Sao Paulo

I flew from Lima to Sao Paulo (a flight so ridiculously expensive that it cost nearly a quarter of my round the world ticket price) arriving at perky hour of 3.30 am. After 3 hours killing time in the arrivals hall, counting roof tiles, watching flies fight and trying to understand what was happening in the film on TV, I got the first bus downtown and headed to the first hotel I could find to sleep.

Sao Paulo is South America´s most populous city with a population ranging anywhere from 10 to 30 million, depending on who counted, where they went to count and if they were stabbed to death while counting. It is Brazil´s industry hub and has a reputation for violence. I found it to be a great place, full of life, brilliant restaurants, great bars and the best nightlife this side of Buenos Aires.

One night I got invited to a party in a young Japanese/Brazilian textile magnates house. It was in one of the swankiest areas of town, had a swimming pool, a chessboard carpet complete with 1 meter high, 20kg pieces in the hall, two grand pianos in the dining room, a room with just a [very well-stocked ] bar and some barstools in it, a kitchen the size of my old apartment with 4 fridges, a bathroom you could have gone curling in and this was only downstairs. I got back to my hotel at 6am, slinking past the Conceirge who just grinned at me the whole time.