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Rio is a place of dreams: it's intriguing, exotic and fun. The picture postcard views from Sugar Loaf, the colour and chaos of Carnaval, the swinging of samba hips, the beautiful bodies on Ipanema, the tiny fio dental bikinis…there's seemingly no end of images for this captivating city on Brazil's sparkling Atlantic coast. Hardly surprising then that the locals, or cariocas, call this the cidade maravilhosa, or marvellous city. With some ten million of them, though, the city does have its problems, and the stark reality of the overcrowding and disparity of wealth is no more obvious than in the surrounding favelas, or shanty towns. Stick to the better trodden paths of districts like Leblon, Botafogo and Flamengo, however, and you just can't fail to be swept up in the hustle and bustle and sheer hedonistic lifestyle of the place - tudo bem when you consider you're improving your Portuguese at the same time…
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