Sex-Fueled, Drug-Heavy Parties Bring Rich Kids to Slums
It's midnight and the road to the nightclub is long and flooded in places. Getting to the Castelo das Pedras nightclub, home to "the best funk ball in the city," is taking some time since it's situated in the similarly-sounding Rio das Pedras favela, a community on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
The taxi driver tells me on the way to the club that I have nothing to worry about. "No need to fret about drug traffickers," he assures me. "That favela is protected by militias," he says, referring to the organized groups of former policemen who take the law into their own hands.
"So, no police?" I ask.
"No. No police there, only militias," he responds.
This is part three in ABCNews.com's 10-part special series on nightlife around the world. Click here every weekday through May 9, 2008 for the latest story.
After that comforting thought, the taxi driver leaves me at the entrance of the club where I join the queue of teenagers and 20-somethings decked out for a hot-and-heavy night of funk carioca.
Sex-Fueled, Drug-Heavy Parties Bring Rich Kids to Slums