“El peligro no existe, solo existe el miedo” (“Danger doesn’t exist, only fear exists” in Spanish), were the only words I kept telling myself, a feeble attempt to try and calm my nerves. I had already had a rough day and the last thing I wanted was 100 sketchy characters, some with guns and other weapons, staring at me.

Sao Paulo is not for the timid. My guide book reserves a dozen pages to describe the varieties of thievery present in Brazil. Unfashionable is the style of snatch and scarper, rather thieves either act as samaritans distracting tourists away from busy streets into convenient mugging zones, or in an alternative theatrical vein they dress in police costume and demand the payment of imaginary fines. They mug the Brazilian way, they mug with flair and imagination.