Riowakening

Riowakening

Brazil through an Australian's eyes

A love letter to Rio, a gangster’s paradise

A love letter to Rio, a gangster’s paradise

I’M living in a city where the gangs are so out of control the army has been called in to keep the peace. Like many predicted before last year’s Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro’s hopes for a new beginning were snuffed out along with the cauldron. The economy is in recession, automatic gun fire echoes through the skies, innocent lives are being lost and Brazilian soldiers are now helping police try and keep a lid on this explosion. Instead of just guarding the main highways and

20 Brazil and Rio tips for travellers visiting for a holiday

If you’re thinking of coming on a holiday to Brazil and Rio it's a great life choice to make, believe me. There can be a lot to get your head around as a tourist though so here are some travel tips and advice for anyone that wants to jump on a plane for a Brazilian holiday. Follow these and you'll thank me later. 1. COME! Brazil’s reputation is bipolar, it’s either known for out-of-control gang violence and petty crime or for its crazy culture, beautiful nature and even mor

Rio de Janeiro is like the Berlin of South America

Rio de Janeiro is like the Berlin of South America

Heading to a music night in the back of an Uber through Centro’s grungy streets dotted with dilapidated, graffitied-covered buildings, I couldn’t help but think ‘Rio is like the Berlin of South America’. These two cities aren’t the the richest in their countries, but they're the coolest, and if walls could talk, oh the stories each could tell. Rio is about as edgy as cities come, a word also synonymous with Berlin, and they achieve it in their own unique ways underpinned by

Sydney lockout laws: A bad problem or a Baird problem?

Sydney lockout laws: A bad problem or a Baird problem?

I've been living in Rio for most of the year, a city which suffers from some pretty bad problems. But for all its issues it doesn't suffer from Baird problems - the imagined kind of our conservative NSW Premier, like city streets full of drunken louts apparently too dangerous to walk down at night. In Rio the issues police deal with are real and in-your-face and luckily for the law-abiding, fun-loving people of this great city, of which there are many, its politicians don

Riowakening Ian Walker

About Me

I'm Ian Walker, an Australian freelance journalist and travel writer who ditched his job as a full-time newspaper reporter to move to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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