waterfalls, take boat trips to the many islands nearby, hike, ride horses, and visit the beaches, which apparently are great. I came here on the recommendation of my friend Viktor, who I met on the boat to Manaus, and like what I see so far, although my earlier on my recon walk around town my bare lower legs were feeling something I did not think I would feel again on this trip...mosquitoes. I will only be here till Friday morning, which I think will be enough.

I will probably try to take a boat trip to the islands tomorrow if the weather is nice. If not, well, I will probably try to do that anyway.