São Paulo

After we arrived at the central bus station, my first impression was confirmed, because in the dark and heavily clouded the area around this place didn't seem particularly inviting.

For the first 9 days we were supposed to live in Ipiranga, a district a little southeast of the center. Our host Adilson has a house here and rents out 2 rooms to tourists for the equivalent of 6 euros per night. A real stroke of luck in a very safe area, as Adilson turned out to be an extremely accommodating and friendly host.

The only disadvantage: Despite the proximity to the actual city center, the accommodation was a bit removed from the sights and lively areas.

You could easily plan an hour for distances of 15 km, because the traffic is an absolute disaster even outside of peak hours. Not surprising given that there are almost 22 million inhabitants in the greater São Paulo area. You have to imagine that over a quarter of Germany's inhabitants live here in an area of 1,500 square kilometers (about twice the size of Berlin).

Despite the ridiculous price of €1 per trip, we largely avoided taking the metro because we wanted to avoid further icing of the airways in arctic temperatures and mostly resorted to UBER. Here too, the prices are very moderate and you pay between 8 and 10 euros for a one-hour journey through the city.

On the first trips through the metropolis, you notice the large number of homeless people who, with astonishing creativity, use every gap, every open space and every niche to create a shelter between the endless facades with a shack made of wood, tarpaulin or even a tent build.

In some cases, this type of “development” can be found for miles on tiny green strips, which separate multi-lane roads from one another with concrete barriers.

On the first few days we mostly hung out in the hipper districts of the city: Beco do Batman, a kind of art district with all kinds of street art, or Vila Madalena, known for its large selection of restaurants and clubs. We occasionally spent the evenings in Pinheiros, where there are countless bars and pubs. The Paulistanos (that's what the residents of São Paulo are called) especially like to play billiards, although with completely different rules than ours.

We also visited the Japanese district of Liberdade, with its huge Japanese community and the very authentic cuisine, as well as the Farol Santander, a 161 m high skyscraper right in the center, from which you have a very good view over the urban jungle Viewing platform you can get an idea of the approximate dimensions of this megacity.

After a few days, Aaron, a Mexican we met in Rio, joined us and we spent a few lovely days together. Much to my delight, because Aaron's pool skills are as bad as mine and there was a lot of billiards played in São Paulo. 😃

If you spend some time in the megacity, you quickly realize that, despite its enormous size, it is anything but a juggernaut and is definitely very different from what you had previously imagined. There is quite a lot of open space and green areas between all the countless concrete castles that are built high up. You always have the feeling that you have a lot of space and never feel cramped by the heavy development. Fascinating, because these actually contradict each other.

What is also striking is the incredibly high number of huge murals, paintings, graffiti and other art. No matter where you are within the city limits, you can always spot an oversized painted facade somewhere if you let your eyes wander. This gives the city a very unique touch and means that you notice the splashes of color rather than the gray facades.

You constantly find yourself turning your head owlishly in all possible directions to catch a quick glimpse of the next painting that opens up between the gray facades.

During one of our walks through Pinheiros we were lucky enough to observe the most famous Brazilian street artist Kobra creating one of his works.

The finished result after 3 days fascinates and amazes.

After 9 days it was finally time to move within the city limits. Berni from Rostock was supposed to join us. Also Lisa from Salzburg and Matze from Thuringia, both of whom we got to know during the carnival in Rio. Since our shelter at Adilson was too small for this pack and we also wanted to live a little more centrally, we decided to share a room in a hostel in República, right in the center of the metropolis.

When I arrived at the hostel, I waited for Berni, whose plane was due to land in São Paulo at around 10 p.m. after a short journey of just 46 hours. While I was waiting, I wrote to two Brazilians who I knew from Rio and who, when I asked where we were staying, replied almost at the same time that this was probably not the safest area at night and that we should take care of our things.

Since the girl at the hostel counter didn't speak English, I spoke to a South African to ask him if he had been here for a while and could share the concerns of my Brazilian contacts. He answered me that he had just arrived but was currently waiting for a friend who was supposed to show up a long time ago but was probably attacked. Great prospects so far, so take your thoughts together, briefly sensitize others and only move around in larger groups at night. At least you were forewarned.

The next few days and after everyone had arrived, we spent our time doing a little touring stuff and showing Berni around the city. The area around our accommodation is very busy during the day and not too bad. After sunset, however, a completely different picture presents itself and you have the feeling that all sorts of nasty and completely fucked-up characters are crawling out of every hole like zombies and laying siege to the streets. I've seen quite a few evil characters in my life, but the scene that takes place here after dark is pretty bizarre and you quickly realize that it's not a good idea to walk through the streets here alone at night, even without warning by locals.

In the end, we enjoyed the last days together in the mega-metropolis, without any problems and with a lot of “good times” because after two weeks we should finally move on, out of the city, it was time for some variety and nature.

Finally, I have to say that I really liked São Paulo and it is definitely very different than I had previously imagined.

Because despite all the problems, despite the fucked up guys, the traffic and the almost unimaginable size and all the contrasts, it's quite easy to endure here. The city is very lively, there is a lot to see and mostly many cozy and safe corners where you can easily spend time. And I'm also glad to have spent some time here and to have gotten a pretty useful picture of this supposed juggernaut, which is definitely not one. Thank you Sao Paulo!