As soon as i stepped foot off the plane, catching my breath on the tarmac and breathing in. The heat just hit me. Wow i thought. The suns rays felt good after twelve hours cooped up next to a elderly couple. The old guy had snored soon after take off, and his wife kept shouting at the stewardess every five minutes. Deaf as a post, and i don’t think she even realised as she proceeded to tell me tales from her youth. I tried to doze off, but every time I closed my eyes all I could see was the adventure that was awaiting me.

The mountains, valleys ancient relics, the people called carioca’s

and finally the clear blue waters at the end of my trip. But here I was just starting out, on a trip of a life time, four weeks on my own doing my own thing. seeing were the wind takes me, new places to see and new people to meet. The excitement had been building up for months, ever since my tickets had landed on the mat by the front door.

My friends had thought I was crazy, south America on my own. what was I thinking? As no-one would or could come with me, so i had no choice I had to go it alone.

And now here I am in standing in the bustling, dirty shack of an airport in Rio Di Janeiro. Going through customs, aware of all the cultural differences, smells, sights as i make my way outside to feel the heat hit me again.

The cultural capital of brazil, were exotic is the word. I feel like screaming out, ' I’m here' to for everyone to hear. Not that they'd hear me here. The traffic unbelievable. I get out my Portuguese phrase book. in the back I had written the name and address of a backpackers hostel. A good place to start as any, to meet new people i thought.

I make my way up, to the parked buses. The taxis all parked up by the side, the drivers smoking and chatting avidly outside their vehicles, old V.w’s and Chevrolets, brightly coloured and very battered.

I find a bus with ‘CENTRO” on the front, a classic 40’s style affair. Ha ha I laugh to myself. Trying my hardest to look like I do this every day. As if I had stepped off a plane on far off soils almost every day on my own. Experience traveller alone I was not, but still the excitement over took any worries I had had.

RATE THIS BRANCH!