Brazil's twin beacons

Brazil is one of those countries - something like Thailand, really - that enjoys a glowing reputation around the world. The football, coffee and beaches are universally worshiped.

Gay guys think it's great as well, possibly because Brazilian men are legally required to be good-looking. Straight guys dream about samba girls and Gisele Bundchen, who also hails from there.

Tell friends you're off to Brazil and some of them are going to beg you, only half-jokingly, to bring them back one of those beautiful Brazilians.

The population's wild ethnic mix has a lot to do with the good looks. Officially there are 100 different ethnic flavours, but that number seems low. The streets are full of Japanese, Italians and Arabs, but they're all speaking fluent Portuguese. They're not tourists.

There were waves of immigration from Europe in the 18th century, and the coffee plantations demanded their African slave labour. The first Japanese moved here 100 years ago.

These and many more nationalities and races came with their own art, culture and outlooks, and atop the Brazilian cauldron, the bubbles are endlessly charming.

Of the two largest cities, Sao Paulo is urban flair and urban headaches, while Rio de Janeiro mingles business with pleasure against a dramatic backdrop that's as globally recognised as the Eiffel Tower in Paris: a mountaintop God granting Brazil its fantastic beach on the Atlantic.

Sao Paulo endures traffic as bad as Bangkok's, but the rich people have found a solution we won't see here: civilian helicopters. The city has the world's largest fleet of them, 500 and counting.

So the wealthy businessmen flutter above the wingless folks who mill about in a dense, chaotic cityscape that seems devoid of planning - until you see stunning Ibirapuera Park.

Renowned architect Roberto Burle Marx planted the vast park right in the middle of the city, letting 11 million people breathe easier again.

Our guide, Napoleao Nassif Path, loves rattling off numbers: 79 shopping centres, 12,500 restaurants, 105 hospitals, 20 convention centres ... None of the statistics can compete in the memory with the sightseeing, though. There's a great deal to take in.

An hour's flight or a six-hour drive will get you to Rio, famed for endless Copacabana Beach and the extravagant carnival. Comparisons to Pattaya or Phuket quickly wither when the city's long and colourful history comes into play.

And for every chicita in a thong bikini, Rio has a very rich man in an Armani suit. Much business is done here, though our latest tour guide, Gionia Belmonte, prefers to ignore it.

"I feel sorry for the people in Sao Paulo who work so hard just so we can have fun here," her laughs.

We can forgive she jibe because Rio does indeed seem more relaxed in every way, including the traffic, the dress code and cost of living.

"And if they want to go to the beach they have to drive for six hours - we can just walk there!" says Belmonte, still kidding her poor inland cousins. Rio also bears an imprint of Roberto Burle Marx, and the four-kilometre beachfront sidewalk is almost as much as a wonder of the world as the ever-photogenic Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city.

"It's been there for nearly 80 years but was just re-inaugurated on June 30 after a $4-million renovation," Belmonte reports, spreading her arms out like Jesus to illustrate the cost. Also vying for attention in a place stacked with world-famous things is Sugarloaf Mountain, the completely natural upright torpedo of a peak around which the city sprawls. It even starred in a 007 film.

But there's plenty that appeals in Sao Paulo, too! As an aid to making up your mind, on this page and 12B are some of the best things about both cities.

Sensational Sao Paulo

Reach high

Get a bird's-eye view of the city's mushrooming high-rises from the highest riser of all, the Altino Arantes Building right in the heart of things. The panorama is quite stunning and an instant lesson in what makes this the sixth-largest city in the world - and the most populous in the Americas.

Honour football

Football has been called the heart of the nation, and the state-of-the-art Football Museum at the Pacaembu Stadium explains why. It offers a journey through the sport's history and highlights in 15 rooms on two floors, with all the exhibits hi-tech and interactive. And the stadium is pretty impressive too.

www.MusuDoFutebol.org.br

Dine 'til you explode

Sao Paulo boasts a great gastronomy scene and lots of trendy bars, but a must-try is the Brazilian- style barbecue restaurant. They've got buffets and waiters walking around with chunks of meat skewered on their sharp knives - don't argue, try a slice.

Also, try the local soft drink made with guarana, very refreshing and the world's third-most consumed pop. For booze, have a Chopp Brahma. Chopp means "light", and it is indeed.

Market shopping

A visit to the Municipal Market is a two-in-one tour. You've got an impressive building with 55 stained-glass windows and a food paradise, redolent with the aromas of spice, exotic fruit and different types of cheese. Note the diversity: Indian garam masala sits beside Italian olive oil.

The food court on the mezzanine is sensational -have the codfish.

www.MercadoMunicipal.com.br

Window shopping

Sao Paulo is the globe's 10th-richest city, with separate districts catering to wealthy shoppers and dozens of malls. The most famous sales street is Rua Oscar Freire in Jardins district.

Turn Japanese

Buy fruit, handicrafts and sushi in Japan Town, where the lampposts evoke the Far East and the signs are all in Japanese (they've been moving to Brazil for a century). Ask to see the Japanese-style McDonald's, too.

Get arty

No surprise that the Museu de Arte de São Paulo - the Sao Paulo Museum of Art - has a huge collection of Latin American art, but it's also got Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Van Gogh, Degas and Bonnard!

The daring building itself is by architect Lina Bo Bardi, completed in 1968 with two enormous, red colonnades. It's on Paulista Avenue in the heart of the city's financial district, so great architecture is all around.

Get religion

The Catedral Da Se in the city centre is a fine example of Catholic architecture, bui lt in 1913 in Neo-Gothic style. This is Sao Paulo so there has to be a lofty world ranking attached: It's the fourth-largest Neo-Gothic cathedral in the world.

Get some air

Ibirapuera Park isn't even the city's largest park (that's Parque do Carmo), but it has several museums, and homegrown architect Oscar Niemeyer designed the Oca and the new Ibirapuera Auditorium. This is where Brazil Fashion Week is held.

Nearby is the Monumento Bandeiras, a stirring homage to 18th-century cartographer Banderiantes Paulistas and his hunt for precious metals.

Ravishing Rio roars

You've seen the postcards, now go meet the real Rio de Janeiro

Be on that beach

Most of the hotels offer great views of world-famous Copacabana Beach, but take a stroll on the long, long promenade, which is quite safe in the evening and dotted with restaurants.

Look for the "Girl from Ipanema" of song at the upscale end of the beach, where all the ritzy houses and apartments are.

Have a drink

This is the country that gives birth to entire genres of music, so you know the nightlife has to be good. We'd recommend the best bar and the best place to hear samba and dance if we could remember which ones they were among the thousands of choices.

See the future

Brazil will host World Cup 2014, and Maracana Stadium will have the opening ceremony. Built for the 1950 World Cup, it's packed with history and atmosphere, and English-speaking guides will show you around.

Go loafing

The unmistakable outline of Sugarloaf Mountain is part of Rio's essence, and you can do the mambo on top without needing spikes and ropes. Cable cars have been ambling 750 metres up and down again since 1912 - don't worry, they're replaced regularly. Halfway up they have the wooden cable that carried Roger Moore in James Bond's 1979 adventure.

Meet Jesus

The magnificent 38-metre-tall statue of Cristo Redentor - Christ the Redeemer - has just been cleaned and rededicated, so that it gleams even brighter in the sunlight atop Corcovado Hill.

At the feet of Jesus is a platform from which tourists and Christian pilgrims soak up a stunning panoramic view of Rio, across to Sugarloaf and Rodrigo de Freitas Lake to Copacabana and out into the equatorial Atlantic.

A word of warning: If you buy a postcard, make sure Sugarloaf is behind Jesus' back. If he's facing the domed peak, it's Photo- shopped.

Get some culture

Another superb work of architecture, the Municipal Theatre celebrated its 101st anniversary last month.

This is where the grand cultural events take place, the symphonies, operas and concerts.

While you're there, stroll around the square and admire the edifices of the Fine Arts Department and Library.

www.TheatroMunicipal.rj.gov.br

The writer travelled with Qatar on its inaugural flight to Sao Paulo.