Not all World Cup visitors to Brazil head straight for the beach or stay in expensive hotels.<br /><br />A short drive from Ipanema, up the Morro Dos Irmãos – Two Brothers mountain – the views are among the most spectacular in Rio.<br /><br />Vidigal, a shanty town once off-limits to outsiders, is now increasingly popular with tourists.<br /><br />It is described as the most foreigner-friendly of all Rio’s favelas.<br /><br />“Tourists are still a little scared when they arrive in the favela. Many admit they’re a little afraid. It is a different life here. But after just one night they feel at home,” said Fernanda, a hotel owner.<br /><br />Police have retaken control of the streets from drugs gangs.<br /><br />It has enabled visitors to see Brazil’s poorer neighbourhoods – although some admit they have come mainly for the World Cup.<br /><br />“Primarily, yeah. But also I came to Vidigal to experience favela life,” said British tourist Steven Radford.<br /><br />Thugs armed with machine guns have gone; more and more hotels, restaurants, bars and restaurants are springing up. <br /><br />But the transformation has its downside. Many outsiders are also buying properties here. House prices and rents have shot up.<br /><br />“If we don’t act now, I think in twenty to thirty years there will only be luxury homes here,” said local community leader André Mauricio Gosi.<br /><br />Just five years ago the police were afraid to set foot in Vidigal. Now, come nightfall, tourists sip beers peacefully outside bars.<br /><br />But with some house prices having increased tenfold, many locals fear they may be forced to leave the area altogether.
