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Published: November 18th 2012
Rio De Janeiro
View from our hotelIt is goodbye to Ilha Grande today so we packed our bags had a great breakfast said our goodbyes and left for the port. As we walked down the beach we noticed that sometime this morning they had dug out the small stream leading into the beach and had made it difficult to cross. We watched some other tourists try to cross and sink into the sand and water, so with our boots on and backpacks we decided to take the long way through the back of the town to the port. The detour added another 15 minutes to our morning walk and we arrived at the dock to a long queue of people waiting to get the 10.00am ferry back to Angra do Reis. We were soon underway with the ferry being just as slow but the seas a little more choppy. When we landed at the port of Angra we looked for a taxi to take us to the bus terminal but none were there so it was a 25 minute walk with full backpacks in the muggy heat, so we both looked bedraggled and in a pool of sweat when we arrived.
Rio De Janeiro
Sugar Loaf from our hotel Guess where all the taxis were? You guessed it outside the bus terminal with the drivers all smoking and chatting having a nice old time.
Here we had to queue up again for bus tickets to Rio by the time we got to the counter the 1.00pm was sold out and we got the last two seats on the 1.40pm bus, at least they run regularly. We sat and waited and cooled down a bit waiting for the bus which did not turn up till 2.00pm along with the 2.00pm bus. This caused confusion because both buses were identical and had Rio on them so we had to double check we got on the right bus and wouldn’t you believe it the 2.00pm bus left first. The trip was beautiful winding around the coast back to Rio but 1 hour into it we had to stop for a lunch break unbelievable this was meant to be a short trip back to Rio and it is already taking forever. Well confusion reigned again with the two buses parked side by side we stayed on board and eventually people were getting back on board and one man became agitated because he
Rio De Janeiro
Shelley at the Bar hut on Copacabana Beach thought his belongings had been taken then another passenger informed him he should be on the other bus well this continued till everyone was seated on both buses and we could leave.
Arrived at Rio bus station after 4.00pm and ran around and brought tickets to our next destination in a few days and then walked out to get a taxi. Rio bus terminal have prepaid taxi booths where you can pay for your taxi to your destination, and it is a great safe option and saves you also from being ripped off. Unfortunately today we discovered that none of them would accept us and we think it may have been because we were staying in the city centre rather than at Copacabana or Ipanema. The women running the booths kept indicating for us to go outside and get a taxi and the last one we spoke to gave us the thumbs down signal as if to say “sorry guys you are screwed”. Walked outside and here was the biggest queue we had yet seen. We tried to check if we were in the right line and got a few grunts so we assumed it was correct - damn.
Rio De Janeiro
Scott going cross eyed from his first sip of Caipirinha This line is where the price is set for the trip so it is more reliable than getting a taxi off the street. The taxis dribbled through and after an hour of waiting we were finally at the front of the queue and then into a taxi on our way to Cinelandia.
We had hoped to stay at Copacabana or Ipanema but it was too expensive and the hostels were booked out, so we got a relatively cheap place in the centre of town near the theatre. As our taxi pulled up I said to Scott he has the wrong place we had stopped outside a flash looking place and then we realised yes we are staying at the Windsor Asturias. We had heard to be careful in this area on weekends because there is nothing opened and no one around so after a quick shower we headed out. Being Friday night after a working week the place was buzzing with office workers drinking up a storm and lots of restaurants near our hotel. We chose a place and after more confusion realised it was busier at the outside tables because the drinks were cheaper…not sure why? The meal
Rio De Janeiro
Then the smile comes was big and good and we ended up talking to a nice Brazilian man who could speak English and he gave us good info on what it was like to live in Rio, but unfortunately his friends could not join in on the conversation so we felt guilty. About 9.30pm we said goodbye and collapsed into bed.
Day 396 Saturday 10th November Today is about revisiting our old stomping ground at Copacabana so after breakfast walked around the corner to the metro station, so far this is a great location if you can’t afford the beach areas. The metro system in Rio is great, it is clean, safe and fast so we were soon hoping off at Cardeal Arcoverde which is the station near Copacabana. We walked around and I went to a beautician I went to the last time I was here and made an appointment for 3.00pm so we had plenty of time to look at everything, the only downside it was starting to rain. We ducked into a shop selling Havianas throngs and spent ages (well me Shelley) trying to decide which ones to buy. By the time we left the shop
it was now pouring so we spent time ducking in and out of shops, this was not a beach day. About 2.00pm we stopped and had a snack and took shelter from the now pouring rain and watched the people madly dashing around trying not to get wet.
After my appointment we walked down to the beach huts that sell Caipirinhas and stopped at the one we spent some fun nights at during Carnival. The guys were lovely and we stood under the awning and enjoyed the good but lethal caipirinhas, the barman showed me how to make them and I now know why they are lethal – the cachaca is liberally poured in. After a few and not wanting to get drunk as we had the metro to catch back we said goodbye and somehow managed to get a T-shirt with the name of the bar, it was a staff one but clean so the barman on the next shift will be shirtless.
Stopped at the restaurant near our hotel Cia dos Galetos for dinner and got the same waiter who like the others is an original with the place. All the waiters have white jackets and
Rio De Janeiro
Copacabana on a grey day black bowties and the average age is 65 years, but they know about service and really are lovely maybe they are not allowed to retire. We were a bit apprehensive about coming back to Rio, but now that we are here it feels great, and as there was a great crowd and vibe at our restaurant we partied on like there was no tomorrow.
Day 397 Sunday 11th November Unfortunately when you party on like there is no tomorrow, when tomorrow actually comes you sort of wish there hadn’t been a yesterday. Started the day slowly and after breakfast decided to go to Ipanema Beach and look around. The weather is beautiful today so it was great to just walk around and take in the vibe. Note no swimming here firstly the water is freezing and secondly the name Ipanema is Indigenous word for “place that gives bad luck or place of dangerous seas” and you all know I am a chicken liver about the cold. Today the famous Ipanema Hippie Markets were on so we spent time walking around with me having to remind myself I only have a backpack and nothing more will
Rio De Janeiro
Copacabana Palace Hotel where we wish we were staying fit in. There was lots of interesting things for me but Scott was a bit bored and I did not see too many old hippies maybe one or two, I think things have changed since the 60’s and 70’s.
Finally stopped and got a meal which ended being a bit strange as the place was like an American burger joint and all the waiters spoke English. The meals were huge and pretty good so we will not need dinner. Walked back through the markets and then onto the metro to go back to the hotel. Our hotel has amazing views of Rio and from the rooftop pool area we can see Sugar Loaf, Cristo Redentor, the aqueduct and part of the cathedral. All these things we saw last time we were here in February and due to the cost did not do again so it was nice to get good views of them for free. Whilst on the roof Shelley looked over the edge of the building and went “Whoa this is high I sure couldn’t rappel from this height”. Had to then remind her that the building was about 66 metres high and she had rappelled 72 metres….so
Rio De Janeiro
Futeboll on the beach yes she could rappel this height. We watched the sunset over the city and then got to see the lights illuminate the city which was amazing.
Day 398 Monday 12th November Another fine day but today is our last day in Rio I feel sad as I really like this city but I can’t stay forever there are more place to see. We decided to walk around the city centre and relook at things like the theatre, shops and churches, being Monday everything is opened and busy. Like all big city you have to push your way through the crowds and occasionally it feels you are going nowhere fast. One of the churches we went into was Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Candelaria which is a large church which was once very wealthy and is in baroque and renaissance styles. We are faithless but it is always great to visit the churches of a city, they give an indication of past and present glory, architecturally they are appealing and finally are a great respite from the maddening crowds.
Along our walk we managed to pick up a Portuguese phrase book as we are having
Rio De Janeiro
The beach bar huts on the beach major issues with the language and need as much help as we can get. We managed generally well with the Spanish throughout the rest of South America, but boy the Portuguese language is doing our heads in. As an example the Brazilian currency is the Real, Aussies would say “real” as it is shown,, Spanish say “Ree al”, which is similar and easy to understand but the Portuguese pronounce it “Hay-ow” or the plural Reais is pronounced “hay-ice”…..Unsure how that works. Discovering also that the Brazilian’s aren’t very good at pantomime or don’t have great patience for silly gringos that haven’t done the right thing and learnt Portuguese…just hope we can fumble through.
In the late afternoon we wandered back to the hotel to sit and wait a bit for our overnight bus. Got a feed around the corner at our favourite restaurant for the final time before returning to our hotel to pick up our bags. Paid our bill, said our goodbyes and got a taxi out to the terminal. Rio’s terminal is large, old and very chaotic and the whole area is presently undergoing a revamp. This is perhaps one of the few signs we have seen
Rio De Janeiro
Looking down from the top of our hotel of new infrastructure in the town leading up to the World Cup and the Olympics. Compared to what we saw in Sydney prior to the 2000 Olympics, Brazilian’s seem to be taking a more laid back approach to the impending storm.
Had to wait an hour before boarding our 9.00pm bus to Porto Seguro. This was to be a 19 hour journey and have discovered that the longer the trip the shorter the leg room and once again we had to contend with cramped stuffy conditions.
Day 399 Tuesday 13th November As per usual we couldn’t sleep and was forced to stare at the back of the head that was in my face for the entire journey. Bus stopped only occasionally with the first at 1am and then again at 5am, which is thankfully for a driver change as well as a food stop. A huge electrical storm followed us up the coast for most of the night but by morning we were greeted by blue skies. Our bus trundled on through the day till we stopped at the town of Eunapolis, which is located about 60 minutes from our final stop. Sat there
Rio De Janeiro
Igreja de NS de Candelaria for nearly an hour for some reason, and had a lot of the locals upset and agitated. When we went to try and work out what the problem was we started getting contradictory information on whether we needed to change bus….did I mention that Brazilians aren’t good at Pantomimes. We ended up sitting on the bus waiting till we finally got under way and around 4.30 we reached the town of Porto Seguro. Before we did anything else we picked up our onward tickets for Friday and then got a taxi down to the port. It was only a 5 minute taxi ride and got stung 20 Reais ($10), but later found out this is the going rate.
At the port we got our tickets for the ferry ride across the river and because we just missed one we had to wait thirty minutes…our timing is still out. On the other side of the river we were confronted by a wall of taxi drivers demanding our attention. All of them kept demanding 20 Reais for the 2 kilometre drive to our Hotel, which again seemed right over the top. Tried our best to bargain them down but they would
Rio De Janeiro
View for the hotel roof just walk away rather than dropping. At our third attempt on getting someone cheaper we had to face the fact that either we would have to walk the 2 kilometres in the heat with our bags or cough up the money. After 19 hours on a bus it was an easy (albeit painful) choice to pay the money. The taxis over here are all Kombi’s and minivans and they shuttle people between the port and the town of Aarial d’Ajuda, which is a distance of 4 kilometres. We discovered later that they usually hold ten people and charge 2 Reais per person, and they tend to hang around till full before taking off, for some reason the guys at the port just hoodwinked us into taking the whole taxi for 20 Reais rather than waiting for other passengers…..thanks guys.
The Possada Sol da Terra where we are staying is located half way between the port and town in a quiet street amongst hundreds of other hotels. We would normally get a place in the town itself but chose this place mainly because it was cheap, and the 2km walk into town would probably do us good. When we were
Rio De Janeiro
Christ looking over us let into the Posada we were greeted by a guy who knew no English and lacked all pantomime skills. We quickly guessed that he was the caretaker and no one else was staying here or working here. He tried to ring someone else without luck and so we spent an agonising hour trying to inform him that we had a booking. He finally gave us a room and we were able to wash off the dust before heading into town for a feed. Aarial d’Ajuda is a small town that sits on a hill overlooking a palm fringed beach filled coastline. The town itself is pretty and filled with souvenir shops and restaurants, with the more local type cafes at the north end and the higher cost touristy ones in the south. Of course we stuck to the cheap end and picked up a bloody great pizza for dinner for 28 reais ($14). To get home we discovered the 2 reais taxi option and got a lift back to our hotel without any dramas. Our caretaker was still the only one there so we went to bed not knowing what to expect in the morning.
Day 400 Rio De Janeiro
Theatro Municipal with Comedia or maybe insanity Wednesday 14
th November
400 days on the road and still counting whhoooooooo.
Got up to discover the owner of the Posada had turned up to greet us and prepare breakfast for us. Donald had worked in the USA and so could speak perfect English which was good for us except he spoke way too much English and we discovered he could talk the leg of a chair. Mum you always complain that Dad talks too much, well he wouldn’t get a word in with this guy…he was motor mouth on steroids. A really lovely guy with lots of stories just maybe a few too many stories and so we got stuck with him at the breakfast table for over two hours. Contemplated faking a coronary so I could get carted off in Ambulance to get away from him, but thankfully Shelley managed some skilful footwork to extract ourselves.
With the morning gone we walked into town once more, which is a great walk except the last bit where you have to walk up a steep hill. Walked through the town and out the other side to the beach of Praia Mucuge where we found restaurants set out
Rio De Janeiro
Tragedia Statue on Theatro Municipal along the sand. There was a fairly strong breeze blowing and the water was really choppy and uninviting. After a short walk along the beach it started to rain so our only choice was to head into one of the beach restaurants under cover of an umbrella and drink Caprahinas and beer……I know it was bloody tough.
In the late afternoon we walked back into the centre of town for a feed a bit of shopping and of course a beer or two…the day just got tougher. Of course there was a penalty for our holiday laziness, because when we got back to our hotel at 9pm, who was waiting for us but Donald. He proceeded to hold us hostage till 1am by which time we had both sobered up and had thumping headaches and had been bitten to death by mosquitoes. Once again a lovely guy, which just makes it impossible to be rude, but if we get caught again we may have to turn violent. Still not sure how Shelley got us away from him but if she hadn’t we would have been there till breakfast time and perhaps beyond.
Day 401 Thursday 15th Rio De Janeiro
Threatro Municipal November
Woke up and tentatively crept out to see if Donald was around and discovered he was chewing the ear off some lovely Swiss woman. Bloody great, so we ran down and scoffed down our breakfast before he turned to us and all the time feeling sorry for his new captive. Sorry love but no acts of chivalry here, it is every man for himself and so we left her to his mercy. And for our sins it started to rain and rain hard so it didn’t seem like a good day to go to the beach or the town and so sat and read till the late afternoon.
Back up the hill to town and it was a buzz with food and drink stalls and hundreds of tourist the weekend rush must start today. All the shops were opened there were ones we had not noticed before but all were full of people and activity. We chose a restaurant called Clube Sushi for dinner Scott Teriyaki Chicken came out and it looked like an entrée size it was a joke and my yakissoba size was OK but the only vegetable was cabbage and hardly any chicken. Chicken
On the road
Scott's view for 19 hours must be the price of gold so we were very disappointed.
Aarial d’Ajuda has been a nice place to chill once again but we are sort of looking forward to a bit more substance and hopefully our next destination Salvador will fill the void.
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Anastasia78
Anastasia78
Well said!
"Unfortunately when you party on like there is no tomorrow, when tomorrow actually comes you sort of wish there hadn’t been a yesterday." Enjoyable read and beautiful photos. Looking forward to following. :)