Paraty

Monday 4th January

We made our way to Rio bus station to catch our coach to Paraty we had to wait a few hours because a lot of people head to Paraty or Ilha Grande after Christmas for a holiday both backpackers and Brazillians. While we were waiting Mark befriended a little Brazillian boy probably no older than 4 years old. The boy was hiding behind his parents and peeking his head round ect like kids do but then out of nowhere the kid grabbed a packet of biscuits and started hitting Marks leg with them this went on for about 10 minutes and we were telling him No but he didnt understand us the kid thought it was hilarious and so did I but Mark said it was starting to hurt because the kid kept hitting him in the same spot. By this point the whole court was watching and laughing at the grown man being beaten up by the little kid. Finally his parents realised and his Mum grabbed the boy by his ear and gave him a right telling off.

The coach journey was ok it took about 3 hours and we drove through a place called Agra where you can sail to Ilha Grande Island we were supposed to visit there but this is where the landslides happened we drove over one of them and half the road was missing it looked pretty bad. Our hostel was really nice we had our own bathroom and a TV with SKY!! Although the water wasnt working because of the landslides so there goes our own bathroom!!

The little town of Paraty is beautiful its a small beach village with cobbled streets multicoloured houses and a pier with lots of fishing boats. Its aimed at Tourists I think because a lot of people spoke English and plenty of restaurant menus were translated. We explored the village when we arrived but the beach didnt look too inviting. Our hostel manager was English and hed lived in Paraty 18 years now he told us to head out to a place called Trindade which is another coastal town 40 minute bus journey from Paraty. So thats where we spent Tuesday. The bus we got on was like something out of Borat with Chickens flying about but it was fun. The weather was cloudy but still really warm we had a swim in the sea which was really refreshing it was very clear water and really cool. We headed back to Paraty and I tried some Flounder fish for tea it was nice but I think I chose the wrong sauce to go with it I had passion fruit sauce instead of the traditional Brazillian sauce... oh well maybe next time!

On Wednesday our last day in Paraty the weather was beautiful so we aksed our hostel manager what he thought we should do he told us boats leave the pier to take tourists round Islands and beaches so we headed to the pier. The boat rides were really reasonable so we decided to jump aboard. We got talking to 3 people who were about our age 2 from Sao Paulo and one of thier friends visiting them from USA. They spoke really good English and told us the pleaces to visit in Sao Paulo. The boat took us to 2 Islands and 2 beaches as we approached each one you could either jump off the boat and swim to shore or take another smalled boat. Mark jumped straight off the side of the boat so obviously I had to follow I didnt want him to out do me I was a bit scared but our friends told me there were no sharks so in I went!! The water was like swimming in a pool! The beaches were beautiful as you can see from the photos!!! We loved Paraty!!!