A Huge City...but dangerous
Written: Oct 09 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Warm and friendly people with great food and drink
Cons: Crime....Crime....and More Crime....
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| Bonies7's Full Review: São Paulo |
One of the most populated cities in the world....Sao Paulo offers the best and worst of Brazil. The people are warm and friendly...but there's a dark side - crime is an everyday problem and constantly in the back of your mind.
I've visited Sao Paulo four times over the last six years and have found much to like there....but I was fortunate to have a driver/bodyguard. Why did I need a bodyguard? Because American businessmen are a particular target of carjackers and kidnappers...an average of 5 kidnappings of foreign businessmen DAILY! Yes...it starts as soon as you arrive ... you are greeted by your driver/bodyguard....usually provided by the company you are visiting in Sao Paulo... and the first thing he will tell you at Sao Paulo's sprawling international airport is to take off all your rings and your watch...since they are magnets for street thiefs - even inside of the airport.
My first dinner...at a wonderful rodizio (slow cooked rotisserie meats served tableside) restaurant call Fogo de Shon...I asked several local businessmen if they'd ever had an act of violence against themselves or their family. I was eating with five men...and they ALL had. One had taken five shots to the body and survived....another had his neck cut by a knife-wielding thief when he was too slow to get his wallet out....and on and on. By the end of the dinner, I was paranoid...to say the least.
Granted...I never had an act of violence against me...but it really impacts your sightseeing when you're constantly worried about someone robbing you....and when your driver tells you not to leave the hotel under ANY circumstances...it DOES concern you. And I was staying at a top-notch five star hotel called the Maksoud Plaza...which I would highly recommend...especially if you're a virtual prisoner in your hotel...then this is one of the best in town.
The traffic jams are continous... and that brings up another concern I have about Sao Paulo - most drivers use a stop light as a optional directive device as opposed to actually stopping. I'm glad I didn't have to drive....but of course...every time I came to a stoplight...I was too busy watching for carjackers to pay much attention to stoplights being run.
Two things you have to sample while in Sao Paoulo.....the national dish of Brazil is fejouda....a stew that defies description, but will leave you wishing you could walk around the block after a bowlful....because you'll feel stuffed. Top it off with creme de papaya...or a papaya cream as it's often called....a sort of cross between the best malt you've ever had and an after dinner cocktail.....simply one of the greatest liquid refreshments EVER devised. Oh...and if you want a drink before dinner....try a caparinha....a sugar cane based drink that tastes spectacular...but be careful. More than one and you'll find it very difficult to stand up...they are that potent.
One final thing....actually the first thing you'll see when you leave the airport is a "city" on the side of the mountain on the way to Sao Paulo where over 200,000..yes....200,000 people live in "houses" made of cardboard and pieces of plywood or leftover, discarded materials....no
electricity...no sanitary facilities.....and hundreds of kids with no clothes running around. It's enough to make you want to cry.... a seriously depressing site to start your visit.
If you've read this far...then I bet you can guess what I did when I landed at New York's JFK Airport when I first returned from seven days in Sao Paulo.....
I kissed the ground and thanked God that I live in the United States.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Bonies7
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Member: Jeff Clow
Location: The Lone Star State
Reviews written: 132
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Father, Husband, Consultant, Photographer, Writer, Conservative, Inquisitive, Texan
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