Day 6 - Rio to Paraty

Today we say Goodbye to Rio and make a journey along the Southern Brazilian coast to the small colonial town of Paraty. Taking a taxi to Novo Rio – the bus terminal – we buy our tickets for the next available bus to Paraty. We’d researched the buses online – and seen that they departed every hour – however, Tip - pre-booking buses online (or going to the station) at least the night before will ensure your seats, as the buses are surprisingly very busy. We board our bus – with assigned seating – and someone is sitting in our seats. It’s always awkward telling people to move – even more so when you don’t speak the language and they’re convinced it’s their seat! We eventually get seated, and revel in the deep, soft, well cushioned seats. The buses here put Greyhound and Megabus to shame!

Our ride is around 6 hours (with stops and traffic) to Paraty. Arriving in the early afternoon, we saunter around the old cobbled streets and search for our accommodation. We have a quaint hostel (more like 2* hotel) located 2 minutes from the bus station and about 30 seconds from the old quarter. In our room was a brochure for a local tour operator, offering city tours that night. We hop on over (it’s a small town) and book our tickets for the evening, as well as a jeep jungle tour for tomorrow. As the jungle tour takes you to waterfalls to swim under – it was time for me to find a bathing suit. Intriguingly all the shops sold swim trunks with no mesh lining! It wasn’t until I realised the shorts are essentially male sarongs (modesty converings) and I’d have to take the plunge and buy some swimming booty shorts. To be quite honest – I look rad in my new trunks.

With new swimming gear in hand, it was time to do the city tour. We arrive back at the tourist shop and are greeted by an elderly man who informs us the tour will take place in both English and Portuguese. We begin our tour of the old quarter with 3 Portuguese tourists – and as we wander the labyrinthine streets, certain spots are pointed out in English then in Portuguese – with seemingly more conversation in the latter than the former. It was an enjoyable tour – highlighting the origins of the town [Paraty was a port town founded on the gold and diamond trades, controlled by wealthy ‘Masons’ and was heavily stratified by class and race. Thousands of slaves passed through the town – and lived in certain districts away from the rich and whites]. Overall it was an informative tour and Paraty turned out to be a lovely, quirky little town. We finish our tour tasting some local cachaca (sugar cane liquor) – which an overly jubilant Portuguese man spilled over my leg in excitement at showing off a local delicacy. We end our night at a beautiful, candle-lit restaurant in old town and conclude with a lovely, warm walk back to our room for a nice, quiet, relaxing sleep. Or so we thought.