Blame it on Rio (first time around)

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And so we packed our bags and headed for Rio, hearing that the weather would be somewhat more to our liking as we moved North. It was a long bus ride.. at some ungodly hour of the night I stumbled into a gold plated casino type place to use the bathroom, and Caitlin woke up snuggling into the random guy she was sitting next to. Ahhh, you gotta love overnighters.

Arriving in Rio we knew we were going to have a good time when Janna at the hostel greeted us with "We have a bottom bunk bed for you, but the guy who is supposed to be checking out had a big night last night and we can't wake him. Why don't you go and have breakfast and maybe he'll get up soon". He didn't but we had breakfast, checked in, and went off to explore Copacabana. It was another one of those occaisions when Caitlin sends hers wishes to the universe and they are answered. This time, "Wouldn't it be cool if some lady came along and sold us sarongs, right here on the beach?" Cue sarong lady. For those of you who haven't been, there are vendors selling all sorts of useless stuff all day long on Copacabana beach, but they never seem to have what you want when you want it. Sarongs bought it was time for a swim. This was also the day we found Yogoberry. Mmmm yogoberry (it's pretty much Pinkberry for those of you that have been to New York).

Our accomodation also came with a welcome Caipirinha, so, following our tiresome overnight bus journey, we thought one quiet cocktail would be just the remedy to send us into sweet dreamland. Not so. Taly (our lovely bartender) makes some of the best, and strongest, caipirinhas the world has ever seen. And one never means one in Rio. Nor does early have the same meaning. We met Trent, who'd become a bit of a legend in South America, and began the drinking. The somehow, with none of us originally being very keen, we all of a sudden had 8 willing landlubbers signed up for a boat party.

To be honest, things get a little hazy from here on in. There were caipirinhas, some of which were passionfruit flavoured. There were some very crazy nuts and some watermelon. There was some of what could loosely be called dancing. And there was a boat, which at some stage, left the marina and sailed through the lit up Rio harbour and under a big bridge. I believe it was a good night. The crazy part came at the end however when we tried to play the 'let's fit 50-odd Westerners into one taxi' game. 4 fitted. Lame.

So a bunch of us began to walk the streets. So I'm told, an out of service bus, lights off, was driving towards us. We joined hands, blocked the road and caused the darkened bus to come to a halt. All of us 40-something people jumped on board, handed over a bit of money to make it worth the driver's while and pointed in the direction of Copacabana. The lights went on and somehow we made it home (Thanks Jay!).

Day two had a shakey start. But our tour of the favelas was amazing, even with a hangover. We started by zooming from the bottom of Rochina favela, through the winding streets at breakneck speed on the back of a motorcycle. Then we wandered our way down, admiring the views, visiting galleries, day care centres and a very tasty bakery. It was a great morning. That afternoon there was beach. That evening there was couch. It was not early, and it was not without drinks (this is Rio), but it was a start.

Wednesday we headed over to Corcovado to visit Jesus. He's pretty big but not the biggest (that's in Cochabamba Bolivia doncha know... yes cos I think I mentioned it in between icecreams in that blog entry). We found ourselves a little taxi man who told us all sorts of interesting facts about the region and headed for the top. It was a stunner of a day and the views were amazing. 360 over downtown Rio, the beaches, the islands and beyond. Beautiful. From here I don't know how anyone could not fall in love with Rio. Also, there were monkeys. And we know how I like monkeys.

Wednesday night was another in the hostel bar, although again not an entry, nor drink free evening. But this was beginning to be expected. We needed a change. We needed some sleep. We needed a detox. And so we set our sights on the historical town of Paraty.

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