I hate to say this, but Brazil has become awfully expensive

I am originally from Brazil, so I obviously want the country to thrive, it is nature.

But I have to be honest. Brazil has become one expensive travel destination. In Sao Paulo, not only are restaurants and hotels extremely expensive, but so are cabs. Going up and about can easily cost you 100 bucks a day, if not more. Relatively short hauls cost 30, 40 reais, about 20 US$.

As for the restaurants...Sure, they are good. In fact, Sao Paulo is known as one of the best gastronomic cities of the world, boasting the 7th ranked restaurant of the world, D.O.M.. This is obviously not an eatery I frequent, so let us not even go there.

Getting a single pizza, a few drinks (beer and soft drinks) and sausage bread cost a whopping 106 reais at Margarita, in the Jardins section of the city. Dishes at a restaurant called Fidel (not Cuban, just in case you are wondering), started at 38 reais, and a few cost 60+. It was a good place, however, not gastronomic level. Worse it, an all you can eat sushi at Melo Alves street charged a whopping 240 reais for four people, and the quality was not that good either. A good churrascaria will also clean your wallet.

I don't drink wine, so I have no idea how much that costs. I imagine an arm and a leg.

I do not stay at hotels when I stay, so I cannot tell you the prices. But I reckon you can hardly get anything good for less than 200 dollars.

Shopping is not inexpensive as well. Sure, you might still find good shoe and clothing deals in no-mall stores, but these are stores that tourists are unlikely to visit. As the price of tickets is also high, you have one very expensive destination. People from other cities also report high prices, although not as high as Sao Paulo's.

The situation is likely to get much worse around the World Cup in 2014. If you want to go to Brazil then, get a second mortgage!