Brazil 2 - Rio de Janeiro

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Arriving in Rio at the Novo Rio bus station we get a co-op run cab (supposed to be a safer option) to the Trip Hostel in Santa Teresa - so we pay what should be the fair price of R26 (£8)& discover that if we’d just hailed a cab from out side the fare would have been R12 (£4) - lesson learnt! Trip Hostel is perched on a hill side off a winding cobbled street which has local buses & the Bonde (tram) running past it regularly - both stop & pick up passengers when asked to (anywhere along their route) - talk about customer service! The Bonde is the last tram operating in Rio & is a remnant of the past but a major tourist attraction and is cheap as chips - Rs0.60 each way if you get inside (stand or sit) but free if you hang onto the sides. The locals use it a lot & kids ride it all the time as it winds it’s way up & down the neighbourhood giving us lovely views of parts of the central section of Rio with two local Favelas on the hill sides & Christ the Redeemer on a hill in the distance.

We are helped by Zorina the receptionist at the hostel who is Russian and has lived here for a year - her English & Portuguese are pretty good. What we soon realise is that Portuguese is a much harder language than the Lonely Planet phrase book suggests. The pronunciations are different - they use J or zha a lot at the end of words & Rio is called HE-HO - so master that. The folks really sound like they are conversing in Russian or an Eastern European language rather than Portuguese which has many words & phrases similar to Spanish - or so we thought till the Js got in the way. So hats off to Sarah who clearly has made a great fist of it during her month’s voluntary work in the Favelas here last year & with subsequent lessons to keep her hand in. Well done daughter senior!!

Given our excitement at being in Rio & general curiosity, we hop on a local bus to Ipanema to check out what the fuss is all about. Buses here are cheap & frequent, a single fare being R2.10 for any trip but the drivers don’t take prisoners as they shoot off as soon as you hop on & paying your fare to the conductor who sits at a turnstile inside, is a logistical challenge whilst the centrifugal forces are hurling your body about the bus - all the drivers here think they are Ayrton Senna it seems!

It’s Friday afternoon & the beach is packed - obviously no one works here, or so it seems. The men tend to wear normal swim wear that look like shorts whereas the women are all into the Brazilian bikini - a thong really with a small/broad triangle at the top end - so beach bums are the in thing but it’s the women not guys this time. Topless sun bathing isn’t the thing here although the size of their tops barely contains anything. Once off the beach most of the folks walk around everywhere in shorts - men with no shirts & women with their miniscule swim tops. And this is winter - it’s 28°C but the (Atlantic) sea is cold.

Santa Teresa is an interesting area with old villas & houses showing the vestiges of it’s Portuguese colonial past. However, the area looks run down & has lost a lot of it’s past splendour, there’s graffiti everywhere & some very creative, colourful & picturesque urban art on the walls. Most of the shops seem locked up & the houses are all gated with security. On our walkabout we stumble across Bar Sancho where a local group are playing some great Jazz & the place is packed out - so we go in for a few beers (it’s Antarctica here served really cold so Satish you’ll be a happy man!). We decide to dine out a local eatery recommended to us by the hostel & it has a mention in the LP guide. Whilst it has a certain charm & lots of locals - they didn’t seem to have most of the Brazilian dishes on the menu so we compromise & have the national dish for 2 - the ubiquitous Feijoada - the national dish of pork & black beans stew, served with rice, manioc (with pork crackling in!) and orange slices for squeezing on top (which works really well with it) & a green vegetable similar to spinach. We were a bit disappointed at the amount & surprised at the cost of the meal. We are soon realising that Brazil & Rio in particular is a lot more expensive than elsewhere in Central & South America. As the hostel has a good kitchen we stock up from the Mundial supermarket & rediscover our cooking talents over the next few days. It’s more fun & a whole lot cheaper.

Lapa, the neighbouring district to ST seems more interesting with lots of old bars, many of which play Samba music, and eateries. It also includes the viaduct across which the Bonde goes and the Escadaria Selaron - the colourful steps with tiles from all over the world - a Chilean painter’s idea that has grown from 1990 onwards. If you send him a tile he promises he will add it to the display. We hadn’t appreciated how terrific the area is till Sarah suggested we go to a local Samba bar with live music - Carioca de Gema on Friday night. Wow, what a transformation - helped no doubt by some glorious weather. It was like a big street party with folks drinking outside the bars & live music filling the air - all Samba of course. The place felt safe with security & police all around - along with the ladies of the night trying to drum up some business. The party went on till about 3am. We got into the club where it was wall to wall bodies dancing to the rhythms of the local band who were absolutely fabulous & they knew how to get the locals going - coming out with all the favourites & people singing at the top of their voices along with the group. We had some great sandwiches & beers & left at about 1am - we are getting old!!

As Saturday is sunny the two main beach strips, Ipanema & Copacabana (Ip & Copa for short from now on) are even more packed with bodies everywhere - including families. The crowds are interrupted by a variety of beach vendors who have interesting ways (i.e. shouting) of being noticed; food (bbq cheese, steamed corn on the cob, prawns on sticks), drinks (fresh coconut juice, cold tea or Mate served from big steel barrels hung on the sellers shoulders) & beach wear (Kangas/wraps, bikinis, jewellery & beach bags that convert into beach mats). There are men, women & children playing beach volleyball & a new version where it‘s no hands - only feet, head & chest. There’s also plenty of five a side football etc on the beach while on the street & promenade people are jogging or cycling or power walking & keeping fit. The Cariocas - people of Rio - are pretty health conscious & there is a plethora of gyms - many for women who clearly work out to keep the Brazilian butts in shape, and masses of “suco” bars to meet the Carioca’s obsession with fresh fruit drinks. We sample a few mango & fresh orange ones & even mix them and they are fantastic for about R2.

You soon realise that the beach in Rio is very much a part (or an extension) of the Cariocas social, family, economic & political life. They are a pretty chilled out group of people. The beach is also a great leveller in terms of race, class, gender & sexual orientation as they are all just people enjoying the sun. So a movie or TV star can be enjoying the sun along with folks from the Favelas! By law, no beaches can be fenced off or be made inaccessible to the public which we think is great. However, one of the negatives about Rio is the fear of crime where people are advised not to take their cameras out with them etc - which is a real shame because one could miss out on some spectacular pics.. In reality we did not encounter any problems nor did most of our fellow travellers even though folk are generally vary. However most places have a significant police presence and there are many people about during the day & evening - so it’s no more dangerous than parts of most big cities such as London or Paris etc. In the evenings most folk catch cabs which are quite reasonably priced & are readily available. So just enjoy the place.

The Olympics are in full swing in Beijing while we are here & the TVs all over are focussed on the main Brazilian interests - soccer (men & women) & volleyball - traditional & beach volleyball (again both men & women). During a soccer game the queues outside many bars & cafes remind us of scenes in India during a cricket test match. So it’s gloom & doom when Brazil lose to their arch rivals Argentina in the semi finals 3-0 & had 2 players sent off. The women lost to the US which also got folks down though they did get to the volleyball final. Michael Phelps got a look in in between all this as did Usain Bolt for his amazing 100 & 200 metres - but not much else!

One of the things we note is how difficult it is to tell who is Brazilian or Carioca and who is a visitor; variety in their looks & features is astonishing ranging from blond Scandinavian, to Spanish, Portuguese, mixed race African and at the other end of the spectrum African. The people in Ip are definitely very trendy & attractive. Tattoos are also quite common on most women & quite a few men - some amazingly elaborate. What is surprising is the number of women in particular who wear braces on their teeth - most of them being older & middle aged as opposed to young teenagers as we have in the UK.

Ip and Copa are rival districts. The guide books suggest that Ip is the “in place” & it looks slightly more upmarket and we find that Copa, which had it‘s hey day in the 60s & 70s, is now quite drab. Apparently it’s frequented by the working classes because of easy access by bus & underground. Many folks from the Favela behind the fancy hotels come here and there are noticeably more black people on this stretch of the beach. The Favela in the background probably adds something to the landscape. It’s where Sarah did her voluntary work last year. Ip on the other hand is very middle class & trendy & looks a lot richer with all the posers turning out in all their finery. We discover by accident a small stall - called Uruguay just in front of the famous Poste 9 - that does an awesome BBQ spread on the beach - sirloin chunks & garlic sausages in rolls with a dressing - washed down with Itaipava beers - fantastic - so we become regulars.

One of the things to do here is visit the Hippie Market in Ip on Sunday. It’s quite nice - a bit Covent Garden with a Brazilian twist. We are trying to get the girls some leather sandals from here - however despite two visits, we are unlucky as the smallest size is too big for them. So they will have to make do with some trendy Havaianas flip flops instead from the Copacabana night market - which is small but has most things at less cost than in Ipanema.

As it’s one of the highlights of any trip to Rio, we go to a football game at the 120,000 seat Maracana stadium where the local team Flamengo (red & black strip) play Cruzeiro - the Mafia Azul - from Minas Gerais in the north. The stadium is pretty impressive by any standards and is enlivened by the soccer mad fans of Flamengo with huge banners & colourful flares being set off regularly & large drums churning out a samba beat etc. Even though the stadium was half full as the game apparently wasn’t that important the noise was better than anything one would get in a Premiership game back home. The first half of the game was dull but the second half a lot better & Cruzeiro - the better team - won. Definitely a Mecca for Footie fans the world over (though this was completely missed by C who‘d never heard of it!). Flamengo is rooted in the working classes & black African support. The supporters are a pretty passionate lot & fiery lot. The teams hey day were in the 80s when Zico was their main player - who also played for Brazil many times. He was an awesome player.

We find Santa Teresa a bit cut off from the happening places (or so we thought at the time - we didn’t know about Lapa which is 5 minutes down the road from ST), so decide to move to a hostel here in Ipanema. We stay in the Terrasse Hostel only a block from the beach & have a room with a view to the sea - which C is ecstatic about - doesn’t take a lot to please her (I wish says M)!! It’s a nice place we were recommended by Natasha a fellow traveller from the UK we met in Foz. The place is in the centre of an area with bars & restaurants - which are more local than trendy which suits us perfectly & we enjoy the beach as the sun is out.

On the day that we head to Salvador, we are lucky & catch a fast up market bus from the hostel to Novo Rio via Centro for R3.50 each - it’s geared at the office workers in the centre & has air con & reclining seats & the drivers don’t quite try to kill you en route your destination. It’s our fist glimpse at Centro which is the financial district - same old high rise modern glass encased building but in between some Renaissance & Baroque architectural buildings - needing lots of TLC - and some glorious churches & buildings representing the hey days of the Portuguese rule here. Our tortuous bus trips to & from Salvador are covered in the Brasil 1 blog.

On our return for the last 10 days here we spend a night at the Terrasse & then move to The Mango tree just half a block away for a few nights - we pre booked here which you have to as it’s very popular and always full & we can see why. It’s a superb though slightly expensive hostel in a lovely big old building which goes on forever & is a terrific piece of real estate in a fab location in Ipanema. Our room is one of the best we have stayed at in all our travels. Also we get free internet on the roaming wi fi in the patio area here.
We meet some English girls from Birmingham who we met in Salvador - on their last few days & 4 American girls who were great fun when we spend a few hours putting the world to right over a few beers in the Hostel bar. We also make friends with the staff team of Tracy, an Ozzie who’s giving lots of tips on what to do in Sydney at New Year & also does good haircuts for Rs20 (£6.50) which C takes up as she desperately needs a redesigning of the locks! (Well worth it from all perspectives!), Steve, a pilot & instructor from Wisconsin in the US who came for 2 weeks & is here about a year later, & last but by no means least - the Carioca himself - chilled out dude of the year & mean Caipirinha maker - Marco. He was tending bar one Sunday so we kept him company talking about football and local life over some beers & 3 amazing caipirinhas & he decided he would not charge us for it - cool or what.

Unfortunately, M goes down with an irritating chesty cough for our last few days so deciding to take it easy we head off to the Jardim Botanico for a morning. It’s a nice place to spend a couple of hours wandering with a nice orchid display - though can’t really compete with Kew Gardens. Despite our best efforts & various medication M leaves Rio with the cough still in tack & looking forward to some Benylin at home in London.

As the weather forecast for our last few days here is brilliant so it’s catching up time on the tan & soaking up what Rio has to offer. It definitely is a better place when the sun shines & dreary when it‘s cloudy or raining!

We’ve been given instructions by Sarah of things “we have to do”. So first is the tour of a favela. We go with a local company and visit Rocinha - the biggest favela in Brazil - and Vila Canoas, much smaller and following government investment, with better infrastructure (drainage, paved passageways, schools & day centres etc). We get a good rooftop view of Rocinha and decide it looks just like Kathmandu! (without the temples of course). There is only one road through and so the majority of dwellings are accessed by passageways; building materials for the new houses that are always sprouting up on the outskirts are carried in. Granite finishing’s are common as it’s a cheap local material. The favela behind Copa beach is considered more dangerous & harder to control because of the labyrinth of streets. They’re actually very similar to the townships in South Africa - poverty, crime and drug use but also a great sense of community. The difference though is that the favelas are in the city built alongside very expensive neighbourhoods, not on the edge as is usually the case. The favelas are controlled by drug gangs. The normal age for a gang leader is 21 & he doesn’t last long - it’s a short & prosperous career!! The police have no control of the situation. The drug gangs are effectively the community leaders; they ensure safety & local law & order & help the poor with food & medicine. They don’t sell crack as they believe it shortens the lives of their buyers (so loss of business - enterprising eh!). It’s a strange co-existence as the middle classes & tourist businesses are totally dependent on the favelas for cheap labour & vice versa. The folk in the favela have very little basic amenities so don’t pay any taxes etc. There is an ambitious programme to bring amenities such as water, sanitation etc to the favelas. Rochinha has a number of NGO’s working there on a whole host of community projects - education, arts & crafts. IT etc. One of the unique things we find here and in other parts of Brasil is Moto-Taxis - these are taxi rides on a motor bike which we first noticed in Sao Paulo. In Rocinha there are at least 10 companies vying for your business. Not sure this will go down well in the UK - with the over elaborate Health & Safety concerns & litigious attitude!!

One thing we found was that the Brazilians are definitely in denial about
racism. They argue passionately that as Pele their greatest player was black how could they possibly be racist - which sort of glosses over the fact the black folk are the ones in the lowest paid jobs and are significantly overrepresented in the poorer sections of this city. Using the same logic if Obama becomes US president the americans can absolve themselves for 100s of years of discrimination!!!

Also on Sarah’s recommendation we go to a Samba School party on Saturday night - called the Mengueira - which is one of the top Samba schools & they start practicing for Carnaval now for next Feb!! It’s in a Favela so we get transported there and back. It’s an amazing spectacle - samba songs are belted out from 12 midnight to 3 am in the morning so that the local community can choose which song will represent that Favela/school!! And they all turn out in massive numbers & its one big party - booze & food is available. The band is noisy & gets the atmosphere going, folks ranging from 14 to 70 samba all night long - how some of them don’t dislocate their hips or break their ankles we’ll never know - suffice to say that THE RHYTHM is definitely in the blood & does it show. The one issue that was strange is that the singers leading the songs before the band comes into play really could do with some serious singing lessons - they were flat & off key which sort of distracted from the amazing atmosphere. Ah well they have till Feb 09 to get this right!

One of the main sights in Rio is the view from Corcovado - where there is a 38m statute of Christ the Redeemer & the views over the Rio bays are quite spectacular - in fact Rio wouldn’t be half as magical without this aerial view. We catch a 570 bus outside the hostel & go on a magical mystery tour of parts of Rio we haven’t yet seen including the Jardim Botanico etc. We get to the point where you hop onto a train which takes us the ½ hour journey up the mountain with close up views of the forest & then aerial views of Ipanema. The place is heaving with tourists - so chances of a picture on your own are very very slim! We spend most of the morning here.

The place to go to see the sunset is Pao Azucar (Sugar Loaf mountain) however, though the weather has been somewhat hit & miss in the evenings as it’s winter - so we have to time it right before we leave for London. The evening we go is perfect - no clouds and a fantastic sunset behind Christ the Redeemer and across the bays. We get to see some very cute monkeys at the top of the first hill after getting off the cable car and great views all around Rio from the top of the second. It’s a pretty amazing natural and manmade skyline. M gets to be the unofficial photographer for all those wanting pics with the sunset behind - he shows a couple the one’s he’s taken and that’s it - everyone wants one!!

Volunteers & travellers tip: We also bump into 3 young people from the UK who are just finishing their volunteering experience in the Favelas where Sarah was last year. They too had come with Real Gap and complained about how disorganised the trip was & how expensive the deal was. It definitely made us question the value of such experiences & how some of the travel companies seem to be ripping off young people with an altruistic steak in them. Given our experience with volunteering independently we feel that the Consumers association in the UK should definitely be looking into this growth industry & the value it actually provides for the volunteers & the organisations in the host country. The young folks made it clear that the favela schools had more & better equipment than schools in the UK and didn’t really need the volunteers at all! (though Sarah did have a slightly different experience at her school). Food for thought for all other young people thinking of going via an organised trip. Whilst it’s more difficult to arrange, we found that independent arrangements are better value for us & the host organisations and much, much cheaper.

The only down side of the Mango Tree and Terrasse is that they don’t have decent cooking facilities so we have to eat out. We find a couple of great local places; Galito’s, that does good rotisserie chicken with pasta and, Sindicato do Chopp which has fab pizza’s and typical local dishes at good prices. We quickly discover that a portion for one is more than enough for two so that helps to keep costs down. However, we find that Brazilian food is very salty which is a shame as it detracts from the lovely flavours. As our last night’s dinner we sample a few more of Marcos’ caipirinhas at the Mango Tree, wish all good luck & have a fab dinner of a various goodies at the meal by the kilo joint called Martinico.

We catch the bus to the airport from outside the Sol Ipanema hostel - it costs a princely R6.50 (£2) each - it’s a Real air con bus - very comfortable & gets us there in plenty of time. We are checked in by the TAP counter in record time & then realise that Rio’s airport is pretty grim & expensive and the only airport in the world we think that doesn’t even have a café for food or drink. The building is grey & drab. We eventually leave a bit late as we had been forewarned but having left the terminal, spend an extra ½ hour trying to take off as we stop and start a lot thanks to the efficiency of the Rio air traffic controllers!! Thankfully it’s an overnight flight as the entertainment on this Portuguese flight to Lisbon is pants!!. The food is ok & the drinks limited - but M’s cough comes in handy as he gets more whisky for medicinal purposes free!!

We arrive at Lisbon late to catch a connecting flight to London. Lisbon looks pretty impressive from the air as the plane flies over the central area quite low. We are advised immediately on getting off that we wont make the 8.10am connection to London - after that - total non communication other than to put us in a long queue with a whole lot of others who were having to be re-allocated seats on other flights - some with great difficulty to Paris & other parts of Europe. After an hour or more of painfully waiting without any information we are given seats on the 10.10am to London - which is the next TAP flight out. One good thing here is that they do have a café where we can have a good cup of coffee at least. After our wait - we still manage to leave Lisbon ½ an hour late - even though the flight started here!! We are left with the view that clearly the state owned airline has a problem with the terms “customer service” & “efficiency“.

After a 2 & ½ hour flight we land at Heathrow & go through immigration etc pretty swiftly to be greeted by the two monsters by a placard - hand done - saying “ Welcome Home Oldies “. Obviously a new term of endearment that the girls had mastered during our time away. M is impressed by the intellectual progress they have made!! (Sarcasm or what!). Anyway it’s a bit weird being back. We get back home & try & chill out feeling somewhat weary after the flight traumas. We have decided to do a brief blog of our 6 week sojourn through England………… so over to London, the Notting Hill carnival, Brighton beach, the Midlands etc etc etc ……….. see you there.

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