rio

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Its taken me a wee bit of time to update this blog, but that mainly due to the fact I have spent the last 3 weeks pretty much on the beach. Plus typing this is a massive effort, and its costing me a fortune in internet cafes!! Apologies in advance for spelling and grammar, but its late, the keyboard is ruddy awful, and I´m meant to be winning money at poker of some Irish lads back at the hostel, so do your best to decypher what I mean.

I arrived in Rio and I was greeted by a man with an umbrella, it wasnt because I was a VIP or to shade me from the sun, but because it was lashing it down. Not quite how I pictured my entrance into Rio.

Macarena stadium

The next day I took the subway to the national football stadium, that will be used for the Olympics and world cup finals. At its peak it used to hold 183,000, but now its just 83,000. Its also home to four teams from Rio, Vasco, Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense.

I did the stadium tour for 20reals, and if I´m honest i was expecting a bit more. In my opinion, it was just a big lump of concrete, and lacked the soul of many other stadiums I had previously visited. Although every Brazil child dreams of playing at this stadium........

That night the girl, who works in the hostel, invited me along to view some art in a nightclub??? The art was done using recycled household material. Some of the art was impressive, whilst some didnt even deserve to be recycled. It was a massive case of putting on the xmas day face, of liking something, even though you hoped they kept the receipt.

I beat a Brazilian at Football

After some 6 odd weeks without getting my barnet chopped, I was starting to look like Greengrass from Heartbeat (which is apparently big in Norway!!), so I set off to find somewhere to get my haircut. To be honest I was more nervous about getting my haircut, than walking the streets of Rio at night.

I managed to find somewhere that looked good, and I walked in with the expectation of coming out half an hour later with a Brazilian perm (like Daryl from Coming to America). Thankfully the owner was English, so he was able to explain to the hairdresser Felipe exactly how I wanted it cut, and he also explained the Ashby double crown was a no go area. Felipe appeared to be using toe nail clippers, and my head changed into a bonsai tree, as he took an absolute age. But I was in no rush, as I was given a beer whilst he cut my hair, and they also had a playstation I could play on.

After he finished cutting my hair, I challenged him to a game on the playstation. If I am honest, I destroyed him at football, I knew my 4 years at uni didnt go to waste for nothing. So England 1 Brazil 0.

Favela Tour

Next day it was lashing it down again, so I decided to do a favela tour. I wasnt sure about it, as essentially your going to take pictures and view other people´s misery. But so many people had recommended it to me, and Rio is such a city of contrasts, I thought it would be good to see Rio from another perspective.

We were driven to Favela Rocina, which is the biggest favela in Rio. I believe it is home to some 200,000 people, and I can believe it. After getting off the minibus we were taken to the top of the favela by motorbike. I think its fair to say that the 10mins was probably the scariest part of the whole day. I think I lost 2 of my nine lives in the space of 10mins. I never thought getting off a motorbike in the middle of a favela could actually be enjoyable!!

The view from the top was amazing, just a spiralling mass of concrete, power cables, and people. But despite the tangled mess, it was actually strangely aesthetically pleasing. Our guide Daniel had been the tour for 12 years and he was so knowlegable, and he seemed to know everybody in the Favela, which was obviously quite reasuring. He explained there is relatively very little crime within the Favela, as the drug lords who control the Favela, do not want any police coming into the Favela. So essentially its autonomous.

They dont pay taxes, but they are able to get electricity and water for a fee. If you cannot afford water, the water is turned on at certain times during the day by the water authorities, and you can collect water from one of the pipes, as shown in the photo. But the Favela had everything, a normal community would. They had dry cleaners, barbers, bakeries (check out the photo with my chops wrapped round a favela dognut), and one guy even had a 42inch flat screen tv!!

Walking around the Favela felt pretty safe, although you only had to lose Daniel down a back-street and you were not feeling as confident. I only saw one machine gun, the guy smiled as he walked past, and I nervously returned the smile as it was a regular occurance whilst walking to catch the train in Clapham.

What was also good about the tour, was the fact I was able to see a nursery that was built using money from the charity I ran the marathon for in Buenos Aires. The nursery provided shelter to working mums in the favela, and condition and facilities of the nursery was as good as anything in England.

I am happy I did the favela tour, and its amazing how developed it actually is, and it certainly gave me a new perspective on Rio. This favela though is just one of 200 odd, and the government have no real way of knowing how many people actually live in the favelas. The problem for the governement is the favelas are just getting bigger, which obviously just brings additional problems, for an already overcrowded city.

Fluminense v Minas Gerais

That evening I returned to the lump of concrete (Macarena stadium) to watch the local team Fluminense play. It was basically the equivalent of watching Wolves v Hull, not exactly the clash of the titans. The stadium was probably a sixth full, so no danger of a mexican wave starting. but for the few fans that were there, they made a good racket. Plus Fluminense were in desperate need of points as they were proping up the table, so that added a bit of spice to the match.

It starting lashing it down at 30mins into the match, so everybody retreated to under the stands. But it actually improved the match, as tackles were flying everywhere, and even the Brazilian touch seemed to desert them in the rain. It almost was liking watch Wolves v Hull. Fluminense managed to hold on for a 2-1 win. it was the greatest match I have ever seen, but the amosphere was pretty good. FYI though, if you do buy beer in the Macarana, remember its non-alcoholic. I bought a beer, and then discovered half-way through it was alcohol free!! So no danger me chanting In-Ger-Land and showing off my rapidly increasing gut.

Beach Life

Once the weather finally managed to sort itself out, I hit the beach. Its amazing how much of a different city Rio is when the weather is good. When you go to the beach you take nothing with you, literally just your sarong (only gringos take towels) and boardies. Most Brazilian men where something called a Songa (banana hammock). Somehow they manage to pull it off, but its not something that you would ever catch me wearing down Sevenoaks Swimming pool.

Whilst you are sat on the beach, they literally bring everything to you, you can get beer, chicken cooked infront of you, but my personal favourite is coconut water. you drink the water and then you can get the guy to cut it open for you and then you can eat the inside. Brazil has an amazing array of fruit juices, and practically every street corner has juice place. They also have something called Acai, which is a berry type drink which simply doesnt exist outside of Brazil. I believe it is grown in the Amazon, and then shipped around Brazil. You drink it as frozen ice, and its fair to say I became well and truly addicted to it. A Brazilian told me you should have about 2 or 3 a week max, at one point I was having 4 or 5 a day. Pretty much my only Portuguese was centred around ordering acai. Even now i am getting thirsty thinking about an Acai com Miel. I also know fernando's in Ipanema is missing my custom as well, that guy could have paid for his kids to go to private school after one week of me in rio.

Favela/Samba party

one of the good things about staying in a smaller hostel is that you tend to get to know people better, and I was lucky enough to get to know a few people in the hostel really well. One night Angie (really cool Columbian girl) and Sarah (french/armenian wind-surfing champion) and I went to a favela party. We were driven to a favela and went to the dance school there. the sChristochool was practising for the carnival in Feb 10. its fair to say they really didnt need to practice. All shapes and sizes and ages could dance. It really was an attack on the senses, as basically this hall came to life as the live band played. they even had a guy on ukulele leading the band at one point. I tried my best to join in (with the aid of a few caipirinha's) after having my dancing ability severly dented in BA, by the bloody tango. After about 4 hours of attempting to dance it was time to head home. it really as an awesome night, and if Carnival is anything like that, you can understand why it is the biggest party in the world.

Christo

Ever since I arrived in Rio, Big Jesus had been blocked from my view due to clouds. But when the clouds finally cleared, 8 of us from the hostel went up to see the big man. It really is an impressive sight, and just as good at night when it is lit up.

The only problem is, every other tourist in the city wants to see it. I dont think my ear. neck, bum etc has appeared in as many photos as that. Just about managed to get a few good pics without too many people being in the backgound. Although the camera person needs to be an employee of the Chinese State circus!!

When you were there they were dong some construction work, and every 10mins the ground would shake as another helicopter did a fly by, but its definitely worth it, but you do need to get up early.


Handgliding

One of the things I knew you could do in Rio before coming was a Sky dive. So I found a company that offered andHandglidesomewhere, Rio isnt a bad choice.

It was tandem jump, as there is no way I would lanuch myself off a cliff on my own. My guide was also underneath me, so at least in theory he would cusion some of the blow.

My guide was Mosquito and he had been doing it for about 30 years. After signing my life away at the bottom of the hill, we jump in a beach buggy and ascended the mountain Pedra Bonita. After sorting doing a few practice runs and looking over the edge it was time to jump.

Mosquito started running at full pace, and I had to keep up, if the take off is good, apparently it can make a big difference to how long you stay in the air for. As your running towards the edge of a cliff, your natural reaction is to slow down, but you have to fight that, and just trust the guide.

Once airbourne its amazing how peacful it is, and the view was also amazing. But its also amazing how you forget your left and right when your a few thousand feet in the air. I kept looking the wrong way for the camera, but eventually I remembered my left and right. The consitions were perfect we were able to see Rio de Janeiro ; Sugar loaf , Corcovado , Copacabana , Ipanema , Lagoa and the city of Niteroi on the other side of the Guanabara Bay.

After 30 odd mins of using the thermals, it was time to come down. I thought we were going to land on the grass strip next to the beach. Mosquito started shouting as we were coming into land, and I thought he was saying hello to the people on the beach. When I looked over his shoulder I realised he was actually shouting at a family that was walking across the beach landing strip. They then sprinted as if their lives depended on it, and we touched down on the beach. A tuly awesome experience, shame though that out of 30 odd photos I paid for, only 4 of them I not looking like the big jessie on the world, with knucles locked to the bar, and a face of sheer terror.

Visiting the charity in Rio

After running in the Marathon, one of my main aims was to see how the money was being spent. I got in touch with ABC rust back in England, and they informed me that the charity was helping sponsor a circus performance that was being put on by some kids from the area. The event I think was free for the local children.

the show was put on a in huge circus tent, and you could tell a lot of work had gone into it. I got to meet the director of the show Junior, sadly my complete of Portguese meant I couldnt really communicate with the guy, but it was nice to meet him all the same.

After eating the worlds saltiest popcorn, I sat down to watch the performance. the music was well choreographed to the movements of the dancers, and the the Acrobatics were very impressive. it was a shame I didnt get to talk to anyone who was in the show, but that was due to a language barrier more than anything, but I am definitely glad I went to see the project.

The day I actualy left Rio I decided i wanted to run around the lake Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Its a really beautiful lake, and it will be used in the Olympics for the rowing. After running around the lake, I had another coconut, and just watched the hassle and busle of Rio.

It really is an awesome city, but in my opinion, a lot depends on the weather, as I felt there wasnt that much to do when the sun was not shining, which is a key for me as to how good a city is. But when the sun does shine its awesome, and arguably has the best natural location of a city I have ever visited. I dont think from a crime perspecive its quite as bad, as the headlines portray. But then again its not the safest city you will go to in your life.

Its going to be a great city for the Olympics and the World Cup, as the locals are just so enthusiastic towards sport. I saw this youtube clip for the their Olympic bid, and after watching this, you can understand why they won.

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