The previous night I joined a group of backpackers from the hostel to go to the Lapa Street party which is notorious for pickpockets and muggings and I think is even mentioned in some of the Lonely Planet books. Last time I went even our guide, a local carioca, told us to leave our cameras and jewellery at the hostel and just to be wary because Lapa is a bit ghetto in some parts. Everyone had been drinking before we arrived and some people were already a bit drunk (which isn't the best thing to do in a foreign country or place at least until you're familiar with the area).
But this girl kept pulling out her camera and taking pictures with everyone, doing the touristy thing; but she kept dangling it around and taking her time putting it away after she'd taken the photo. Fair enough some people that take their cameras do whip it out and take a snap or two but put it away straight after they've finished. I'd told her, my friend told her and even some of the staff at the hostel told her to be careful and keep it out of sight if she's not using it. But some people being young (and a bit drunk not to mention a few puffs of weed) just have no common sense at all, it's like you can only tell them so many times before it becomes "I told you so."
Side note: I've found, and was a bit a surprised, that Brasilians smoke weed quite openly here and by "open" I mean public. At Lapa you can definitely smell it in the air in one of the side alleys (of course close to where the reggae music is playing haha). Also at the beach in Ipanema, Posto 9, there's always a cloud of marijuana floating around. Even saw a dude just standing there all chillaxed in his speedo's (because that's how they roll in Brasil) looking out at the waves puffing on his joint. So if you're marijuana you might be a bit shocked in some places here (but then if you're against it how would you know what is smells like?).
The time I got mugged...
I got mugged with a mate probably about 2 weeks ago. We decided to walk home from a bar to our hostel which would of probably been a 20 maybe 30min walk (it's hard to tell the time when you've been drinking). He was drunk and I'd had a bit to drink so probably not the best decision to make at 4am in the morning. But hey we only had R$8 between us so wouldn't of been able to cab it home.
We've walked around in the area before in the day and I was familiar with it (being a bit more sober). But still when we were walking by a square (Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz) in a shopping area in Ipanema we were approached by a guy asking for money. I thought he was another beggar so told him "I don't speak portugues," in Portugues of course, and so he turned to my friend (a guy from Norway and typical European looking) to ask. The guy asked "money, money" and when my friend said no or something along those lines he pulled a knife and was more confronting and demanded more aggressively "Money! Money!" to which we both quickly threw whatever we had on the ground and quickly walked off as he went to pick it up.
Neither of us have had a knife pulled on us before or been mugged so it was a bit hairy at the time but we quickly laughed about the "luck" the robber had of relieving us of our $8 Reals. It was probably his first robbery and he thought he was going to score big picking two "easy targets" (we weren't sober and were probably talking pretty loud in english) but little did he know we were just another two broke ass drunk gringo's.
It's funny now but we're VERY lucky he wasn't a crack addict and stabbed us for not having enough money. I'm also very lucky he didn't check our pockets and find my travelx card (which I didn't know I had on me at the time) and take me to a ATM and make me withdraw money (I've heard of that happening to a few friends of friends).
Lessons Learnt...
Like every city in the world there are parts that are unsafe and where you should be very careful and watch yourself. But in the whole I've found that Rio de Janeiro isn't bad at all IF you use some common sense and street smarts.
The following are just some basic things that everyone should know or follow. Some are things I do or have been told to by others.
- Don't flash your jewellery around
- Don't carry anymore cash than you need
- Walk in well lit areas and become familiar with a place before venturing out at night. If possible don't walk around alone.
- Ask the advice of locals
- Have some money to give incase you do get robbed (wouldn't want to get shot/stabbed for nothing now would you? :))
- Don't carry bank/credit cards with you all the time
- Be aware of your surroundings
- Carry some spare cash R$10 or R$20 in your shoe.
One of the things I do if I have to go to the ATM and get large amounts of money is wear a pair of boardshorts under my shorts or jeans. So I keep all the cash and bank cards in the pocket of the boardshorts and maybe like R$10 in the pocket of my jeans.
Overall I've found Rio isn't as dangerous as anywhere else in the world if you're sensible.
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