Rio de Janeiro

Today is the last day of my 3 weeks in Rio de Janeiro and it is time for my first real blog. I am afraid there are no pictures in this, but I am sure google can be used to find images of anywhere I describe. Keep reading to find out why there are no pictures...

Rio has to be one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. Sitting on the beach at Copacabana you can look around and see hills covered in trees, the statue of Christ, the blue water of the Atlantic and the Sugar Loaf. The Sugar Loaf is a hill that sits at the end of the Copacabana and that has a cable car running up to it so you can get views all over the city. From there, it is possible to see almost the full length and breadth of Rio and the islands that surround it´s bay.

Corcovado, the hill on which Christ the Redeemer sits also offers amazing views of the city depending on the weather. Some days it is really cloudy though and nothing can be seen. That is quite funny though as it gives you the impression that you are in heaven. When it is cloudy, Jesus appears and disappears like a vision. The statue is quite big, but not as big as it appears in photos of the city. I think some clever photography is used in the postcard pcitures.

I have made some visits to the beach, although only from time to time as I am not a huge beach person. The first couple of weeks saw a lot of rain, which kept the them quiet. There are many beaches all the way round Rio. Copacabana is the nearest one to me, but Ipanema is closeby too and it is huge. Over the last couple of days it has been really hot and sunny (up to around 35 degrees) and it is also the weekend/holiday so the beaches are absolutely packed with people trying to jump in to the giant waves that crash on the shore, playing football or volleyball or just lying in the sun.

There are little cafes that sell green coconuts for 2 Reais (60p) and these get cut open with a cleaver so you can drink the water from the inside, which makes for a good drink. There are also loads of people selling drinks, replica shirts, souveniers etc for pretty good prices. The market on the road at Copacabana sells some artwork that is really good - not just cheap rubbish for tourists. The prices are a bit beyond my budget though. I have seen a few bands jamming on the road next to Ipanema to promote their CDs: jazz, rock etc. It´s funny to see them just set up right on the road so that traffic has to go round them. It´s like a mini version of U2´s ¨Where The Streets Have No Name video¨.

Rio has a great nightlife, which is helped by the fact that I am staying in a cool hostel called Stone of a Beach that has a bar on the roof that serves as a good place for warm-up drinks before heading out. The nightlife varies depending on the night. On a Friday, the best place to go is an area called Lapa that has a few lanes where all the locals drink in the streets or go into one of the many nightclubs around it. Drinking in the street is my personal favourite as you can by cans of beer for about 2 Reais or the local cocktails, Caipirinhas, for about 7 Reais and it is quieter and cooler than indoors. Caipirinhas are made from a spirit called Cachaca, lime, ice and a LOT of sugar. You certainly need to brush your teeth after a night of drinking them...oh, and you get pretty wasted as they don´t bother measuring the shots!

Away from Lapa, the areas of Ipanema and Botafogo have some good bars and nightclubs so there is a good variety of places to go out. Going to the beach is another option as it is a beautiful place to sit at night with some wine or beer and chat. It´s also a lot cooler and quieter than nightclubs. Alternatively, there are local activities like Samba rehearsals or parties in Warehouses that go on late into the night. As I am sure you can guess, I was never out of bed much before midday here.

We have had a couple of boat parties (booze cruises) organised by the hostel, which are brilliant. They set sail around 3, there is a barbeque, DJ, buckets of Caipirnha and good laughs. The boat goes out into the bay so you get an amazing view back towards the city where you can see the beaches, hills and buildings. Jumping into the sea is, of course, a must; even if only to cool down/sober up a bit. The boat returns at sunset and the view at that time is just incredible.

The crime here is also incredible - this is the negative part of this blog. I was robbed 3 times in 5 days and I lost 2 cameras! The most annoying incident was the third one. I was returning from the Sugar Loaf on the bus after taking replacement photos with my replacement camera. I went to get off at the stop across from my hostel and an old man pretended to fall and threw a plastic sheet he (for some reason) was carrying into the steps down to the side door. Two other people pretended to help to cause a distraction and I saw a hand pull my replacement camera from my pocket. I turned round and started to accuse the group but, of course, they denied all knowledge. I tried to grab their bags and search them but, like magic, the camera had disappeared; along with all the photos I had just re-taken. At the moment I am not planning to buy another, but I might change my mind on that when I get out of Brazil.

This incident was particularly annoying because, unlike the first two, it happened in Copacabana, which I thought was a safe part of town. Worst still, it didn´t involve poor street kids but instead working people of a mix of ages who had got on the bus separately and, I guess, didn´t even know each other. These people must have conspired between them to steal the camera when they saw it in my pocket. Ok, I might have took my eyes off it for a second or two, but there is only so much you can do when complete strangers get together to rob you. It is a sad part of the culture here - I am not alone in having been robbed in Rio; although I seem to be a bit of a legend now in the hostel for the fact it happened to me 3 times. When people meet me they say ¨Oh, you´re the Scottish guy¨!

I witnessed a pickpocketing in Lapa where a guy reached his right hand behind his back to steal money from the right pocket of another Scottish guy (Angus) as he walked by Angus on Angus´s right-hand side (I hope that makes sense). I was about 15 yards away in the crowd and thought at first he missed. When I caught up with Angus he checked his pockets and realised 50 Reais had gone. This was showboating pickpocketing that was as skillful as anything Brazil´s football players do. I won´t dwell on crime too much as Cariocas (the people of Rio) are generally very warm and friendly people and I am sure there are just a few bad apples more than most cities. One other funny robbery incident though was a Dutch guy who got back from Lapa at 4.30 am and went for a swim. He ended up having to walk back to the hostel in just a pair of boxers as the rest of his stuff was pinched!

I went to the Maracana last week to watch a football match. It was the Flamengo team of 1987 - starring Zico - against a mixed bunch calling themselves Amigos do Zico (Friends of Zico). It was clearly a friendly as the score was 8-5 but it was good fun and the 60,000 or so people that half-filled the stadium made a good noise with their drumming and singing. They clearly adore Zico as there were giant flags with his face being waved on poles and there was a huge cheer when he stepped up to score a penalty. The Amigos team featured a few famous names like Edmundo, Carlos Alberto and Amoroso; although the Flamengo 1987 team managed to sneak on Adriano as a ringer and he got a couple of goals for them in the second half. It was a fun night, pickpocketing aside.

I went hang gliding one day too. You do it in tandem with a trainer and it gives some great views over Rio. I reckon the hill was probably about 500 metres high and it takes a bit of nerve to just run off the side of it. You must run though as it is important to pick up speed. It was great fun and lasted about 10-15 minutes before we landed on the beach. Rio is certainly a beatiful place to do it and I was lucky as the weather was great that day so I could see for miles.

One other place worth mentioning here is Santa Teresa. It is an up-market district built on a hill with winding streets and some beautiful houses and views. You can get to it on an old tram system that runs from Centro (Downtown), over a famous, arched aquaduct and through Lapa. People hang off the side of the trams as they are open and don´t go very fast. It is a fun trip. The grafiti on the walls of Santa Teresa is not something the locals presumably welcome, but it is really artistic. Too bad the photos of it were stolen though...oh well.

Today is Hogmany (or New Years´Eve, if you insist) and apparently there is going to be a huge party with fireworks on the Copacabana beach and that should be cool. Everyone has to wear white for good luck. I think I will not just leave it to fortune though and instead leave the hostel with no money or valuables. In about an hour or so there is going to be a bbq on the roof of the hostel. These are quite regular events and always good fun.

Happy New Year when it comes and have a good night. I will start to write more regularly now as I will be starting to move more quickly from now on.

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