I'm landing and staying in Sao Paolo and but I'll be in Natal for a couple of days in the middle of the trip, what the best way to get to Rio?

Everyone keeps saying Bus, but it's estimated 6 hours and I read that you can get a hotel\bus package from SP to Rio, can anyone confirm this? And What about rail?

And what are the hot spots in each of the cities around this time of year? And anything I have to see or do (as a tourist)?

PS> I've been googling for over a month, but most articles seems to come from views of 40+ year olds (aka gringos.com)

Deffinitely bus. That's how I got from Minas to Rio and Rio to Sao Paulo. It is a 6 hour drive, but the busses are a lot nicer than the Greyhounds we have here and it is pretty cheap. I think it was like $40 or somewhere around there to go from Rio to Sao Paulo. They are also safe pretty safe. Still keep an eye on your shit though.

(05-20-2009 01:04 PM)james Wrote:  And what are the hot spots in each of the cities around this time of year? And anything I have to see or do (as a tourist)?

PS> I've been googling for over a month, but most articles seems to come from views of 40+ year olds (aka gringos.com)

http://www.roadjunky.com/article?c=Brazil

Read this guy's Brazil guides and travel stories. This guy is as real as it gets.

thanks for the info!

anybody know any good currency exchange places in DC?

What I would do is just exchange one day's worth of money in the brazilian airport, then go to a bank the next day where the rate will be better. Or take little cash at all and use the ATM, where the exchange rate will be best.

Hey Roosh, would your bank charge you per ATM/debit use?

(05-28-2009 03:50 PM)kerouac Wrote:  Hey Roosh, would your bank charge you per ATM/debit use?

Check that out with your bank first. Because I got absolutely KILLED on hidden ATM charges. My bank, Wells Fargo was charging me $5 everytime I used a foreign bank's ATM machine, no matter what the amount I took out, I got hit with a $5 charge plus currency conversion fees. What really screwed me up is when I only wanted to take out a small amount of money at a time when in Brazil, because Rio isn't the place you want to go walking around with $300 in your pocket. But if you are only taking out small amounts, that $5 charge plus currency conversion fees is going to be a large percentage of your withdrawl. So I'm not really sure what to do about that problem. It would make sense to just take out a large amount of money so you don't have to keep paying those fees every other day, but I just didn't feel safe either walking around with large sums of money, even just walking a few blocks, not when my hostel mates in Rio were getting mugged literally right outside the front door.

My E*Trade account doesn't charge me anything.

(05-29-2009 12:59 AM)elguapo Wrote:  My E*Trade account doesn't charge me anything.

how long does e-trade take to process and transfer funds[/align]?

I use Chevy Chase Bank for my ATM card. I get charged a $2 Star transaction fee per withdrawal. No conversion/currency fees. I always take the maximum amount at ATM's so each month I rarely make more than 4-8 withdrawals (depending on the country and max amount).

The fee used to be $1 but they raised it in the past year.

(05-28-2009 01:59 PM)Roosh Wrote:  What I would do is just exchange one day's worth of money in the brazilian airport, then go to a bank the next day where the rate will be better. Or take little cash at all and use the ATM, where the exchange rate will be best.

The problem with carying your ATM card in Latin America is that there is this scheme where people kidnap you and make you go to an ATM and take all your money out. I don't know about Brazil, but I've heard it happening in Peru and Ecuador.

How about taking out a couple hundred before I get there, exchange it there. And then when I run out of that transfer money to my ATM account and withdraw that.

(06-01-2009 06:11 PM)james Wrote:  How about taking out a couple hundred before I get there, exchange it there. And then when I run out of that transfer money to my ATM account and withdraw that.

Check what rate they'll give at those exchange places-- I bet it's going to very poor. In Rio, when $1 USD = $2.20 BRL, they wanted to give me $1 USD = $2.00 BRL.

Just use the ATMs, Rio int'l has an ATM, and so does every other major airport I've been to.

When you exchange your money, make sure you are in the city. If you are in a smallish town, they are going to try and lowball you.

what about going to a bank down there and doing an exchange?

(06-03-2009 10:28 AM)james Wrote:  what about going to a bank down there and doing an exchange?

That's what I did, but the thing is if the real is selling at 2.3 to the dollar, they usually only give you something like 2.1. But if you use your atm card you get the exact ecxhange rate for the day. When I was there, the dollar was going up to the real, so I waited a couple of days to cash in my money until I could get the most out of it I could. I just had my friends spot me money until I cashed mine in.

ok cool thanks.

I'm leaving tonight and should be in SP tomorrow morning, I'll probably have more questions.

(06-04-2009 12:02 PM)james Wrote:  ok cool thanks.

I'm leaving tonight and should be in SP tomorrow morning, I'll probably have more questions.

Lucky man. How long you down there? I'll be there in August or September.

Yeah I'll probably be in Brazil around september too. Definitely not later than october.

(06-04-2009 10:54 PM)Roosh Wrote:  Yeah I'll probably be in Brazil around september too. Definitely not later than october.

What cities do you plan on visiting? I think I'll do Vitoria, Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo, Leopoldina (Small town I have friends in), Juiz De Fora, Bragança Paulista (Another small town) and Rio for sure. Who knows, maybe even more.

I was thinking of starting up in Fortaleza then making my way south... Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, then plant myself in Rio for a few months.

Or I may just go to Rio. It depends on how much the airfare will be and what portuguese schools I end up finding. I'm not too in the mood for jumping around... just want to stick and study and work on my writing.

(06-08-2009 05:56 PM)Roosh Wrote:  I was thinking of starting up in Fortaleza then making my way south... Recife, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, then plant myself in Rio for a few months.

Or I may just go to Rio. It depends on how much the airfare will be and what portuguese schools I end up finding. I'm not too in the mood for jumping around... just want to stick and study and work on my writing.

Throwing in the towel on Columbia, eh?

Not at all. I can only stay six months (until October), but I'll most likely stay 4 or 5, which would be the longest i've stayed in any country

(06-08-2009 10:53 PM)Roosh Wrote:  Not at all. I can only stay six months (until October), but I'll most likely stay 4 or 5, which would be the longest i've stayed in any country

Cool. Maybe in an upcoming blog post you could share some tips on how to prepare for and make though 6 months abroad(particularly financially). I was in S. America for 2 months and spent a shitload of money somehow. I thought about staying longer, but I was spending too much. I don't even know where all my money went to be honest. Rio really eat into my funds quick, all those expensive steak dinners in Ipanema I guess.

When you move quickly, don't cook your meals, sightsee, and go out more than twice a week, you're going to spend a shitload.

Some tips here: http://www.rooshv.com/2009/travel-vice-i