Rio-oooooh-so-brilliant...

Undoubtedly one of the best cities we've visited so far, Rio has everything: wonderful beaches, beautiful weather, cultural delights, excellent bar life and a penance for stuffing as many bunk beds into a dorm as is humanly possible. Rumour has it that Tetris developers were called in to help align the beds so they have optimum face to feet ratio.

The trouble with our time there was a similar conundrum to that of the hostel owners: how to fit it all in. We swung up Sugarloaf Mountain to watch the sun set and the lights rise, we visited samba clubs and struggled to groove like locals, succeeding better at asking for dubstep and clearing a dance floor at another bar, we drank coconut juice and caipirinhas on Copacabana Beach and rose early to get Cristo de Redeemer almost to ourselves. We partied with Brazilians until dawn broke, rain clouds appeared and our wallets limped home as if they'd been the ones stacking everything on a tab. The only stone we left unturned were those of the Lapa Steps but like Hansel and Gretal, we had to leave something so we can return.

The same can be said for Ilha Grande, the relaxing, car-less island off the east coast. It reminded us of the Thai islands, just with a lot less people, no day-glo paint and much better fish dinners. The caipirinhas were just as strong here too and arriving by pirate ship just about topped the whole thing off but we just didn't have enough time to explore it all.

Still not convinced (am I on commission or something?), the food is MasterChef-ready and you can pay by the kilo! So we ate like kings but paid as paupers. Rio World Cup, anyone?