Just heard I'm being sent to the city with the second highest crime rate in the world, after Mexico city.

Sao Paulo will be my new home for 3 months.

On a positive, 2 competitors have tried to head hunt me already, my new landlady is a gorgeous lady artist, and I'll live 3 miles from Interlagos.

On a negative, I'm seriously kacking my pants

at least its not boring eh!

Id go.

Don't worry about it.

think of the money you'll save on food if kidnapped!

…and the overtime you'll be due.

Sepultura are from there so it can't be too bad.

Also, it's Tunbridge Wells compared to Ciudad Juárez

After reading alot on these kinda cities, your very unlikely to find trouble unless you go find it.

So keep out of the Inglewood/compton type areas and you'll be fine.

I'm kind of OK, just been given some advice by a friend there who has been kidnapped twice. And if it goes well I get to move to Rio.

Seriously mexico city is the worst for crime in the world? Spent a week and a half there working days and exploring eves n weekends, wandering lost looking for private apartment addresses to stay in, on the tube right across the city, random buses and bus stations v early am and late pm to go see aztec pyramids outside town. Super friendly and helpful people, no hassle whatsoever, great food n attitude to life, tubes were the most amazingly on time, clean, fast, ridiculously regular service of any city in the world Ive visted… Only negative was the traffic but then as I wasnt driving I just got the tube everywhere. Had honestly no idea it was anywhere near that bad. Wow. Chicago bus station at 3am on the same trip was 10 times worse!

I'm guessing Mogadishu may be worse than both of them, but it's what I was told therefore is more dramatic in a post.

never mind mogadishu, have you ever been to swansea ?

Spent a short while there and it wasnt as crazy as it sounds. Still be careful etc etc. The sheer flipping size of the place is the one truly outstanding memory.

Have you been to a developing world country before? If so it's better than a lot of places.

Aw Dave – Belo Horizonte is where it's at!

I may bump into you in Sao Paulo ay?

Good luck with the move and yeah, maybe see you on the beach at Rio 8)

Sao Paulo isn't too bad, as it's spread out the safe(er) areas are quite separated from the bad areas. In Rio it's all very mixed due to the favelas surrounding the nice areas on the steep hillsides.

I loved my time in Rio though (6 months), didn't spend too much time in Sao Paulo but did make regular visits.

Food is excellent, people are friendly, beer is cheap. I did lots of cycling in Brazil too.

Have fun!

Cheers, Rich

What tyres for an 8 by 2 concrete cell?

You'll be fine as long as you're not the sort of person who winds people up just for the fun of it.

Just sent you am MP3 that reminds me of you. "I think I might fly down to Rio…"

Sao Paulo isn't too bad – as others have said, there is 'risk' in most places if you're not careful.

Having said that, I have a (Brazilian) colleague who was doing an MTB race in a park in the Sao Paulo area that had to be stopped after a competitor was shot by a gang that stole his bike…

…then there was the time I was working in Rio and an (armed) gang went the length of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches relieving everyone of anything valuable…

But seriously, Brazil is a great place (AWESOME even).

Just remember to practice giving good head incase it helps with the Kidnappers.

I'm looking forward to it really. Been waiting since June for the final word. As for the gangs, us country boys from 1970's Ulster have dealt with worse…

an (armed) gang went the length of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches relieving everyone of anything valuable

Which is why, when I went there, we stuck to Leblon beach. 😉

Mrs North has been to SP – only briefly. She had a mad dash taxi ride through the city from one airport to another. She said it was scary, but not as scary as being in a police car in Fortaleza chasing armed robbers.

Recently police in Rio spotted a gang leaving a party at one flavela to go back to theirs. bit of a hoo-haa, gang went into the intercontinental, took 35 hostages, 3 hours, 1 death and 1000 rounds of ammo later, it's back to normal. Not sure about taking my Cotic as my daily commute – heard the done thing is to ride into the traffic 😯

an (armed) gang went the length of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches relieving everyone of anything valuable

We didn't realise the score when we went- wife and I walked back from a club at about 4am, along the length of Copacabana and Ipanema to our hotel, picking up beer and coconuts from those stalls, and had no hassle.
Stayed in Copacabana another time, and realised that when the sun goes down even one block back from the beach is into really dicey territory.
omitn, can't believe you didn't see Sao Paolo, we went to half a dozen places, and every flight used Sao Paolo as a hub. Hellishly frustrating when you fly from one place in the north, to another and have to travel down and up most of the country to do it.