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Published: July 10th 2011
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So it took 2 days worth of buses, but we eventually arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Montevideo, Uruguay. We planned the buses we got with military precision so that we would arrive in Rio just in time for Tom to see the Champions League Final. It was a case of dump the bags at our hostel in Ipanema, and run to a local bar. That evening we ate out at a kilo restaurant, which is where there is a big buffet and you help yourself and just get your plate weighed at the end. They have them all over Brazil and Ash had gone on about how good they are for years before Tom had his first experience of it. Ash had also raved about these cheese bread ball things called pao de quejo and a fizzy drink called Guarana, so whilst we were in Brazil she basically ate and drank her weight in both.
Our first full day in Rio we had rain so no beach. As it was a Sunday we headed up to Santa Teresa a neighbourhood of Rio. It is located on top of the Santa Teresa hill, by the centre of Rio, and
is famous for its winding, narrow streets which are a favourite spot for artists and tourists. In 1896, the Carioca Aqueduct, a colonial structure that used to bring water to the centre of Rio, was converted into a viaduct for the Santa Teresa Tramway (bondinho). The historic tram line is still in operation today - the only one in Rio - and is a popular attraction among tourists. The ride starts in the city centre crosses the old aqueduct and goes through the picturesque streets of the neighbourhood. Wonderful views of the city downhill can be appreciated. The train is more part of the fun than the actual place, but as it was a Sunday it was full of people enjoying a drink in the afternoon so had a good atmosphere. The tram gets crowded so people hang off the side, Tom loved doing this.
The next day we did a tour of a Rocinha, one of the biggest favelas in Brazil. Around 60,000 people live there. It is difficult to describe it without actually being there, but basically the top of the favela resembles a kind of normal neighbourhood in terms of it has a bank, a McDonalds
etc. However as you travel further down it gets grubbier. All the rubbish and sewage accumulates the further down you get. The place is like a huge city within Rio, with hundreds of maze like streets which seem to have a kind of order about them. It was very interesting and our guide was really informative. She explained to us how the favelas are controlled by the drug gangs, and in a sense policed by the drug gangs aswell. So if a crime goes on within the favela, the gang will punish the person in a manner they see fit depending on the level of the crime! She said drug dependence is not really a problem inside the favelas themselves, because the majority of the drugs are sold to middle class people from Rio. The problems for the people in Rocinha are disease and alcohol. As Rio/Brazil is hosting the World Cup and Olympics it was interesting finding out how Rio plans to tackle keeping the city safe. Our guide was explaining that they are now attempting to do a huge 'clean up' of the favelas. However she said it's too late, people have lived in these favelas for a
long time, and there is no where else for them to go. She explained that if there is a free bit of land and you build a house on it then it's yours. As there is no space left, people have started selling their roofs, and then people build on top. There are make shift houses everywhere you look. The tour ends with our guide reminding us as we leave Rochina not to take any pictures of the place we exit from as the gangs patrol all exit/entry points with machine guns. They do not want to be photographed. We go from Rocchina, to Ipanema beach that afternoon, what a contrast of places within the same day!
The next day we have perfect sunny weather so jump on buses and head to do the 2 main tourist sites in Rio, get the train up to the Christ, and get the cable car up to the top of Sugar loaf mountain. Both give us spectacular views but as we went to the top of sugar loaf for sunset the view there was probably the most spectacular.
We left our big backpackers at our hostel and jumped on a bus
to a beach town called Buzios, 3 hours away from Rio. We spent the next 4 days relaxing on the beach, the first time we'd been able to do this since Fiji. Buzios is descirbed as the equivalent of the Hamptons of Brazil, and you could see why. It isn't a beach shack kind of town, it is a boutique shops, cafes, wooden boardwalks kind of town. It was made famous by Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s. Around the main town there are about 25 beaches which you can either walk to or get taxi boats to. We spent each day at a different beach, it was bliss.
After our mini break at the beach we headed back to Rio where we spent one more night before catching our flight down to Iguassu, in the south of Brazil. As soon as we arrived at our hostel in Iguassu the helpful owner told us that we still had plenty of time to catch the local bus to the Brazilian side of Iguassu falls. So thats what we did. As the falls sits on the border with Brazil and Argentina, both countries have National Parks and you can see the falls
from both sides. As Ash had seen it before she recommended that you see it from both sides as you get very different perspectives. The Brazilian side doesn't need much time as it's not very big, but you can get very close in front of the falls, where as the Argentinian side has lots of walking trails so you can spend the whole day there, and you can walk across the top and look down into the mouth of the falls. After spending 1 night in the town at the Brazilian side, the next day our hostel took us across the border into Argentina and we spent the day at that side of the falls. We had cloudy weather but it didn't really rain, it meant the park was pretty quiet though which was great. Even seeing it before doesn't prepare you for how beautiful the falls are, the sheer size of them and how close you can get is amazing. At the end of the day our hostel dropped us off at the bus station on the Argentinian side whilst the rest of the people from our hostel headed back to Brazil. Our short time in Brazil was over,
we had just under 2 weeks and it took us a long time to get there but it was definitely worth the extra effort. We were now back in steak and red wine country, Argentina.
Lots of love T & A xx
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