Of course, the day we leave Sao Paulo the skies clear, it warms up and the place looks a bit less like the nightmare vision of the urban future than it did for most of the weekend. 

From the air, its vastness even had some beauty about it.

It would be rude not to.

Back in Rio the world's biggest party, Carnival, beckons. 

I've been umm-ing and arhh-ing around whether to remain in the city for it, or to get away. But the place has so won me over - plus overseas friends and Cariocas we met are either arriving or said 'you must do it' - that I've rented an apartment in Copacabama for the celebrations.

So my friend, Alan, who arrived two days ago, and I are flying back to Rio this morning...

After four fantastic weeks, Stein, my dear friend and travelling partner, has this evening flown back to London. I'll miss him very much.

I remember so clearly the moment some months ago I put to him: "Hey, how do you feel about going to Antarctica?" and his "I'm up for it." response. Little did I know how well it would all turn out.

We've known each other a long time and holidayed together before (although neither of these are necessarily ingredients for good, friction-free travelling, especially when 10 days at sea in a compact cabin is involved). But there's really no one else I would rather have shared the last month with. It's been absolutely superb and huge fun.

Thanks, Matey, and good luck with the new life and job in New York. I'll see you in July. 

Tchau, Sao Paulo.

I'm glad to have experienced Sao Paulo and at some point in the future will return for three reasons: the Fasano, the restaurants, and the clubs. But overall, it's a difficult city to love. 

Certainly, the scale of it is spectacular - it goes on forever, the people are open, warm and friendly, and the dining out and nightlife superb; but it's a tough place with some of the ugliest cityscape I have ever seen. And we were told that its fearsome reputation for crime is well-founded: big swathes of the city are definite no-go zones. (Even in central districts, I was not ever comfortable taking my camera out). 

But I kind of admire that the place cares so little about what you think of it.

There was just one SP "sight" I really wanted to do. Only the one: the BanESPA Tower offers truly incredible views to the horizon, through a thousand skyscrapers in all directions. It's an image I'd seen on a large scale some years ago, wrapped 360 degrees around the escalators at the London store Selfridges during their Brazil festival. From then, I'd wanted to see it. 

But Saturday, when we got there, it was closed. Today, the lifts weren't working. 

Then it started to rain, again. 

So these shots will have to do instead, taken from the top of our hotel. 

SP finally indulges us. Briefly.

OK, I sort of now know what the fuss is about. This place is finally starting to deliver.

After a dull, wet day in which Sao Paulo seemed to continually thwart us, we had dinner at one of its best restaurants, 'DOM'. It was outstanding. 

Later we went on to 'The Week', one of the biggest SP clubs. Again, I have to say, it was incredible. These people really know how to have a good time.

Overall, an unforgettable night.

Sao Paulo: big, bold and certainly no beauty.

This city is a MONSTER!

24 hours ago we left Rio to spend a weekend in SP, home to around 29 million people and the world's third biggest city. 

It is so vast that I can't begin to get my head around the place. And so far it has shown to us a face that only a mother could love.

SP has many, many times more skyscrapers than any other city I know - in all directions are 30-40 storey towers as far as you can see. The view from Skye Lounge, last night's restaurant, was something else: across the treetops, a wall of massive skyscrapers and a million lights that went on for miles and miles. Manhattan cannot be compared.

And in this city, wealth, where it exists, is crassly thrust in your face. If I hear another roaring Lamborghini...

There is even a luxury department store, 'Daslu', which is so far up its retail an*s that it does not allow you to arrive by foot - but instead by car, taxi or helicopter. (As the city's roads become increasingly choked with traffic the super wealthy are taking to the skies. SP now has more private helicopters than Manhattan).

Our hotel, the beautiful Fasano, is an exception to this madness and possibly the finest city hotel I have ever stayed in. Discreet luxury is the name of the game here and the place is, thankfully, a calm oasis amid the chaos of this mega-city (see above).

Sao Paulo will be a difficult city to get to know at all, particularly in four days. But we're not really here to be charmed by the place, but instead for the superb food and legendary nightlife - supposedly some of the best on the planet. The Paulistas do not hold back.

(When the rain stops, pictures of the city will follow).

Crappy photo*, but a nice tush...

And it kind of captures the moment.

Last weekend we ended up at Grande Rio, one of the Samba Schools gearing-up for carnival. 

It was packed with 3,000 people, about 100 degrees and 100% humidity inside, and an unforgettable few hours.

And at that point my mind was made up: I'm going to be in Rio for Carnival.

Now, what to wear?

(* taken with mobile phone)