Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

I thought the hotel rating system was an international standard that fairly compared hotels with a zero to five star ranking. Turns out that I was wrong. There is no such standard. Some hotels in Brazil (and elsewhere) take advantage of that fact by wildly misrepresenting their accommodations. But more on that later.

We stayed for three nights in Rio and two nights in Manaus. Here are those two hotels:

• Rio de Janeiro
• Luxor Continental Hotel, “3 stars”
• Rua Gustavo Sampaio, 320
• Copacabana
• Rio de Janeiro – RJ
• Brasil – CEP 22010-010
• Reservations Central: 55 21 3222-9700, or Toll Free: 0800 2822070
• Manaus
• Plaza Hotel, “4 stars”
• Avenida Getulio Vargas 215, Manaus 69020-010, Brazil

The Luxor in Rio, a clean, upscale, 22 story hotel, is just a block from the Copacabana beach and features a 24/7 front desk, a roof-top pool, a money exchange, a restaurant, a workout room, and cable TV. It nicely deserves its three stars, though it is in a lower class part of town. On the downside, our room was not air-conditioned and so we had to open the windows at night. That let in mosquitoes and, much worse, the constant din from the bar patrons down on the street. Still, the wait staff was pleasant, spoke fluent English and was at all times professional and courteous. Also, our room had a programmable safe-deposit box which was handy for storing our passports. Nights were about $80.

The Plaza hotel in Manaus padded their truthful star rating with a several more stars. Though the hotel was a bit less expensive (after getting the locals-only discount), the situation was completely different from the Luxor; think of a lower-end Motel 6. The room was not nearly as nice, the room phone was broken, the front desk spoke only Portuguese, the TV had no remote and worked intermittently, the bathroom was old and in need of repair. The hotel was bedecked with strange, shiny Hindu love paintings and mysterious Indian statuettes. The room was, however, air conditioned. Nights were about $60.

So… I’d recommend the Luxor, but probably not the Plaza. But, in a larger sense, it really doesn’t matter; unless you’re old and retired, you probably don’t travel abroad for the hotels. You travel for the people, the culture, the landscape, etc. Hotels are great, insomuch as they are decently clean and provide a good night’s rest. Whether or not they have a bidet, is ultimately unimportant.

Lest you think that all of my Brazil posts will be gushing with unfettered praise, I do have a few improvement suggestions for the country.

• Drop the Visa requirement. I know it’s in place as a result of the reciprocal policy, but it’s counterproductive. That strategy only works in peer situations. Reducing the number of Americans who enter the country only hurts Brazil. It’s not fair, but it’s the best thing to do.
• Make prostitution illegal. Shutdown the Brazilian sex tourism industry. Whatever meager gains are acquired though this reprehensible practice are vastly outweighed by its deficits. It’s morally outrageous, socially depraved, medically costly and psychologically deleterious.
• Put the same amount of effort used in maintaining the beaches into cleaning and repairing the streets. The beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema are pristine, but the roads and sidewalks leave much to be desired.

More than one person I told about my Brazil trip had either been mugged in Rio de Janeiro, or knew of someone who had been. It appeared inevitable that I, too, was going to be accosted and relieved of my money during my stay there. In preparation for the seemingly unavoidable, I shaved my head in order to appear tougher and meaner.

In the days prior to departure, I thought a lot about how I might react to a mugging. Those of you who know me, will attest that I am neither a pacifist nor do I do things simply because someone tells me to. After much internal debate, I decided that if the mugger(s) had a gun I would give up the a fake/decoy wallet (prepared with a few dollars and some bogus credit cards), but if the assailants had only a knife or a club, I would fight them.

When my brother flew in to SLC before the trip, we talked in the car ride home about our potential responses to a mugging. Strangely, he had independently decided on an identical course of action; unless robbed at gunpoint, we would resist.

I guess from a mugger’s point of view, foreign tourists are good targets. They are often

• tired
• unarmed
• heavy laden with bags
• unfamiliar with the area or language
• distracted by the surroundings
• carrying money, a camera and a passport

It’s a moot point because we were never mugged. In fact, I felt very safe in Rio, even in the more sketchy parts of town (the favelas) in which we occasionally stumbled during our 15 mile daily treks.

It is noteworthy that the average Brazilian man is 5’6 1/2″ or so, and not overly muscular, so my brother and I, as taller, seasoned cage-fighters, would have had a distinct physical advantage.

During the first day in Rio, however, we were particularly on our guard for any mugging attempts. As the day pressed on and no attackers emerged, we thought, in the spirit of being proactive, that we might preemptively attack a passing Brazilian and steal his money. Then perhaps the word would spread that Americans were aggressively vicious and should definitely not be mugged. Then, as fewer tourists were targeted, Rio’s reputation as a place of thievery would diminish. All would profit. Being both afflicted with ADD, however, we were quickly distracted to less aggressive forms of amusement.

I thought coming back from the Ivory Coast was long (Ivory Coast to Togo, Paris, JFK and then SLC), but returning from Manaus gets the award for worst travel itinerary ever. I will think over the merits of cheap tickets more carefully next time…

• Manaus: arrived at airport 1:30am, left at 3:20am
• Brasilia: arrived at 5:00am, left at 5:45am
• Rio de Janeiro: arrived at 9:20am, left at 8:45pm!
• Miami: arrived at 4:15am, left at 7:25am
• Dallas/Ft. Worth: arrived at 9:30am, left at 10:45am
• Salt Lake City: arrived at 12:30pm

p.s. Yes, I’ve updated my world travels map to include Brazil. What does your Google Travel Map look like?

p.p.s. “Please place your seat back in its upright condition and stow away tray tables for take off.” WHY?!?

A special thanks to my friend and co-worker, Roberto Mello, himself a Brazilian native, and to his lovely wife Juliane, for their gracious hospitality as our tour guides and trip planners extraordinaire in Manaus (their hometown.) Our stay would have been much different had it not been for them. Thank you!

My brother and I just spent a week in Brazil. How much did it all cost? Our strategy was to be somewhat conservative: we stayed at middle-tier hotels, flew economy class, ate at standard restaurants, did not rent a car, and purchased only a few souvenirs. Oh, you should know that Brazil requires American citizens to have a visa in addition to a passport in order to enter their country, so that added a couple hundred dollars to the total. For your convenience, I’ve added up all the costs (per person) below:

• Preparations
• Brazilian Visa
• Passport photo — $20.00
• Visa fee — $100.00
• Visa service fee — $80.00
• FedEx charge — $29.86
• Vaccinations (Salt Lake Valley Health Department) — $220.00
• Hep A
• Tetanus
• Yellow Fever
• Prescriptions — $70.00
• Malarone (for Malaria)
• Doxycycline (antibiotic for exposure to fresh water)
• Xifaxan (for stomach upset)
• Books
• Travel guide book — $16.95
• Language books and audio CDs — $18.95 & $19.95
• Travel
• Plane Tickets
• Round trip SLC to Rio American Airlines ticket (with layovers in Dallas/Ft Worth and Miami) — $880.00
• Round trip Rio to Manaus GOL Airlines ticket — $356.00
• Lodging
• Hotels — $175.00 ($60-80/night x 5/2)
• Other — $400.00
• Souvenirs
• Taxis
• Excursions
• Food, Snacks, Beverages
• Tips
• Etc.

Total: — $2,186.71

After 35 hours of travel, I just arrived home from the Amazon jungle. I will have a lot to say about my travels, but I think that first, a few brief thoughts are in order.

Brazil is a country of proud people with a beautiful blending of cultures and races. Brazilians, quick with a smile, are forever passionate and gracious. In a world of gender blending, Brazilian women remain ladies with perfected class, elegance and style. Though the country’s infrastructure classifies them as third world, they are experiencing explosive growth and are posed to become a more significant player on the world’s industrial stage. Samba dancing is a unifying thread that ties the diverse people together and helps maintain a strong national identity. In the face of challenges, the music renews them with hope for the future.

Whatever is in store for the magnificent country and its people, one thing is certain, though change is inevitable, the persistent celebratory spirit of Brazil will never fade.

Those of you who have visited the RBDN travel page (RBDN world travels also available on a Google Map), might have noticed that Brazil is listed under the heading “Places I’d Like to Go Sometime.” Well, that sometime has at last arrived. Our Brazilian visas were finally approved and so my brother and I are flying down to Rio this Sunday night for a week of adventuring.

Don’t know much about Brazil? Here’s a quick primer for you:

Trivial Brazilian Facts

• Brazil is the fifth biggest country of the world (after Russia, Canada, China, and the United States.)
• Brazil is also ranked fifth in the world in population numbers (after China, India, USA and Indonesia.)
• The Amazon river is the second longest river in the world (after the Nile.)
• Brazil is the most successful soccer country in the world having won the World Cup five times.
• Brazil boasts one of the highest cesarean section delivery rates in the world (36 percent of all births; private hospitals report rates in the 80-90 percent range.)
• Brazil has the highest mortality rate for motor vehicle traffic accidents in the world.
• Brazil leads the world in the production of iron.
• Sao Paulo is Brazil’s largest city, with a population of 18 million.
• Brazil borders ten countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Franch Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
• Brazil is the country that extends the longest longitudinally (Chile is about 2,600 miles long, while Brazil is over 2,800 miles long.)
• Brazil has 26 states, and one “Distrito Federal.”
• Brazilians practice a very high level of personal hygiene– often taking numerous showers throughout the day.

srcs: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5379016.stm
http://www.popcouncil.org/mediacenter/newsreleases/brazilcsection.html
http://www.paho.org/english/dd/ais/be_v25n1-acctransito.htm
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/geography/south_america/brazil.html
http://www.deltatranslator.com/brazil_travel_tips.htm

When I have a bit of downtime, I like to brainstorm solutions to the world’s persistent problems. When I finally manage to take over the world, it’s going to be a bit awkward if I don’t have answers handy to resolve nagging global and local issues.

In order to solve the BIG problems you need a reliable problem solving strategy. Here’s mine:

1. 1. Clear Identification of Problem (and sub-problems). Scope Definition. (Often requires off-line information gathering). Root Cause(s)
2. 2. Metrics for Measuring/Comparing Solutions (Problem Resolution Goals)
3. 3. Causes, Supports, Accelerants. Related Problems. Constraints. Affected Parties.
4. 4. Possible Solutions. Previous Failed Attempts.
5. 5. Selection of Best Solution(s) per evaluation criteria in step 2
6. 6. Implementation/Action Plan

What did I do at the U the evenings of these past 2 1/2 years? Well, here is a list of some of the MBA courses I took:

• ACCTG 6000 Financial Accounting
• ACCTG 6001 Managerial Accounting
• MGT 6040 Data Analysis & Dec Mkg
• MGT 6050 Team Foundations
• FINAN 6020 Financial Management
• IS 6010 Information Systems
• MGT 6052 Business Communication
• MGT 6060 Production Oper Mgt
• IS 6410 Process Analysis
• MGT 6810 Entrepreneurship
• MKTG 6090 Marketing Management
• FINAN 6025 Managerial Economics
• IS 6420 Database Theory/Design
• IS 6470 E-Business
• MGT 6500 Managerial Negotiation
• FINAN 6300 Venture Capital
• MGT 6051 Mngng & Leading in Org
• MKTG 6300 Mktg Info Age
• MGT 6070 Business Strategy
• MKTG 6850 Promotional Marketing