I got my bags back on a roll heading out there and I'm ready to go looking real good

in my passport photo

5 Amateur Traveler episode 394. Today the amateur traveler talks about beaches, one really

big statue and favelas as we go to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

I know that I should be heading home.

Welcome to the amateur traveler. I'm your host Chris Christensen. No news for today, but I did

want to encourage you that if you are hearing this before November 15th of 2013 you can vote for the amateur traveler every day

if you want to in the podcast awards, podcast awards.com.

I'd like to welcome to the show K from the K-Dayes.com who's come to talk to us about

Rio de Janeiro Brazil. K welcome to the show. Thank you, Chris. Now you are not originally

from Rio, but you are living there now. Yes, I am currently a university student and also

travel writer. And when I came upon the opportunity

to live here in Rio de Janeiro for a semester I jumped on it and so now I'm living here

and I will be staying here until January of 2014.

Excellent.

Now, the first thing I have to ask is I think when we say Rio, a lot of us get one of two

visual images in our minds, maybe one of a couple. One is Carnival and one is Ebiza. Is Rio what you

expected it would be? In many ways, yes, and in many ways no.

Rio is often seen as a very tropical paradise kind of city,

naturally beautiful, but also crazy and hectic, like the average city.

And when I came here I was

awestruck about how beautiful the towering rocks are the white sand beaches

...