Difference between revisions of "Brazil"

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If you are friendly and avoid drunk drives, along with avoid showing that you have valuable things you will be fine. Once it got dark with me on the roadside with nothing close by, and people took some time to give me a ride. When the car stopped it was with 4 somewhat drunk guys with loud music. I felt it was going to be okay so I went with them (keep in mind it is a tiny city!) and nothing happened, not even sex proposals. In a couple of occasions there was unauthorized groping, but a firm yet polite response kept them from trying anything else. In some days there was a lot of sex proposals, some even offering money. They insist once or twice but when they see there is no chance they will (at least in my experience) respect you. Twice truck drivers that kept insisting heard from me a "so let me get down anywhere, I am not hitchhiking for that". Well, they said "ok, sorry, no need to get down, I am not going to insist anymore". With one of them we even changed subject and got quite a nice conversation. Most, a least for Portuguese speakers, just start talking about themselves and their personal life. One of them even let me sleep on his truck while he went home. They often offer to buy meals at barbecue diners in roadsites, with rice, bean, meat, salad and possible other options (I often just drink an orange juice, since I am a raw foodist and take food with me all the time, like nuts and specially bananas - this one is a good idea for cheap energetic food, which often you can get for free in small markets if they are overripe, if you ask the price it will often be half or free. I lived on bananas and avocados for several days once before I was raw, not very fun but with a stronger kick than fast food...).
 
If you are friendly and avoid drunk drives, along with avoid showing that you have valuable things you will be fine. Once it got dark with me on the roadside with nothing close by, and people took some time to give me a ride. When the car stopped it was with 4 somewhat drunk guys with loud music. I felt it was going to be okay so I went with them (keep in mind it is a tiny city!) and nothing happened, not even sex proposals. In a couple of occasions there was unauthorized groping, but a firm yet polite response kept them from trying anything else. In some days there was a lot of sex proposals, some even offering money. They insist once or twice but when they see there is no chance they will (at least in my experience) respect you. Twice truck drivers that kept insisting heard from me a "so let me get down anywhere, I am not hitchhiking for that". Well, they said "ok, sorry, no need to get down, I am not going to insist anymore". With one of them we even changed subject and got quite a nice conversation. Most, a least for Portuguese speakers, just start talking about themselves and their personal life. One of them even let me sleep on his truck while he went home. They often offer to buy meals at barbecue diners in roadsites, with rice, bean, meat, salad and possible other options (I often just drink an orange juice, since I am a raw foodist and take food with me all the time, like nuts and specially bananas - this one is a good idea for cheap energetic food, which often you can get for free in small markets if they are overripe, if you ask the price it will often be half or free. I lived on bananas and avocados for several days once before I was raw, not very fun but with a stronger kick than fast food...).
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{{States Brazil}}
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[[trash:Brazil]]
 
[[trash:Brazil]]
  

Revision as of 00:57, 7 October 2012

Flag of Brazil Brazil
Information
Language: Portuguese
Capital: Brasilia
Population: 190,467,249
Currency: Real
Hitchability: <rating country='br' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots or BeWelcome

Brazil is a country in South America. It has a border with every country on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is a huge country and hitchhiking depends a lot on area as to how receptive people will be and your chances in getting rides. Some Brazilians consider their country violent and dangerous part due to the media's love to seize on the stories and exaggerate them.

Regions

Brazil needs to be taken with caution but hitchhiking is doable in every area except within greater São Paulo, as you are over shadowed due to the volumes of traffic. On roadsides, care must be taken because of the erratic ways of Brazilian Motorists. Many use the slip lanes to overtake traffic or swerve to allow others past.

Areas like the Amazon and Pantanal backlands are much easier when asking on road sides and at petrol stations. Areas where there is purely the one national highway make life easier for reaching intended destination. Put your mind to it and its very possible to cover a little over 300 kilometer daily or more depending on area. North East may be trickier as there are less cars and peoples fear of Bandidos but when you get someone they will be talkative and friendly.

Hitchhiking on the interstate highway is much more easier. Interstates highway have different names, depending on the state you are in. For example, if you are in the state of Santa Catarina, the interstate highways are read as SC. They are called in portuguese as the Rodovia do Estado. There is less traffic on these highways, so hitchhiking is easier. And you get more rides on private vehicles, rather then trucks. The national highways are shown as BR. Hitchhiking here is pretty hard. The best way to get rides, is to talk to truck drivers at the Petrol Station or the Posto BR as locals would call them.

Note that vehicles license plates are different, depending on where the car was issued. It starts with the State abbreviation and followed with numbers. This way you can also somehow figure out where the vehicle is going to. For example: PR is Paraná/ SC is Santa Catarina/ RJ is Rio do Janeiro/ SP is Sao Paolo/ RS is Rio Grande Do Sul

Maps

Brazil highways.jpg

map24 is a useful online route planner for Brazil and the rest of South America. GuiaMais is another great website with maps and route planning for Brazil only.

Guia Quatro Rodas publishes a great road map of Brazil. Available at most gas stations for R$13.

Sleep

If you look foreigner you might consider go to a hostel or CouchSurf. There are lots of homeless crackheads in major cities these days. In rural areas, if you say you have nowhere to stay they will often offer you a spot in their house and good hearty Brazilian food (which is often rice, beans and corn porridge in some areas, or roasted cassava flour to eat with the beans, very energetic and delicious, and sometimes chicken or meat - if you are a vegetarian say you don't like meat, if you just say you don't want they will think you're shy and put on your plate anyways, and if you don't want the food say you are very full and they will stop insisting). Small villages are great for camping and rarely police will bug you, unless it is a touristic city. Avoid setting up a tent in big cities, if you got no dime and no concealed spot sleep in bus stations or open air.

Cities

Personal experiences

A personal story of a Brazilian 20 year old girl hitchhiking alone:

If you are friendly and avoid drunk drives, along with avoid showing that you have valuable things you will be fine. Once it got dark with me on the roadside with nothing close by, and people took some time to give me a ride. When the car stopped it was with 4 somewhat drunk guys with loud music. I felt it was going to be okay so I went with them (keep in mind it is a tiny city!) and nothing happened, not even sex proposals. In a couple of occasions there was unauthorized groping, but a firm yet polite response kept them from trying anything else. In some days there was a lot of sex proposals, some even offering money. They insist once or twice but when they see there is no chance they will (at least in my experience) respect you. Twice truck drivers that kept insisting heard from me a "so let me get down anywhere, I am not hitchhiking for that". Well, they said "ok, sorry, no need to get down, I am not going to insist anymore". With one of them we even changed subject and got quite a nice conversation. Most, a least for Portuguese speakers, just start talking about themselves and their personal life. One of them even let me sleep on his truck while he went home. They often offer to buy meals at barbecue diners in roadsites, with rice, bean, meat, salad and possible other options (I often just drink an orange juice, since I am a raw foodist and take food with me all the time, like nuts and specially bananas - this one is a good idea for cheap energetic food, which often you can get for free in small markets if they are overripe, if you ask the price it will often be half or free. I lived on bananas and avocados for several days once before I was raw, not very fun but with a stronger kick than fast food...).


trash:Brazil