I am a Newbie to Rio,does anyone have some advice about short time apartment rentals near copacabana beach,are these apartments dangerous for tourist to stay at and to bring back girls from help or doma or barbarella,are you asking for trouble if you bring a girl back for the night or is it better to stay at a nearby hotel,any suggestions would be helpful..

Trex,

There's three ways to go about this. Short term apt, hotel, and "love hotel". I would definatly say that none of them are dangerous for a tourist, but each on has its advantages. For apartments, every one has a doorman to keep an eye on things. The advantage of renting an apartment is you can bring up as many girls as you like at the same time.

Hotel: With hotels (That are "guest friendly") you are only allowed one girl at a time. The securty advantage here is that the front desk takes the girls ID, and does not give it back to her until they get an OK from you.

Short term (love) hotels: Same deal as a regular hotel but you rent it by the hour. These places are actually very nice, and are used regularly by brazillians thave have nowhere to go. They're also rather cheap.

If you want an apartment, I recommend Don from Rio trips. He also has an invaluable guide service as well. If you read around the board you'll see he gets consistant glowing reviews. You can reach him at riptrips@hotmail.com

Dood

Thanks Dood,I will check those recommendations out your info is very helpful,I will post a trip report when I return from Rio.. Trex

trex hello!on this adress you might find some interesting love hotels.w.w.w.sosserve.com.br/
hotel lido on the corner of rua castroalves/ronald carvalho? is two blocks from barbarella. hotel vanity is on nossa senhora copacabana-about two blocks from help. good luck.iggy

Do not stay at the Miramar Hotel on the beach front. you cant bring no guests up at ALL! I only stayed for one night because I just came back from Buzios, otherwise I always stay in a apartment. I booked the room from the states so I didnt know the rules, I stayed at the marriott and they even let me bring the girl up, with proper ID of course. So I brought her to the V hotel one block down from help, cost me 60R for 2 hours. pretty decent for Rio standards, worth my $17USD and 200R for two ladies.
As far as safety, you must be very aware but for some reason when I am drunk, I just dont care..
Good luck all and have fun....

Ceenotes. Please be careful. We love learning what we should avoid doing. You are most helpful.

I posted this on another board today. Not to be alarmed, just to be well informed so you can be careful!!!!!!
============


one advantage of Rio is that nobody wants to kidnap or kill tourists but
(crime warnings follow)
Brazil_Specialist -- 12/24/2002 21:21

but many want your money.

If you are not street wise, you better take a crash course. Basically there
is no need for taxi in Copacabana during daytime (8 am to sunset). It is 8
am because due to lack of policing the early morning hours are prime mugging
times at the beach!

Avenida Atlantica is heavily policed, so even at nighttime an alert (not
drunk) person is fairly safe there. I would not walk anywhere else at night,
not even half a block away from Atlantica.

Unfortunately, the presence of street kids recently increased. A policeman
explained me that there are several cameras on Ave Atlantica, that mainly
serve to survey police so they dont beat any street kids.

This is a laudable intention. But (fashist ideas follow)>
Importing human rights into 3rd world countries has its problems. They would
have to import also the following:

** a well educated, well equipped police force that can catch criminals and
investigate well enough to provide proof to convict criminals

** a functioning justice system that does not set most criminals free

** Jails that dont have escape rates of 20 000 prisoners per year

** Laws that allow to lock away youthful offenders

** Good orphanages and other educational institutions for street kids

Brazil is lacking all of the above.

But basically nobody wants to kill you, no terrorists are against americans
or want to extort ransom from the US government.

So one basic rule is dont fight back, dont resist. Not even to little street
kids who might have a companion with a gun
Be aware of the dangers. Be very alert when you walk!

Be aware of the following dangers:

a) getting drugs into your drinks so they can mug you and clean out your
apartment (seems rare)

b) those of you guys who carry 2000 dollars of cash around: some girls phone
their holdup friends and set you up for a little walk outside on the beach

c) some girls unlock your apartment door while you sleep. Their thug friends
thus can easily come in to rob you. Bringing overnight guests into an apartment is a serious safety risk. I think in Hotels it is less risky.

Brazilspecialist,

Sounds like your writing to a bunch of first timers in Rio.
Anyway, about the aptartment, the girl is not going to find a fucking key to unlock the door. it's well hidden as we come in the apartment.
Secondly, I dont think my doorman would let these "thug friends" pass the front desk unless armed.
Anyone dumb enough to advertise $2000USD in brazil may get robbed.
Pretty much all the girls in the clubs and thermas will not try and pull a stunt like this because they are working everyday and dont want the word out. Majority of them are nice girls maybe the street action or heavy drug users may try a stunt, but everyone knows to avoid them.
Crime is still around but nothing compared to the early 90's where gangs would terrorize the beaches in broad daylight.

CN
Merry Christmas!

Brazilspecialist is over here now with this stuff. He came out of nowhere on another board, began by criticizing Don, then said he didnt know Don. I didnt see anything of substance in his posts except some veiled advertising for services and trying to set up festinas.

Actually, the cheap massage parlor link (under escort agaencies)is very helpful, maybe even one of the most helpful Brazil links that I have ever seen.

A new useful link is even more rare than a MitchC trip report. Bravo.

Wow, tough crowd.

I must say I agree with most of BrazilSpecialists warnings. Most people I know have never had problems traveling anywhere. I personally have been held up gunpoint in my hotel room, setup by my date I had known for over a year. This wasn't in Brazil, it was in Tijuana, but I consider Brazil much more dangerous than Tijuana.

Not all apartments have security out front, and it doesn't really matter anyways. Remember, you are the foreigner, and the a robber is not going to be wearing a tshirt saying "I am armed". He could be a friend of the security guard, he could have a good cover story, he could bribe the guy. There are many possibilities. In the instance mentioned above, the well dressed guy that robbed me made it past at least two security guys coming in and out.

The other night a girl pratically begged me to escort her home. Since the robbery, I've been much more alert and identified several places during the trip where I could have been rolled, and this was before we got to her place which I did not enter despite her pleas. She also whispered something to me during the ride which was interesting, "No me gusta robar ninos bonitos (I don't like to rob pretty boys)"

Anyways, there are a lot of crime/scam variations in Brazil and in other countries, and it's best to be familiar with them to avoid falling prey. Believe me, being naked in a strange hotel with a gun pointed at you is not fun.

>>Sounds like your writing to a bunch of first timers in Rio.

** some people here are first timers. And even some very experienced people still take high risks and ignore the warnings of locals


>>Anyway, about the aptartment, the girl is not going to find a fucking key to unlock the door. it's well hidden as we come in
the apartment.

** I am curious. While you sleep the girl has hours to search for your keys. How do you manage to hide a key, in her presence, in a half empty tourist apartment, so that she cannot find it even in an hour's search? The only safe way I could come up with was inside an electronic safe deposit box with a pin number instead of a key.

Do you have some tricks I dont know? Like putting the key under the raw steak in the freezer?


>>Secondly, I dont think my doorman would let these "thug friends" pass the front desk unless armed.

** a doorman helps a little. But believe me there are many ways to get into a huge apartment building with 100 apartments


>>Anyone dumb enough to advertise $2000USD in brazil may get robbed.

** well some people carry it around with them during daytime. Others have it in their apartment while they sleep with a girl


>>Pretty much all the girls in the clubs and thermas will not try and pull a stunt like this because they are working everyday and

**termas yes. the girls there are probably fairly safe. If you mean freelancers in Help or other places, why would they be safe? once they steal 2000 dollars they can afford taking 3 weeks off till you left the country


>>dont want the word out. Majority of them are nice girls maybe the street action or heavy drug users may try a stunt, but
everyone knows to avoid them.

** maiority is nice. Problem is the few that are not. How can we avoid them?

Con Artist that Preyed on Tourists Arrested

Mulata, 1.55 m in height, 32 years of age, thin with a whole lot of cash. The woman that had been conning rich tourists in the Southern Zone of Rio, was arrested last Saturday night in a beachfront apartment in Piuma, in Espírito Santo State. Also known as Maíra, Marinete Pinheiro Matola was enjoying the fruits of her last con. The victim, a Portuguese man, Manuel Fernando de Oliveira, 41, was relieved of Dollars, jewels and cellular phones on January 8th, in Copacabana.

Only days after fleeing with R$ 62 thousand and 80 thousand Euros (approximately R$ 300 thousand) taken from the Portuguese, police from the Delegacia de Atendimento ao Turista – Deat (Special Tourist Precinct) located Marinete. According to the detective that heads the unit, Elisabeth Cayres, there is a possibility that Marinete is involved in a ring of com artists in Copacabana. When she was apprehended, Marinete was in the company of a man, allegedly the father of her 3, 5 and 7-year old daughters. There was only R$ 7,200 and 12,400 Euros left over from the money she had stolen. The rest, according to Marinete, was spent on trips, as well as being used to buy a white Gol and a truck.

At the precinct, Marinete said she used the money to stay at a hotel on the Sauípe Coast, then a rented beach house in Marataíses, and finally the apartment in Piuma. According to the detective, Marinete met the Portuguese in December.

- The Portuguese came to Rio to buy a ranch, and she was introduced to him as the person who would help him with the purchase. She would gain her victims’ trust – the detective explained.

In order to track the woman down, the police used a photograph she had given a previous victim: the Italian, Annibale Albert, 41, who Marinete had conned months before setting her sights on the Portuguese.

- The Italian met her in Copacabana. They kept in contact for while, and when he came back to Brazil to undergo plastic surgery, she put sleeping pills in his drink and fled with U$ 10 thousand - the detective explained.
Marinete denied having stolen the money.

- She said she was fantastic in bed and received the money as a gift – said the detective.

Published February 3rd

The day before I was to return home I had an incident where I was jumped by three guys in a park near Ipanema Beach. My story would be we all know that such attacks are a possibility in a country such as Brazil. What I was not ready for was the normal support networks such as the police, emergency staff, hospitals, physicians, and US Embassy are really poorly run in Brazil as well. When I have more time I will supply numbers and recommendations of hospitals in case you should find yourself in need of such facilities, be it an attack, a car accident, or health related issues.

Many people in Brazil as well as outsiders prefer to blame the person who is attacked. I believe there was very little rationale behind why I was attacked, what I would like to discuss is what to do in the event of such an event.

Postings to follow.

Sorry to hear that happened to you...I hope you are ok!!!!

I just returned from BUZIOS (Check out my postings in the BUZIOS discussion area) and shortly thereafter discovered that someone had obtained my credit card number and charged several hundred dollars to my credit card. I had informed my credit card company that I would be using my credit cards in Brazil between February 28 and March 7 and to inform me of any suspicious activity. I am glad that I did this as my credit card company called me shortly after I returned to inform me that several credit card charges occured on March 19. The amounts were quite large about $R1000 or US$325. I was very careful about keeping all of my credit card receipts and when I returned was able to check them against the charges to my credit card account online. I strongly recommend that you contact your credit card company and let them know what country you will be visiting, when you will be out of the country and credit cards you will most likely use during your trip. This will give you an added measure of security. Thank goodness I did not have any liability. My credit card company closed my old credit card account and opened a new credit card account and issued me new credit cards which I received this Saturday.

What were the charges for?

Globo had an article about crime statistics today (Sunday)



http://oglobo.globo.com/infograficos/030608_rio_19.gif

murder rate by location in Rio




Basically, in Copacabana/Ipanema, murder rate is about 5-8 per 100 000 per year, similar to New York. (and much lower than the 42 in Washington!!) Some outlying area are in the 50-80 range, which is close to the murder rate in Cali. The average murder rate dropped from 70 in about 1994 to about 45 now. This is 22 murdered per day in Rio.


A década da violência
Paulo Marqueiro

Vinte e duas pessoas assassinadas, 92 veículos roubados, 51 carros furtados, 52 assaltos a pedestres, 14 assaltos em ônibus, 37 roubos de telefone celular, 19 a estabelecimentos comerciais, dez a bancos e cinco a residências. Assim termina um dia comum no Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Os números, relativos a 2002, fazem parte de uma pesquisa recém-concluída pelo Centro de Estudos de Segurança e Cidadania da Universidade Cândido Mendes (Cesec/Ucam), que analisa os dados da criminalidade nos últimos 12 anos, período em que o Rio experimentou quatro governos.

A pesquisa traça um quadro dramático da violência no estado e na capital: de 1991 a 2002, a taxa de roubos saltou de 564,9 (por cem mil habitantes) para 1.293,9 no município, o que significa um aumento de 129%. E de 334 para 769,4 no estado (130%). O índice leva em conta todos os tipos de roubo registrados pela polícia.

— Isso é apenas a ponta do iceberg — diz Leonarda Musumeci, professora do Instituto de Economia da UFRJ e coordenadora da área de criminalidade e violência do Cesec. — Estudos mostram que apenas 20% ou 25% dos roubos são notificados. Ou seja: a realidade é ainda pior.

Outro dado angustiante é o comportamento da taxa de homicídios. Em 1991, no município, ela estava em 63,3 (por cem mil habitantes). Três anos depois, bateu um recorde, chegando a 72,9. Nos anos seguintes, despencou, atingindo 36,8 em 1998. Mas, a partir daí, segundo os registros policiais, praticamente se estabilizou num patamar ainda alto, esboçando ligeira tendência de alta. Em 2002, ela estava em 45,2 na capital e 46,2 no estado.

Para se ter uma idéia do que esses números representam, basta dizer que nos últimos 12 anos o Estado do Rio enterrou 84.907 vítimas de homicídios. É como se a população de uma cidade como Araruama, na Região dos Lagos, fosse dizimada em pouco mais de uma década.

O estudo mostra também que os assassinatos são concentrados na ponta pobre da cidade: em Santa Cruz, Campo Grande e arredores, a taxa de homicídios vai de 47,5 a 88,1 por cem mil habitantes (2002), índice superior ao da cidade de Port Elizabeth, uma das mais violentas da África do Sul.

No outro extremo do Rio, os bairros de Botafogo, Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, Gávea, São Conrado, Rocinha e arredores apresentam taxas de homicídio que variam de 5,9 a 10,3 por cem mil habitantes, comparáveis, por exemplo, às de Nova York, nos Estados Unidos.

— Só mesmo políticas de médio e longo prazos vão conseguir melhorar esses índices — diz Leonarda. — Essa política de enxugar gelo claramente está esgotada. Já se viu que ela não resolve.

A pesquisa revela ainda que alguns crimes se tornaram mais violentos ao longo dos últimos anos. Em 1996, por exemplo, o Estado do Rio ainda tinha mais furtos (praticados sem violência ou na ausência da vítima) do que roubos de carro. No ano passado, a relação já era de quase dois roubos para cada furto. Uma tragédia.

Perdido no meio da estatística, está o drama do jornalista Pedro Bial, que teve o seu Golf roubado na noite de 3 de abril de 2002 na Avenida Niemeyer. Depois de entregar o veículo aos bandidos, um deles disparou contra o apresentador. O tiro passou tão perto que Bial foi ao chão:

— Eu me fingi de morto e eles foram embora. Quando me socorreram, perguntei: onde está o sangue? Estava certo de que tinha sido atingido.

Situações de terror como essa se tornaram freqüentes em algumas áreas da cidade. De acordo com o estudo do Cesec, na região da Leopoldina cortada pela Avenida Brasil, pela Linha Vermelha e por parte da Linha Amarela, o número de furtos e roubos de veículo aumentou 52% entre 1999 e 2002.

A região é tão violenta que costuma ser chamada de Faixa de Gaza, numa referência ao território onde ocorrem freqüentes conflitos entre israelenses e palestinos. A professora Eliane Godoy e seu marido, o engenheiro Mauro José Bichara, souberam disso quando tiveram o seu carro roubado na Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, em Manguinhos, em janeiro deste ano.

— Na delegacia, um policial nos disse: “Olha, vocês deveriam levantar as mãos para o céu por não ter acontecido algo mais grave. Aquela região é conhecida como Faixa de Gaza.Vocês não sabiam?” — contou Eliane, que mora no Recreio e estava indo a uma festa de formatura em Bonsucesso.

A pesquisa completa do Cesec poderá ser consultada a partir do próximo domingo no site www.cesec.ucam.edu.br.

I was in Rio, having a wonderful time, spending the days at the beach, the afternoons at the terma's, and a few evenings at Help. But.......on the day before I was to leave, I was approached by a young woman, about 25, asking me directions to a restaurant. I was walking down Av. Atlantica on my way back to Hotel Debret. This woman, explained that she was a tourist fom Lima, and when I couldn't tell her where the restaurant that she was looking for was, she asked me where I ate. I showed her the Churrascaria that I ate at, and she asked me to join her. She ate dinner, then we went to one of the outdoor cafes on Av. Atlantica for some Caiparina's, then to Help for some dancing, and then to my room at Hotel Debret. That's all I can remember, and when I awoke the next morning, my passport, money, camera, credit cards, and Florida drivers license were all gone. I was still in my clothing from the night before, so we didn't even have sex. I was given a "date rape" drug called Burundanga. She gave me the drug in a piece of gum.

The Hotel Debret security was worthless, they were very unsymapthetic to my plight, refused to give me money even though Visa authorized the charge, and perhaps was in on it.(??? who knows)

Bottom line, stick to the Terma's where it is safe, and forget about the non - pro's. Don't take a girl back to your room or apt. (imho)

The girls at the terma's are all you need, and it is a safe, fun environment.

I knew enough to stay away from the bad areas, and not walk around alone late at night. I never thought that I would get robbed by a girl, about 5 feet tall, weighed about 110 pounds, that approached me about 6:00 PM.

Hotel Debret, forget about them. I asked them why they didn't call to check that everything was ok before the girl left, and they said that they called my room, but no one answered. Duhhhhh!

Didn't they have her name, id info on record?

Taxman,

I am curious. When exactly did she slip you this gum? When I get back to the hotel, one of the first things I do is secure my wallet, camera (Unless I am taking photos of her, but then I still secure it when finished), wallet, credit cards etc in the room safe. My backup credit cards and passport are already in there as I do not carry them on my person. Did you not have a chance to do this before she slipped you the drugs?

Also, how you know which date rape drug you were given?

Taxman,
This sucks. I´m really not sure what you can do at this point but I would be curious also to know why the Debret does not have record of her documents. You could file a police report if they do. I´d be happy to help you from here if I can. You can send me an email riotrips@hotmail.com with the date this happened and your name, and I could check if the Debret still has her info and go from there.
I would also suggest that she was a Pro, certainly a professional thief. A non-pro local girl would not be caught dead going to HELP disco. Really sorry to see this happen to anyone.
Riotrips- admin

Everything was locked up in the safety deposit box and in my suitcase, before going back to the Hotel. One of the things about that drug is that is a "truth serum", so either she had enough time to find the keys or she asked me where everything was located. I can't remember anything.

She offered the gum to me when leaving Help, to go to the Debret, you know, to freshen my breath before the "action."

I did file a police report with the Rio Police and gave them a copy of the sign in sheet from the Hotel Debret. Supposedly, the Hotel has video cameras behind the front Desk, however, they refused to let me and the Police view it at the time. They said only the Mgr. could authorize it, at some future time.

I got the impression from the Rio police that this must be more common than we know, as they were not excited/shocked by my story. They were kind and sympathetic, however they simply typed up a report, and dropped me off back at the Debret.

There is no doubt in my mind that she was a criminal Pro, research into this drug indicates that it is an epidemic problem in Colombia, and expanding throughout parts of South America.

I've never stayed at the Debret, but is this robbery the reason why the Debret no longer allows walk-in guests?

And as RT posted, didn't she sign in at the front desk before going up?

Yes she signed in. They charged me 50 reas for a guest and another 6 reas for the 2 beers that she drank from the mini bar. Who knows what info she listed on the sign in form, and I would guess that it wasn't the real ID.

The worst part is that sometime the front desk clerk that work at night split 80/20 later of whatever the girls take from the John/Trick also NEVER take a taxi if the girl knows the driver to well either sometime they work in a team you can find yourself face down in a dark street with your pockets looking like rabbit ears.

KidCisco

Oh,

All the hotels I have stayed at in Thailand and Argentina had digital combination safes, not safes with keys.

Do all the hotels in Rio have this key system or do some have digital combination safes?

Does the Rio Roiss have a digital safe or a key?

Ok, make that the Arpoador Inn. Does the Arpoador Inn have safes with keys or digital combination locks?

Taxman,

Can you give us a detail description of this girl. I don't want to run into her and not knowing who she is and get suckered in by other kinds of scams that she may have come up with.

Xen, the Rio Roiss rooms all have an in-room safe that is locked by key. In Port. it is called "cofre", and they usually charge 2 Reais a day to use it.

Dfender

She was about 5 feet tall, brown shoulder length hair, brown eyes, and wide hips. She said her name was Myla and she signed into the Hotel as Mila. She approached me on Av. Atlantica, approx. 5:30 PM, with a travel guide in her hands, and asked me for directions to a restaurant. She said that she was a tourist from Lima, travelling with her sister and brother in law, who were back at their Hotel because her sister was 6 months pregnant, and that today was her 20th birthday.

Taxman,

Sorry to hear your horror story. At least you are all right now. On my first trip to Rio I was mugged right in front of hooker beach. It happen so fast. A bunch of brazen kids went right into my short pockets and ran. They didn't get much except for the lint in that pocket. They also tried to snatch the digital camera in my hand. This happened at around 4 to 5pm. I felt like it was a common occurence as everybody was looking and not acting shocked. I have been back to Rio since (I am a sucker for the hot babes) and always have security in the back of my head at all times. When I withdrawl money from the atm Citibank I'm always turining my head to look around. Sometimes I even jump in a cab just to throw who might be watching me off the trail. When I walk the streets I just carry the minimum amount of reals for the day. As picking up Help girls and taking them back to my hotel I usually just have about 2 to 3 hundred reals hidden on the table. The rest is in the hotel safe. I am also cautious of the gringoes that I meet at Help or Mea Pataca. I try not to take anything for granted. My worst nightmare is what happened to you having all my cash, credit cards and especially passport stolen. Maybe I sound paranoid but it's all commonsense if you travel in a city that has a reputation of petty and violent crime. As what happen to you could of happened to anyone. To have someone drug and rob you especially at a hotel that you have to register guests is mindnumbing. Thanks for sharing you horry story as mongers have another thing to be careful about. There are a couple of question I have.

1. Did the lady that robbed you speak english. If she is from Lima I figure she might speak spanish. Do you speak portuguese or spanish?
2. If she somehow got the key to your hotel safe how did you open the safe to discover your stuff missing? Did she also steal the key?
3. I am curious why she would take your passport as it would make it difficult for you to leave the country. I figure she would at least leave it so you could go home right away and forget about it.
4. What was the process to get a replacement passport especially if you had all you credit cards and Id stolen. How long did it take to get another one. Did your plane tickets also get stolen?

Again thanks for sharing your story.

Cueball

Taxman-- Sorry to hear about your ordeal, that sucks big time !! IMHO , it`s not wise to hide your key anywhere in your personal belongings, where do you think would be the first place someone would look ? Lock in a suitcase is good protection from girls if your in the shower or a sleep with a girl but no match for anyone if your outcold as in your case. ALWAYS hide your key elsewhere in the room, get creative, they are many places to hide a key, some are virtually impossible for anyone to find. I won`t name my favorite places for obvious reasons, but here is one example, you can`tdo this in every room it depends on the baseboard but pry the baseboard away from the wall and place the key behind it, some big curtain rods can hold a key as can some sliding closet door tracks, i`ve pryed up false floors in base cabinets and hide passport and ticket and crdit cards then renailed , yes a bit of a pain but sure no one will find it, these are a few places but there are many more even better than these , Taxman i `m not pickig on you just offering some advice so others may not go thru the same thing. One American i met said he hide his key very well , in one of his socks, damn i wouldn`t ever think to look there !!! IMHO NEVER EVER HIDE YOUR KEY IN YOUR PERSONAL BELONGS, IT IS THE MOST OBVIOUS PLACES THEY WILL LOOK.

Ditto to that - I alwyas hide my safe key somewhere very discreet and out of the way in my room - carrying it around outside the room or hiding it in my personal belongings is just stupid. I won't detail where I hide my stuff either, but here's ahint - hide up high, cariocas are short...

BS

Cueball

She spoke spanish, I speak gringo spanish and portugese, enough to get laid and fed. She left the safe key behind. I assume that the passport has some value on the streets, probably not very much. This happened on a Fri. night, so I had to wait until Monday for the US Consulate to open to get a replacement passport. I called on Saturday, as I had originally planned on leaving that Saturday, but nothing could be done until Monday to get a passport. I had to get some passport photos taken and pay $85 US for the replacement passport. Not much problem, but I had to get my hands on some cash. I had an eticket which she left behind, along with the Brazilian immigration form, so I just had to reschedule the flight for Monday night. AA waived the $100 ticket change fee when I showed them my police report.


Badseed
Fooled Again

Obviously I should have done a better job of hiding the key. Hindsight is 20/20. I was trying to prevent the quick ripoff from occurring, I never thought that I would be drugged and the bitch had all the time in the world to do whatever she wanted to.

Plus, from what I have read about Burundanga, it's a "truth serum", for all I know I could have told her where all was hidden, regardless of where I hid the key. That's a scary thought.

This almost exact scenario has happened many times in San Jose, Costa Rica. Out of town, looking for a restaurant, my birthday, etc. all the same facts. They must have all gone to the same crime school.

> Plus, from what I have read about Burundanga,
> it's a "truth serum", for all I know I could
> have told her where all was hidden, regardless
> of where I hid the key. That's a scary thought.

Sure, but when she's 5'0 and you reply "Taped to the top of the ceiling fan" what then?

Now that we know it's out there, we can take appropriate measures. One of those measures might be to use multiple hiding places -- passport in the safe, money in the ice cube tray.

They get smarter, then we get smarter. Your posting about it will help the rest of us get smarter.

Dem Gnomes

Cueball, regarding your question about why she took the passport: because US passports are worth a fortune in many parts of the world. For example, I've been told by some in SE Asia that a new US passport can fetch 10K. When I jokingly mentioned this one day to the guy at a travel agency in Bangkok who was helping me get a visa, he remarked in all seriousness "Oh no, more than that!"

IMHO, after thinking about Taxman ordeal i came to the conclusion that this doesn`t happen very often, think about it, if it happened often enough, then security would know to go check the room if no one answers the phone, either that or they just don`t give a rats ass.

Why the f... do they even bother to call then?

Turk5555

Thanks for the information. I will be calling my credit card company. Thank you.

good safety article
http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2003/09/28/savvy_is_key_to_safety_in_rio/

Oh Shit! It's Monday again and I have to get an article written for the Fuckin' Boston Globe so I can get my rent check this month and keep my cushy job as their Rio correspondent. What the fuck will I write about? Shit, I am so hung over today... damn I must have been sleeping when I put socks on with my sandals today.. wait a minute! I know what I'll write about!

What a bunchof crapola...


BS

Hey, if that keeps one dipshit from going to Rio, that article is worth it.

Sounds like Explorer though, the part about no more than 50 reals.........shit, that just gets me into a terma, I guess it's free groping and a shower is all I'll get on that budget!

There were a couple incidents over the last week while I was down in rio...just a heads up for those heading down that there have been a couple robberies involving a gun. If your not sure...be safe and take a cab.

Macmac,

Thanks for the heads up but could you be more explicit. Did the robberies happen in Copa, Centro or where ever? Who were the victims? Were they hurt? Details would be more helpful than a general warning. I think everybody that reads these boards know that Rio can be dangerous.

Rio Police Undress to Bust Beach Crime
Thu Oct 30, 7:58 AM ET

By stripping down to swimtrunks or bikinis and mixing with bathers, a special 50-member Rio de Janeiro police unit will combat rampant beach crime in Brazil's tourist mecca from next weekend, state security officials said on Wednesday.

As part of a wider plan for beach security in Rio, men and women from the special undercover unit will "infiltrate among bathers."

"They will be in swimwear, unarmed, monitoring eventual formations of drug traders, beach robbers or any kind of disturbances, and inform uniformed beach police," a state security spokesman said.



Link/URL... http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20031030/od_nm/beach_dc

I was on my 9th trip to Rio, and nothing remotely bad ever happened to me. I exercised good common sense at all times. I walked at night when I thought conditions were safe (busy streets with traffic and people walking) and took taxis when I thought things were not so safe. I was walking on Nossa Copacabana at 11PM on a Friday. The street was busy, as usual, and people were on the street, as well. Nonetheless, three guys jumped me, one of whom had a knife. In a split second I thought that with all the traffic and people around, the three guys wouldn't want to stick around very long, and I surprised them by resisting and struggling. Two of the guys took off immediately (thankfully, the guy with the knife was one of them), but one was willing to struggle a bit. I managed to fight him off. A taxi honked its horn at us -- that was all the assistance I got. If we were on a dark and lonely street, I would have handed them everything I had. Busy street, people walking, relatively early in the evening, walking with a purpose - it doesn't matter.

I was on my 11th trip and now humbly felt somewhat vulnerable and was more wary. I still fell victim to a pickpocket on the same busy street in front of Lojas Americano around 1PM in the afternoon. I saw the guy standing on the street corner looking at the pockets of the people walking in front of him. I had him pegged, but half a block down he picked my pocket so swiftly and cleanly that I could only applaud his skill. Fortunately, he only got my decoy wallet, which had small bills. Gotta love those cargo pants with the hidden and zippered pockets.

Bad things can (and, eventually, will) happen to you in Rio. What you do when it happens is equally unpredictable -- no matter how many times you may have rehearsed your reactions in your mind beforehand.

The other day a friend of mine dropped off his laundry at this place across from the Debret Hotel. It´s called LavaKilo. It´s on the corner.
He bought a 120 reais Nike Shirt at Rio Sul and dropped it off there to be cleaned along with his other laundry. There first fuck up was that it took them more than a day to actually do the laundry. He couldn´t pick it up until the second day. So just based on service...this place fucking sucks....Now to top that off...when my friend picked up his laundry...he realized the Nike shirt was missing. He goes back to the laundromat to speak to the owner of the joint to talk about doing a quick search for it or to actually get reimbursed. The fucking owner of the joint obviously sided with her employees and said that he never dropped of the shirt. We all know that it was no accident that the newest and most expensive shirt in the load disappeared. There was a fucking young guy who worked there and he probably lifted it. The other possibility is that one of those fucking favela bitches who work there stole it for a boyfriend. Just a heads up...avoid this fucking joint like the plague!!!!It´s not about the money...it´s what 40 bucks US..but it´s the principle and i hate fucking thieves. The one thing that eases my mind is knowing that these fucking minimum wage, earning 240 reais a month, will have to go home every night to fucking some favela dump like Rocinha where they can enjoy all the ``luxuries`` a third world country has to offer!!!