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Published: March 7th 2006
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Noel having the time of his life!Carnaval Friday:
After living out of a bag for ten weeks we were as much looking forward to hanging up our clothes for 5 whole days as we were Carnaval. We were over the moon with our hotel with roof-top pool and bar one block from Ipanema beach. This was to be expected however as we had booked the hotel when we were both working and money had less value. What we spent on the hotel for 5 days accommodation alone is our current budget for 2 whole weeks total spend - but it turned out to be worth it. We hung up our clothes, showered and dried with big soft towels, shaved/dryed hair then put our rucksacks in the back of the wardrobe and cooled in our air-conditioned room while watching ´Malcom in the Middle´. We found ´Malcom in the Middle´quite funny; I don´t know if this is because it is funny or we are easily pleased as we have not seen a situation comedy for a long time. After dinner (room service but still the bland food as standard in South America) we headed out to get our bearings. For details of how Carnaval works see separate entry.
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It gets hot in the Blocos We had only walked a couple of blocks when we bumped into some live Samba band playing in Praça De Osorio- the centre of happening Ipanema. We danced there for a bit then went for a walk down to Copabacana beach (no singing Manillow fans), had a few drinks and took in some more live music which seemed to be everywhere. We headed back to our hotel at about 1am the place very much still awake but us very much tired. All the hawkers were still shouting ´Coca-cola, Agua, Skol´- they must have gallons of the stuff.
Carnvaval Saturday:
The next day we were up early at 8am as there was a bloco to see at 9.30am in the centre of town. We had our (good) breakfast and caught the bus and metro to Cinelandia. The public transport system in Brazil is really good and in Rio it is fantastic. We never waited longer than 5 minutes for a bus to turn up, it seems there is no speed limit for buses either so you arrive at your destination spit spot. We arrived at Cinelanda at about 10am a little later than expected due to our
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Noel with Carman Miranda need to consume so much breakfast but as with most things in Brazil the scheduled start was not the actual start and the band kicked off at 11am. Cordau Do Bolla Preta as they were called, were very good, but every song seemed to sound the same. We have since found out that there is only one song each band plays no matter how long they play for! The words are printed and distributed and because most people are drunk (even at 10am the ´Coca-cola, Agua, Skol´hawkers are doing a roaring trade.) It becomes hypnotic and everyone whips themselves into a trance. We left an hour later and the party was well under away, with all the followers dressed in black and white polka dots Samba dancing. No wonder Brazilians (particularly the pre 30s) have such great figures - they put all the energy they have into their dancing. It does seem however that once they reach 30 they start to eat hip-and-ass-maximising foods.
We headed back to our hotel via the supermarket where we bought Vodka and Guarana. We mixed our drinks then made our way to the Praça General Osorio to see the Banda Ipanema bloco. Ipanema
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Sipping cocktails on Ipanema beach is a gay-friendly place so the theme is gay and transvestite. There were loads of outrageously dresses transvestites, some straight and some gay, some girly and some with jaws like blocks of steel and adams apples the size of......apples. Most people were drinking and drunk but it was a different drunk to that in Bolivia where they drink to pass out. This drunk was a lot more jolly and energetic with lots more laughing, singing and dancing. The band started to play and the Bloco started to move forwards very slowly. The roads do not appear to be offically closed, there are no barriers and no police, things just happened. We followed the Bloco for about an hour dancing, singing and drinking all the way - in all that time we moved about 200m. It gets very hot and very sweaty following a Bloco, there are thousands of people all dancing in the sun, the temperature in the shade alone is +30 degrees c. All the girls wear is shorts and bikini top and all the boys wear is shorts, so you come out stinking of other people, a very odd sensation.
We stood at the side as a
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Copacabana Beach by night huge surge of people came forward and I felt someones hands in my pockets. We had been warned about this so luckily my money was in my shoe. The disposable camera we had with us was taken but as it had no value it was dropped on the floor and as I looked down to see what was going on I saw it and salvaged it. No harm done.
We went back to our hotel to shower and top up on our vodka/Guarana mix then it was off to see the band competition in the centre of town but this time via Ipanema and Copa beaches where we ate corn on the cob and watched the sun set. I would have loved to have had my camera to take a picture to show you all how beautiful the sun-set was but we were going into town after dark and even wearing a watch can draw you unwanted attention in a country where 1% of the population own 50% of the wealth.
We kissed then got the metro to Cinelandia (to watch the band competition infront of the Teatro a magnificent looking building). The band we saw were great
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Crowds at the Sambadrome but only - I think- because the rest of the crowd whips you into their crazy state. We were given a song sheet and for 45 minutes the band played the same tune while the audience sang the same five verses and choruses. Even we knew the words by the end of it and we are very poor at Portugese. We watched a few more bands and drank more vodka and Guarana and Skol and before we knew it it was 2am, well past our bed-time. The party was still buzzing when we left.
We got the metro to as near our place as we could, then got a cab the rest of the way. The buses and beaches are not safe late at night, there is the problem of being mugged and the local police fining you. A popular scam is someone stops and talks to you, a few hundred metres on the police stop you, tell you it was a drug dealer you were talking to and that they want to search you at the police station or arrest you unless a R$1000 fine is paid on the spot (about $500). These may be urban myths as
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Tas enjoying the pretty colours we never directly heard of anyone being mugged or involved in any violent crime but we knew crime existed - I was pick-pocketed that afternoon. We were also told the local police were corrupt by people who lived in Rio so we weren´t taking any risks.
Carnaval Sunday:
We got up late (10ish) and went to Ipanema market straight after breakfast, we spent ages looking for jewellery for the bridesmaids and were rewarded with some beautiful items. In Rio most people do something for the church and attend during the week. Sundays are for donning tiny speedos for the boys, tiny bikinis for the girls, and heading to the beach. So when in Rome (or Rio)..... We headed off to Ipanemea beach and it was packed. However our hotel has its own private area on the beach with chairs, loungers, towels and buzz boys to fetch drinks and the like. I felt like a right twat; we have travelled much like locals so far and we were not totally comfortable with our current surrounds. We spent most of the time in the sea body surfing the huge violent waves. The beaches are great here but with big waves
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The floats are huge! and strong undercurrents the sea can be quite dangerous and despite the beaches world fame I did not see a lifeguard in attendence in Ipanema or Copa.
Adam and Eve were parading at the Sambodrome that night, big costumes, glitter and all so we went to wish them good luck and catch up on the gossip as we hadn´t seen them since Foz. The rest of the evening was spent searching for Sambaland but to no avail. There are parties everywhere so its not like you can follow a crowd from the nearest known point and expect to get there. We were expecting some sort of signage from the nearest metro but as I have previously mentioned there is little organisation in Brazil. Just as we started getting where we thought was near, it started to rain. We took shelter under a bridge for a while with many others before heading back to Ipanema - the rain still pouring. The rain had not dampened spirits so before we went to bed we had a skol and did a little more dancing.
Carnaval Monday:
We had another lie in as we knew we would be going to
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...and colourful bed late that night if at all as tonight was the night we were visiting the Sambadrome - woop woop. The morning was spent stocking up on vodka and Guarana and snacks at the local supermercado and the afternoon was spent at the beach. Not even the locals were swimming so we (begrudgingly) got our buzz boy to fetch us cocktails while we sat in our Everest Rio bubble. It would be nice to travel with the luxury of air conditioning, hot water and bluffy towels but it wouldn´t allow you to meet anyone, or experience anything out of the protection of the hotel.
That evening we met up with Adam and Eve for dinner to catch up on their experiences of parading through the Sambadrome the previous night. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves but for a more detailed update see their blog at www.travelpod.com/members/adamandeve
We all went out for dinner which was up to the usual standard then after a walk up the beach we all headed for the Sambadrome. The Sambadrome has many stands and entrance gates, we walked for miles before we found ours. We half expected a seat, but this was not the case. The
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..and sometimes scarey! stands were like old football stadiums just steep steps which people were crammed on to. We arrived at about 11pm and although the festivities were supposed to start at about 9pm we were just in time for the first school. They were fantastic. The parade starts with the announcer introducing the school, theme colours and number of wings, then the lone voice of the Puxador starts the Samba. The thousands of other voices join him and the drum wing starts up, about 300 of them. The noise is phenomenal, much noisier than Iguaçu Falls. The school took nearly an hour and a half to pass, there were about 5 floats of monstrous proportions as well as 12-15 wings, each wing with 200-500 members plus the drum wing. The audience go frantic dancing and waving flags distributed free by supporting members of the school. When the first school had passed we thought it was all over - we did not know there were another 6 schools of equal size to parade. The runway was cleared of all the debris, glitter, streamers, bits of broken costume etc and about 30 mins later the announcer gave the particulars of the next school and
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Christ Redentor the whole process was repeated. At 6am (and two schools still left to parade) the sun started to rise and we could just make out the outline of Christo Redentor in the distance. The last school finished at about 8.30am and we headed off to bed. The amount of energy in the arena keeps you awake and it wasn´t until we got back to our hotel that we realised how tired we were.
Carnaval Tuesday:
We spent most of the day sleeping, woke up about 4pm and got room service for a late breakfast, no pancakes for us, just fried eggs on toast and fruit. We also watched a couple of movies before walking along Copacabana beach to Adam and Eve´s place. They were heading back to Aus the next day so we had to say farewell to them - they are such genuinely nice people. We begged them to come to Europe on their next excursion and promised to put them up for a while (We will have to find a place to live first of course!)
We walked back via Copa and Ipanema (again, but it is a fantastic walk) and bought some corn from
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View of Rio from Corcovado (the Hill Christo Redentor is on) a vendor which we ate while watching the sea. We watched another movie in our room then fell asleep.
Wednesday:
Today we move on, Carnaval was great, the hotel was great, the beaches were great, the atmosphere was great. RIO WAS GREAT.
Our bus wasn´t until 7pm so we still had a chance to visit Christo Redentor before we left, a must if you come to Rio. If I was on a ´normal´ holiday I would certainly consider Rio. We spent all of our time immersed in Carnaval so never went to Sugar-Loaf mountain, rode the Bond (Tram), visited the Botanical gardens on Lago Rodrego De Freitas or watched a football match in Marcana stadium etc... Rio is not cheap but if you are thinking of a slightly extravagent holiday this year, come to Rio and stay in Ipanema.
We said goodbye to the beaches and ate more corn before gathering our belonging and getting the local bus to the Rodoviaria (bus station) for our bus to Caravelas. Caravelas is the access point to Parque National De Abrolhos - A National marine park 74km off the East coast of Brazil.
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Helen Green
non-member comment
A little bit of news...
Looks like it is turning into a fantastic trip! I love reading your updates - when I get them it always starts off the working day - just like today. I think my favourite has been the salt plains so far. Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know me and Simon are expecting! All very exciting, and scary - more so because we have found out it will be they - we are going to have twins! They are due in August and I would love to introduce them to you if the pregnancy goes ok. Take care out there, see you later this year, Love Helen and Simon