Brazil Travel Report

[Andrew Dwyer]

13 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

Had Feijoada yesterday. You can order a light version, free of the dross for double the money.

 

I def suggest you do. To compensate, they tossed a pork chop on top. There's a tear drop shaped deep friend thing with a tiny bit of meat in it that's another grease bomb that's everywhere. And very spongey cheese bread little nuggets. These 3 items and the maquetta stew would be what you'd make in a cooking class. Inexplicably charging $120 here.

 

But again, always a full aperitif bar on offer even in a dump. Such esoterica as Cynar (more bitter Campari) and Bunterberg (Jagermeister from hell) is available to chase down your pig ear.

 

The Caprihinia cocktail tastes like a Marguerita from Tijuana skid row. like grain alcohol with a lime -and a ton of sugar. Begging for no sugar is successful 50% of the time. Were these people ever lucky enough to sip a San Tip, they would think it was Johnny Walker.

Pão de queijo ( cheesebreads ) are another Brazilian national treasure, highly overrated imo.

 

But a visit to a Rodízio ( meat overdose restaurant ) is worth a visit if only for the experience .

The variety of different meats and an extensive salad bar ( with a lot more ) is impressive, picanha being the highlight and my personal favourite Cupim ( the hump seen on certain cattle ) extremely fatty but delicious if tender.

[josephbloggs]

3 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Indeed , feijoada comes in varying degrees of taste and price as does Caipirinha.

Cachaça ( or Pinga as known locally ), main ingredient of a Caipirinha, comes in varying degrees of nastiness. My friends would drink shots of it and swear it was as good as a high class whiskey or tequila, only in price !!

 

Fashionable bars ( Cachaçarias ) in the bigger cities stock thousands of different levels of the stuff.

I would drink it to be sociable but never really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed the food when I was there but don't remember a lot of the details of what we ate now, but I do remember eating a lot of Bacalhau, both fishy and non fishy.

We were lucky because we met an Argentinian guy in Bangkok who had lived in Rio for 20 years and would be there at the same time as us. Obviously being Argentinian he spoke Spanish but he was also fluent in Portuguese so he just took us to all his favourite local spots, ordered all the food etc. Had some good nights in Help too. Outside of Rio we were on our own.

I really loved the Bahia region though, think we stayed in Pelourinho. The carnival there was amazing although getting pickpocketed was less so. Also spent a few nights in Porto Seguro which was also fab.

Fond memories of the trip.

[Mahseer]

Couldn't handle Caipirinha but caipiroska was a fabulous alternative that needed to be treated with respect. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 minutes ago, Mahseer said:

Couldn't handle Caipirinha but caipiroska was a fabulous alternative that needed to be treated with respect. 

 Yeh Caipiroska ( vodka in the place of cachaça ) was a good option.

The problem I found with Caipirinha was the bitterness often overcome with excessive sugar.

Not a great lover of gin I was likewise disappointed with a Singapore Sling at Raffles in 1988.

[Andrew Dwyer]

10 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

I really enjoyed the food when I was there but don't remember a lot of the details of what we ate now, but I do remember eating a lot of Bacalhau, both fishy and non fishy.

We were lucky because we met an Argentinian guy in Bangkok who had lived in Rio for 20 years and would be there at the same time as us. Obviously being Argentinian he spoke Spanish but he was also fluent in Portuguese so he just took us to all his favourite local spots, ordered all the food etc. Had some good nights in Help too. Outside of Rio we were on our own.

I really loved the Bahia region though, think we stayed in Pelourinho. The carnival there was amazing although getting pickpocketed was less so. Also spent a few nights in Porto Seguro which was also fab.

Fond memories of the trip.

I had a lot of colleagues ( and family ) visiting over the years so a visit to the Brazilian barbecue was always on the cards whichever city we were in.

We even found a pizza rodízio which was tremendous, especially the dessert pizzas !!

 

In general Brazilian food is European based with a a little South American twist.

[Andrew Dwyer]

14 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

I really enjoyed the food when I was there but don't remember a lot of the details of what we ate now, but I do remember eating a lot of Bacalhau, both fishy and non fishy.

We were lucky because we met an Argentinian guy in Bangkok who had lived in Rio for 20 years and would be there at the same time as us. Obviously being Argentinian he spoke Spanish but he was also fluent in Portuguese so he just took us to all his favourite local spots, ordered all the food etc. Had some good nights in Help too. Outside of Rio we were on our own.

I really loved the Bahia region though, think we stayed in Pelourinho. The carnival there was amazing although getting pickpocketed was less so. Also spent a few nights in Porto Seguro which was also fab.

Fond memories of the trip.

Bacalhau normally quite expensive but compulsory at Easter time.

[Prubangboy]

Also, they somehow have never heard of a rum and coke here. Half the time, they bring a very sugary mojito with way too much un-muddled mint instead.

 

If you buy a property for more than $175K, you can get residency. That amount get you half the quality of Thailand. 

 

High tax rates kick in very early here after 6 months. My friend will do six months in Argentina a year to side step that. 'Seems like too much trouble for the spanky women, but he's a man on a mission.

 

I agree with Kramer above: You'd have to be crazy to spend 30% more to live here for half the quality of life.

[Andrew Dwyer]

16 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

Also, they somehow have never heard of a rum and coke here. Half the time, they bring a very sugary mojito with way too much un-muddled mint instead.

 

If you buy a property for more than $175K, you can get residency. That amount get you half the quality of Thailand. 

 

High tax rates kick in very early here after 6 months. My friend will do six months in Argentina a year to side step that. 'Seems like too much trouble for the spanky women, but he's a man on a mission.

 

I agree with Kramer above: You'd have to be crazy to spend 30% more to live here for half the quality of life.

The tax rate is high but it is like Thailand ( or it was during my time 1995 - 2016 ) very easy to avoid if not working directly for a Brazilian company.

As a Brit non resident i claimed my tax back every year but was working for an American company and never paid the Brazilian government one centavo.

 

The ever increasing work load and a marriage of convenience started to take its toll so in early 2016 i said goodbye to working, to my marriage and to Brazil and sought pastures new.

[Prubangboy]

Just now, Andrew Dwyer said:

 

As a Brit non resident i claimed my tax back every year but was working for an American company.

 

 

No tax treaty with the. USA.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Just now, Prubangboy said:

No tax treaty with the. USA.

I should clarify, it was an American company but i was working for the U.K. subsidiary.

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

 Yeh Caipiroska ( vodka in the place of cachaça ) was a good option.

The problem I found with Caipirinha was the bitterness often overcome with excessive sugar.

Not a great lover of gin I was likewise disappointed with a Singapore Sling at Raffles in 1988.

At the risk of going off topic I took a few people to Raffles 11-12 years ago and said they had to try the Singapore Sling as it was the birthplace of the drink, all that history etc.

£17 per glass and they just poured them out of a big bottle - they weren't even made fresh and they didn't try to hide the fact they had giant bottles of the stuff pre-made behind the bar. So disappointing. Nearly £100 for five glasses of pre-made rubbish.

[Prubangboy]

On the other hand, I just had a triple shot of Havana Club Blue Label (the rum grail) at a nowhere little bar in our São Paulo Air BNB neighborhood.

 

$6. Came with some peanuts and a few gerkins.

 

I also got a great Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon Sweat shirt for $20. for over-a/c'd flight home. So a great day out.

 

Overpriced -and great drink bargains- threadjacks are welcome in this thread.

[Prubangboy]

The Salvador beach was a very dirty, cigarette-strewn, very narrow strip of very brown sand. One of the best beach days of my life.

 

Packed in with paid loungers and umbrellas barely any room to move. Sellers of everything from cheap sunglasses to prawns on a stick. Huge boomboxes blaring Afro-Brazilian beats. People of every gender kissing. Fatties in thongs, by the dozen. All black. Where else on earth could old whities dip into this without fear or dread.?It was like Negril, Jamaica without grief. 

 

We asked for spliffs, two small ones arrived. Like the kind of weed you had in high school. Mine had a twig in it. Then the downer at the end: An $80 tab. For "protection" from the police. We bluffed a bit, but another big guy showed up.

 

We paid. And tried not to let it kill our vibe. Those 4 hours were worth it. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

I only visited Salvador once on a few hours trip from a cruise , just enough time to see the sights up on the top. But worked in Recife, Aracaju and Fortaleza so got plenty of the northern beaches experience.

Ubatuba was our nearest beach, more popular than classy and attracted the tourists from São Paulo.

 

The small town we lived in survived purely from coffee growing and had a unique micro community of rich land owners and poor people who worked for them, a real step back in time.

As a world travelling Gringo ( as a Brit not strictly a gringo but i didn’t mind ) presumably loaded !! ( i wasn’t ! ) my wife soon integrated us into the rich land owner clique, i hated it as a simple mechanical engineer on a cushy assignment. But I did like the advantages being friends to the elite ( for a small agricultural town ! ) would bring, a couple’s parents owned an apartment in Ipanema ( bought in the 60’s with sacks of coffee allegedly ) which we visited frequently in groups, sometimes we would be relegated to the hotel next door but it was all good, even the 6 hour drive was worth it.

Some other friends had bought an apartment on Copacabana which was an awful apartment but did allow us to enjoy the New Year Fireworks at leisure then crash in the apartment on mattresses ( Thai style ).

 

Loved Rio, despite the extra expense, and got to know the place quite well, had worked in a factory nearby, Santa Cruz, on many occasions and became the guide for visiting colleagues.

 

 

Young Darren and myself ( late 1994 ) on Sugarloaf, Darren in yellow.

 

On an expansion of the factory ( 1996 ) we were all put in a hotel ( few Brits many Americans ) in the most southerly beach of Rio ( Recreio dos Bandeirantes ) , we attracted a lot of attention from locals/girls/drug dealers and the police but we had a blast. One American quit his job there and then because of a local girl hoping to get hired at the plant ….. he didn’t, but I did hear years later he was hanging in there, 6 months US, 6 months Brazil, from a colleague of his !

 

Such is the power of a young exotic female !

[Andrew Dwyer]

I do see the similarities between São Paulo and Mexico City, both at a really fast pace with different areas of rich and poor and everything in between.

Occasionally would drive into São Paulo for a weekend with friends and would always get hopelessly lost, such a huge metropolis I had no idea where i was.

Whereas driving in Rio was excellent, everyone in holiday mode and being on the coast very easy to navigate, of course the population of Rio is around half that of São Paulo.

[Danderman123]

On 8/22/2024 at 9:11 AM, JoergADA said:

How did you get to Brazil ?

I usually fly via Europe with a few days stopover there to adjust for the time difference.

Contemplating the route via Addis Abeba, just for the adventure. The price is also good.

 

 

I fly to Brazil from Thailand via Turkish Airlines or Ethiopian Airlines.

 

 

When Pattaya is too crowded during High Season, I head out to Brazil for a few months. Since I am fluent in Spanish, Portuguese is not too difficult for me after a few days.

 

I usually bring a Thai lady with me, so I haven't gone with a garota in years.

[JimTripper]

👀

[JimTripper]

On 8/22/2024 at 12:26 AM, Roo Island said:

There's more to these countries than boom boom. Bizarre

I hardly got laid at all when I lived in Mexico (like months without). The local females were very reserved with an uncanny ability to avoid you. For some reason the males were basically approachable and outgoing.

 

I know a guy who lives in Colima (just South of Puerto Vallarta) who leans gay. He says that Mexico and probably a lot of the South American area in general is geared towards "men doing things with other men". The females kind of keep to themselves in their own groups unless it's a family household.

[dddave]

13 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

At the risk of going off topic I took a few people to Raffles 11-12 years ago and said they had to try the Singapore Sling as it was the birthplace of the drink, all that history etc.

£17 per glass and they just poured them out of a big bottle - they weren't even made fresh and they didn't try to hide the fact they had giant bottles of the stuff pre-made behind the bar. So disappointing. Nearly £100 for five glasses of pre-made rubbish.

They recently opened a "Raffles Hotel" in Boston of all places. Super high end in a city legendary for high room prices.  A local reviewer noted the same as you: Singapore Slings out of a jug, poured 10 at a time at over $25 a pop. 

[dddave]

3 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

I usually bring a Thai lady with me, so I haven't gone with a garota in years.

A friend who made two business trips to Brazil every year would usually take his Thai GF as well.  She loved it and fit right in there.  Most of their time spent in the provinces as  his business involved the pulp-paper industry.  She especially loved the variety of fruit but he would always have to buy a little portable gas stove and a wok because she found local food boring and distasteful.

[Flyguy330]

I did a contract for 3 months in Santiago, Chile in 1988. Loved the place. Dead safe (still under Pinochet rule), friendly people, great food, amazing wine, and the female talent was amazing.

I considered a side trip to Brazil, but all the Chileans I mentioned it to were aghast and strongly advised against it. I took their advice and visited Valparaiso instead (which was great).

A mate of mine who did visit Rio was held up at gunpoint in the street.

The internet these days is full of videos from Brazil of the most cruel and horrible murders being regularly committed there. I'd love to have seen the Carnival, but no way will I go there now.

[josephbloggs]

43 minutes ago, Flyguy330 said:

I did a contract for 3 months in Santiago, Chile in 1988. Loved the place. Dead safe (still under Pinochet rule), friendly people, great food, amazing wine, and the female talent was amazing.

I considered a side trip to Brazil, but all the Chileans I mentioned it to were aghast and strongly advised against it. I took their advice and visited Valparaiso instead (which was great).

A mate of mine who did visit Rio was held up at gunpoint in the street.

The internet these days is full of videos from Brazil of the most cruel and horrible murders being regularly committed there. I'd love to have seen the Carnival, but no way will I go there now.

We were so paranoid about crime that when we finally landed in Rio we hid ATM and credit cards in our socks and only kept minimal cash in our pockets so if we we car jacked or held up we would still have our cards. Then on our first day we went up the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer but didn't take our cameras as that would make us a target for robbery.

We felt pretty silly afterwards and of course we didn't have any photos of that amazing view. After that we behaved normally and never felt unsafe for the rest of our three weeks in various parts of Brasil. I did get pickpocketed once in Pelourinho during carnival but I was insanely drunk so was probably a very easy target - that was foolish of me.

[Roo Island]

3 hours ago, JimTripper said:

I hardly got laid at all when I lived in Mexico (like months without). The local females were very reserved with an uncanny ability to avoid you. For some reason the males were basically approachable and outgoing.

 

I know a guy who lives in Colima (just South of Puerto Vallarta) who leans gay. He says that Mexico and probably a lot of the South American area in general is geared towards "men doing things with other men". The females kind of keep to themselves in their own groups unless it's a family household.

I've spent years traveling around Mexico. Absolutely love that country. Your experience was exactly opposite mine. But! After 30, they do tend to get large. LOL

[NowNow]

20 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Pão de queijo ( cheesebreads ) are another Brazilian national treasure, highly overrated imo.

 

But a visit to a Rodízio ( meat overdose restaurant ) is worth a visit if only for the experience .

The variety of different meats and an extensive salad bar ( with a lot more ) is impressive, picanha being the highlight and my personal favourite Cupim ( the hump seen on certain cattle ) extremely fatty but delicious if tender.

 

Porcao Rio in Flamengo was my favourite. A sumptuous all you can eat buffet: https://web.archive.org/web/20160310222742/http://www.porcao.com.br/porcaosite/home/home.php

Some people rate https://fogodechao.com/menu/ 

Took an apartment with a view of Sugar Loaf and would simply walk through the park to the restaurant. 

Would also make extensive use of the rental bicycles to cycle around to the other beaches, such as Copacabana and other spots. Also no issues with visiting favela unescorted. 

No so difficult to meet Brazilian females in the wild if you are a nice guy. If you are not that nice, then you have to pay.

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 minutes ago, NowNow said:

 

Porcao Rio in Flamengo was my favourite. A sumptuous all you can eat buffet: https://web.archive.org/web/20160310222742/http://www.porcao.com.br/porcaosite/home/home.php

Some people rate https://fogodechao.com/menu/ 

Took an apartment with a view of Sugar Loaf and would simply walk through the park to the restaurant. 

Would also make extensive use of the rental bicycles to cycle around to the other beaches, such as Copacabana and other spots. Also no issues with visiting favela unescorted. 

No so difficult to meet Brazilian females in the wild if you are a nice guy. If you are not that nice, then you have to pay.

 

Yes, Porcão ( Big Pig ) is a great chain as is Fogo de Chão ( Ground Fire ).

Have yet to have a rodízio outside of Brazil with the quality and variety of meats that are on offer there. Once had a terrible experience in Toluca, Mexico ( Fogon do Brasil or something along those lines ).

 

I loved Rio with its laid back atmosphere and although there are undoubtedly places to avoid I never felt threatened there. Often think that retiring there would have worked out well.

 

Yes, easy to meet Brazilian women, i know of many in my industry who ended up taking a brasileira back to their home country, including my ex brother in law in Denver. A young American friend/colleague, he met a nice young lady in Pouso Alegre and when i returned after a couple of weeks in the U.K. they set me up with a blind date with his gf’s sister !

I guess it worked out for both of us, i ended up married for nearly 20 years and he took his bride back to Denver where they started a family.

[Danderman123]

18 hours ago, dddave said:

A friend who made two business trips to Brazil every year would usually take his Thai GF as well.  She loved it and fit right in there.  Most of their time spent in the provinces as  his business involved the pulp-paper industry.  She especially loved the variety of fruit but he would always have to buy a little portable gas stove and a wok because she found local food boring and distasteful.

Since I go for a month or two, the Thai lady fills one suitcase with Thai food.

[Danderman123]

18 hours ago, Flyguy330 said:

I did a contract for 3 months in Santiago, Chile in 1988. Loved the place. Dead safe (still under Pinochet rule), friendly people, great food, amazing wine, and the female talent was amazing.

I considered a side trip to Brazil, but all the Chileans I mentioned it to were aghast and strongly advised against it. I took their advice and visited Valparaiso instead (which was great).

A mate of mine who did visit Rio was held up at gunpoint in the street.

The internet these days is full of videos from Brazil of the most cruel and horrible murders being regularly committed there. I'd love to have seen the Carnival, but no way will I go there now.

Rio is a lot safer after the World Cup and Olympics, a lot of money was spent on security.

[Andrew Dwyer]

The sex for sale aspect of Brazil is rife, as blatant and in your face as in Thailand, “ red light “ districts are common especially in the larger tourist towns with transvestites as common as females.

My first time visiting Rio with some colleagues after work we headed to Copacabana and sat at one of the many outside restaurants on the extra wide sidewalk. An American in our group had a small grasp on the language but to be honest no translation was needed.

Shortly after sitting down we were surrounded by 7 or 8 working girls each one sat at a different table. To get our attention they would throw small balls of paper at us. When this failed they approached our table one by one and went round each one of us asking if we were interested.

After it was apparent we weren’t they disappeared disgruntled and we weren’t bothered again, word spread we were cheap Charlies .

While it was quite comical it was also very sad to see the desperation.

While no doubt some of our group did pay for female company at a later date we all felt a little intimidated by the in your face aspect of the proposed business transaction in this famous tourist area.

[NowNow]

14 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

The sex for sale aspect of Brazil is rife, as blatant and in your face as in Thailand, “ red light “ districts are common especially in the larger tourist towns with transvestites as common as females.

My first time visiting Rio with some colleagues after work we headed to Copacabana and sat at one of the many outside restaurants on the extra wide sidewalk. An American in our group had a small grasp on the language but to be honest no translation was needed.

Shortly after sitting down we were surrounded by 7 or 8 working girls each one sat at a different table. To get our attention they would throw small balls of paper at us. When this failed they approached our table one by one and went round each one of us asking if we were interested.

After it was apparent we weren’t they disappeared disgruntled and we weren’t bothered again, word spread we were cheap Charlies .

While it was quite comical it was also very sad to see the desperation.

While no doubt some of our group did pay for female company at a later date we all felt a little intimidated by the in your face aspect of the proposed business transaction in this famous tourist area.

 

 

Cannot remember ever being approached by a prostitute in Brazil. Not at Copacabana beach nor anywhere else. I guess they target people who they think are potential customers. So not everyone will have a similar experience.

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 minute ago, NowNow said:

 

 

Cannot remember ever being approached by a prostitute in Brazil. Not at Copacabana beach nor anywhere else. I guess they target people who they think are potential customers. So not everyone will have a similar experience.

 

 

Yes, we must have stood out as easy targets, totally green to be honest.

This was a one off and on later visits to Copa with friends they would often stop the car in the early hours for a chat/laugh but was never approached blatantly like the first time back in 1994.