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Arriving around midday we hurriedly changed into our beach gear and headed straight for the beach! Copacabana beach! The weather was beautiful, not overwhelmingly hot and humid like the jungle and Venezuela, but a comfortable 30 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.

The beach was gorgeous - with a fascinating backdrop of skyscrapers and mountains. The people, however, were less than gorgeous. I was expecting Rio to be full of beautiful people; skinny women in skimpy bikinis. Only half of this was true, the skimpy bikini part. Thongs galore and tiny triangles of material that let boobs escape in all directions. But these ladies were not skinny, or even average weight. It was a sight for sore eyes. Another amusement was the cycle track on the road that bordered the beach, which facilitated runners as well as cyclists. Most runners were apparently aiming for a tan as well as fitness, so either pulled their tops down around their waists, or went the whole hog and ran in just their bikini/Speedos, often without shoes!

In the evening we walked along Ipanema beach for the reputedly stunning sunset, then, feeling a little sad that we had significantly less time in Rio than originally planned Chris cheered me up with the suggestion of sushi for dinner (a treat that was meant to be reserved for our last night). A 42 piece platter - it was the best sushi either of us have ever tasted, especially the sashimi which was so fresh and had the perfect texture. Unfortunately our high spirits were dampened when we returned to our hostel to find the common room, which was immediately next to our room and separated only by a pair of shutters on our window, inhabited by a group of English chavs, who played awful music and talked rubbish until the early hours. They mostly talked about drugs and their terrible taste in music, but did move on to philosophical discussions such as whether or not they should all become vegetarians. The conclusion was, “If we didn’t eat cows and chickens, they’d just get hunted anyway, like foxes innit.” Cows and chickens, hunted? The slow stupid animals that are bred for our consumption? God help us.

Chris's Corner

Our Hostel, The Copacabana Wave, was idealy located just 2 blocks from the beach so we were able to start cramming in this wonderful city within minutes of arriving from the bus station. The sun definitely brings out the character of this city and all the characters that live within it!

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