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Published: March 22nd 2010
The Market
at Porte AlegreOur night bus arrived at about 10am in Porto Alegre, our first stop in Brazil or Brasil how they spell it. Cant really understand why we changed one letter!!! We went to the tourist office to get some information about the town and then got a cab to our hotel, in Downtown. We arrived at the same time as a Swedish couple an child from our bus. They didn’t have any money for the cab and couldn’t change their Pesos with the hotel, so I became the good Samaritan and paid for it - all £3 of it!!. We took our bags up to our room, had a rest because the bus was very uncomfortable and then took a walk around to see what was happening. The streets were a lot busier than we were used to and we felt a bit vulnerable. We don’t know whether it is because of what we have read about how dangerous Brazil is or whether it is because we were new to the country, and didn’t know the lingo!! It poured with rain most of the day and we managed in the breaks to get our huge amount of washing over
to the launderette, with help from our gay, weird receptionist.
Next morning and guess what, it was still raining . We took a walk down to the market to have a look around and take in the smell of salted fish! We picked up our nice clean clothes and got a cab out to the shopping centre where we had a wander and got a bite to eat. We thought Porto Alegre would be a nice port town, but instead it is a big industry town and not the pretty little place we were expecting - bad research on our behalf. We got another cab, due to the persistent rain to get a bus ticket for the next day. Back to our hotel before going out to get some dinner for the supermercardo. The heavens opened and we got soaked!!!
Florianopololis - Ilha de Santa Catarina (Lagoa da Conceicao) We got on our day bus north to Florianopololis - the gateway to Ilha de Santa Catarina. The bus journey took us about 8 hours and was beautiful. The scenery was amazing - mountains and lush vegetation, running parallel with the ocean. Every so often there would
be a huge industrial area for mining or logging but apart from that it was just beautiful. Reminded us a lot of Vietnam. The bus took longer than expected and we thought we maybe late for our check in at our hostel. We arrived at 9pm to Florianopololis bus station. Driving into town was a sight because they have a bridge, when lit up, looks just like Brooklyn Bridge and big high rise buildings. Not what we were expecting. We had booked a place to stay on the island, away from F’pololis, in a small town called Lagoa da Conceicao. We got a cab there, over the mountain and it looked like a busy little town. We checked into the Casa Brasil hostel, which was a small family run hostel and very nice. Took a walk out to the town for some dinner and some drinks. Dinner was weird because they bought up our food on one normal sized plate and then decided to spoon it onto another plate, which was the same size, when we wanted it. Very Weird. They had shut the front door when we got back so we had to go round the side and knock.
Zo knocked so hard she took the door off it’s hinges!! A woman woke up from the floor to tell us all we had to do was knock, whilst I was trying to put the door back on!!
After a very hot night sleep, we got ready and took a walk down to the lake (Lagoa), had a soft drink and got out of the sun. We had to book a bus ticket to Rio for the next day and this required going back to the bus station, which was a pain. When we got back a couple of hours later, we lazed around in the hammocks before taking a walk along the waterfront . We were going to walk to the beach but the sunset took us by surprise so we walked back. Went out for dinner before going back to hostel and realising we had the ceiling fan going the wrong way. This meant it was drawing the air away from us - how weird! Changed that around and had a better night sleep.
Up and checked out about 12 before getting a cab back to the bus station with the same taxi driver who had
taken us there and back the day before. He was a nice guy who we tried conversing with, a bit unsuccessfully!! We got on our small bus, which was no Argentinean bus for our 18 hour journey to Rio de Janeiro!!!
Rio De Janeiro We arrived in Rio de Janeiro, know as the cidade maravilhosa (marvellous city) and rightly so. Rio occupies one of the most spectacular settings on the planet. Gorgeous mountains, white sand beaches and verdant rainforests fronting deep blue seas. With all this to offer naturally, plus the cultural experiences, we were really looking forward to our time here. We arrived at the bus station at 8am after an awful night sleep on the bus. The guy in front of Zo put his chair back so much, she couldn’t move her legs, not to mention that we stopped what seemed like every half hour for a break!! We got a taxi to our hostel in the district of Botafogo, a relatively safe neighbourhood of Rio. The city got it’s name from the early Portuguese explorers, who entered the huge bay and though it must be the mouth of a river. Thus, calling it Rio de
Janeiro - January River. The city is divided into 2 zones - zona norte (north zone) which is full of industrialised working class neighbourhoods and zona sul (south zone), which is middle and upper class neighbourhood and where all the fun things to do and see are situated. We checked in straight away with a nice older (fatter) woman called Mo, who was very helpful. We had a short rest before taking a walk down the street to the local shopping centre to have a look and get some new sun glasses for Zo. From there we got a taxi to Cosme Velho, where we took the funicular up the mountain of Corcovado to see the looming statue of Cristo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer. This was built in the 1920 or 30s I think and is the largest art deco statue in the world. It is about 30metres high and is one heck of a sight. We got off the sweaty funicular and got to go up some escalators to see Jesus - like going to heaven for the rich!! The place was heaving with people and we had purposely gone a bit later to avoid the rush and
heat. It had been 49 degrees the week before and was a meagre 35 degrees today!! When we got up there we realised that it was covered in scaffolding for a restoration project. That was the biggest disappointment of the trip as it was something I had always wanted to see. It wasn’t as bad as first thought but would have been nice if it was clear. We took some photos and got to see the most amazing views over the city, just breathtaking and what a beautiful location it is. We got the funicular back down after saying goodbye to Christ and got a cab back to our hostel. Had a few drinks in the bar with and chatted to a nice Brazilian lad. A couple of Swedish girls, a Spanish lad and a Yank we all heading out to Lapa, which is the club/bar area of Rio. We got a random bus/old VW van to Lapa and had a few drinks in this bar, whilst listing to some live Samba. They give you a piece of paper which you get marked off when you have a drink and pay at the end of the night - could be
very dangerous on a heavy night!!! We got a cab back to the hostel, because it is too dangerous to walk around at night.
Next day we had planned to go to the market but Zo had a dodgy belly. We skyped my folks to wish my mum a happy mothers day and went to get some lunch. That didn’t help settle Zo’s stomach, so we sat around the hostel for the afternoon. It also didn’t help that it was 42 degrees!!! We had booked to go see Flamengo vs. Vasco football match at the Maracana - biggest stadium in the world. This was a local derby and they recommend that you go with a guide. He came and picked us up with a German couple and off we went with in this mini bus with about 15 others. It had got so hot during the day that it caused a huge storm. The biggest I have ever seen. We had to run from the bus into the stadium and we got soaked. We sat at the back undercover as the rain lashed down. It started to clear up so we moved further forward, and I’m glad we did
because the view and atmosphere was so much better. Flamengo vs. Vasco is the biggest game of the season as they are the two biggest rivals in Brazilian football. It filled up and the atmosphere was amazing - they really know how to party at football. It wasn’t a sell out, 180,000, as we were told but that was probably due to the weather. The weather was so bad that Guns N Roses cancelled their gig!! Flamengo won 1-0, but Vasco missed two penalties so there was a lot of excitement, shouting and lightning!! It was typical Brazilian football, no defence but all attack. We got back on the bus and back to our hostel, went to get a Big Bobs burger, before going to bed.
We were up about 10ish and headed down to the metro station to get the metro to Ipanema. The metro is very easy to use as it is only one line and you can either go north or south! We got our tickets and off we set to the last station south, the Ipanema station. The trains have air conditioning, which was a great relief and are a lot bigger than the tube.
We got to our stop and had a walk down to Ipanema beach. Ipanema is a wealthy part of Rio and there were some lovely apartments overlooking the sea. The beach was beautiful white sand and the sea looked very inviting. We had a walk down to their version of muscle beach, where guys were training with stone dumbells!! From there we took the short walk around the corner, although it was very hot, to Copacabana. When we arrived at the start of Copacabana beach we met a nice girl. Her name was Lola, she was showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair and her dress cut down to there……. Copacabana beach was very impressive and we had been told that it was touristy and could be dangerous. We didn’t see that side, as it was pretty empty and the guys who try and sell you stuff actually take no for an answer. We had a light lunch overlooking the sea, but Tony kicked off with Rico over Lola and there was a single gun shot heard… enough of that now!! We then took a walk along the front. There is Beetle mania is Rio, and I don’t mean John,
Paul, George and that crap drummer tag along!! They must have the biggest percentage of old VW Beetles in the world. You cant go 5 minutes without seeing one and old VW campers is even worse. They are everywhere!!! We had a walk back down the beach and got the metro back to our hostel. Went to the shopping centre to pick up some Havaianas flip flops as they are so comfortable and about a third of the price out here - because they come from Brazil. We got some more money out and then had a big dilemma. We had spent nearly all the money we had and couldn’t see what we wanted to see in Peru and Bolivia, due to the floods and mud slides they have had. This was when we made our biggest decision to cut our losses and promise to come back to see Chile, Peru and Bolivia properly. We feel we have become very unlucky in South America with not being able to see everything and therefore made the decision to change our flights and come home early - probably the hardest decision we have every had to make!! We had a few drinks
to drown our sorrows, had something to eat and went to bed.
Today we were off to Centro to see some museums. We got on the metro and headed north, Luckily it had been raining so the weather was a lot cooler because it was heaving in Centro. We took a walk to the first museum, Museu da Belas Artes. It was set in a beautiful building opposite the National Theatre, which was equally impressive. The museum houses fine art from 17th to the 20th century. It had some really good pieces of art and some really weird. A lot of painting that 5 year old children could do, but that is art for you! It had a sculpture gallery, but they were all reproduction statues of European art. From there we took a walk to Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. This again was in a very impressive building. There were 2 exhibitions on and a museum about the Bank of Brazil. The first exhibition was about motion picture projection and tricking the mind. There was video projected on glass, through bird cages, on the top bunk of a bed etc. There was a freaky one on broken glass
of people walking down stairs naked!! Up 2 more flights of stairs to a rubbish exhibition. All it had in it was a few bendy mirrors, like House of Mirrors on Southend pier, but not as good. We thought that it couldn’t be just that so Zo went to walk through the middle of the mirrors, only to be shouted at in Portuguese. One more flight of stairs and the Banco do Brasil museum. It was really interesting to see all the different bank notes and coins Brasil has had, as well as the rest of the world. Some of them are huge. It was a good museum, all in Portuguese which was a shame but best of all it was all free!! From there we got on the Metro to Copacabana where we had to go and call Qantas to change our flights. By this point it had started to rain. We managed to sort our flight after 45mins on the phone and it was a nightmare. We will be back on 31st March, exactly 6 months from when we left. We couldn’t get a flight out from Miami because it is spring break and Easter holidays. It was
a nightmare, but all sorted now. From there we had to run to a bar because it was pouring. Had a couple of drinks before getting the metro back in rush hour. What an experience as people don’t move for you at all! Got back to the hostel and had a cheap dinner at the restaurant on the corner.
We got up and walked down the road in the pouring rain to the Museu do Indio. It is a very well set out museum about the northern tribes of Brazil. Again, it was all in Portuguese which was a shame but you can kind of get the gist of what it says. From there we walked in the rain to the metro station and got the metro to Catete, just by Flamengo. First we went to the Museu da Republica. It occupies the beautiful 19th century Palacio do Catete, which served as Brazil presidential palace until 1954. It is the most impressive palace with beautiful chandeliers’ galore. You walk up the grand staircase to all the fantastically decorated room. They even have a chapel. The rooms are all designed with different themes, for example to Venician Room - just
full of blinds!!! You then go up another set of stairs to the room where President Getulio Vargas killed himself. They even have the pistol and blood stained pyjamas with the bullet hole in. Next door is the Museu Folclorico Edson Carneiro. It displays Brazilian folk art and wasn’t very good, but yet again they were free, because it was a Wednesday. We had a walk around the palace gardens and saw some old carnival animals before getting the metro back. We then spent the afternoon trying to find a hotel in Miami, and god was it hard. We managed to sort it in the end with a well timed call to a hotel, just as they had had a cancellation. We got back in the metro in the evening, still in the pouring rain and went to Ipanema for dinner. When we got out the metro at the other end it was pouring. We ran to the nearest bar, which was called the Irish Pub. When we got in we realised it was Paddy’s Day. Good timing. Had a few green beers in there and a snack before it got heaving. There was also a very annoying drunk Irishman,
Street Grafitti
It is everytwhere and to this quality as well but no change there!! They were also running the worst token ordering system we have ever seen. Not a very nice place so we didn’t stay all night before getting the metro back. Sat having a few drinks and talking football with Samuel, the barman in the hostel - problem is he cant speak any English. Whilst Zo watched Desperate Housewives!!
We got up a bit later and jumped into a taxi to go to the Jardim Botanico, Botanical gardens. Unfortunately the woman didn’t understand our accent so we had to go back in the hostel and ask how to pronounce it. Turns out we were pronouncing it correctly, so we reckon the woman just didn’t want to take us. Back in a different taxi and he understood us perfectly. We walked around the garden for about and hour and a half and got to see the canon ball trees, humming birds etc. We followed a set route and Zo got a badly translated tour by myself!! From there we decided to walk all the way back in the heat. We didn’t realise it was that far and ended up walking about 5km back to the hostel. We walked
to the cheap restaurant on the corner for some lunch before taking a wander around Botafogo. Had a big bobs for dinner and some drinks in the hostel bar before going to bed.
Next morning we were up early as we had booked a Favela trip. In the guide books you will see that a Favela will be translated to ‘slum.’ Favela is actually a native Brazilian tree and the reason why they are called Favela’s is because a group of military personnel built a camp on a hill side and it gradually got bigger and bigger. That hill was known as favela hill due to the trees. The people who live in the Favela’s don’t like it being called that, they prefer it to be called a community and that is exactly what it is. It is a tight knitt community for the poor. The Favela we were going to was Rocinha. It wasn’t the most dangerous but was definitely up there. The landscape and geography of Rio allows for favela’s due to the hills and mountains around. We got on the bus at about 10am and picked people up on the way. Our guide Marco had a
row with an Italian guy on the bus because he was being an A* ar*e and kept turning the TV off , which was showing other tours this company did and generally arguing. We arrived at Rocinha at about 11am. Rocinha is the biggest Favela in Rio and is run by a gang called the ADA - amigos do amigos. Some Favelas got raided by the police and are now run by them but no such luck with this one. The ADA is a huge drug trafficking gang who are estimated to earn R$1.5million every week. Our guide has to get permission to take us in there from the gang and told us never to take pictures of people with guns, as they are the drug dealers. There are no police in Rocinha. The police sometimes try to raid to catch the big boss man but it normally ends in a huge battle with a lot of blood shed. Last week 7 people were killed and last year the gang shot down a police helicopter!! This is one scary place for an outsider - so off we went to walk through it!! There are about 200,000 people living in Rocinha
but that number could easily be up to 500,000!! Thee ADA have a very well armed army of 500 ‘soldiers.’ We got off the bus at the bottom and the only mode of transport to the top was by moto taxi. Marco our guide paid the moto taxi and off we set on the back of the bikes. Zo was one of the first on as they guys fight over the attractive woman - I on the other hand was one of the last because I was heavy and waste too much petrol!! It took us about 5 mins to get to the top, and we both had a pretty hair raising ride. Zo nearly got sandwiched between a lorry and a bus and I nearly took my guy out as he slammed on the brakes overtaking on a blind corner. The insurance company would have loved it!! We got to the top and Marco went off to check if everything was ok. He came back, told us not to take pictures here and off we set. We walked down street 1, which was a tiny alley. They just keep on building and building - so much so that the
government have built a wall to stop them cutting down trees and ruining the national park. We were allowed to get our cameras out and Marco told us it was very safe. The ADA do not accept thieves’ in the Favlea, something we found strange for such a violent gang. Our first stop was a local art gallery where they painted about favlea life. There was some amazing work and we bought a small painting. We went up onto their roof to see the size of it. It is an unbelievable sight, you cannot believe so many people live there and the shear size of it - astonishing!! We carried on walking down the trash ridden street and stopped to watch some kids play drums on old buckets. Not a lot of people know but the infamous Rio Carnival is a competition between favelas and normally the drummers are the drug dealers!! After them we stopped at some really young kids trying to drum and copy the older ones, which again we gave a couple of quid to. One kid cried but Marco said he did that everyday for some reason or another!! The land they have built on is
not legally theirs but they have now brought in laws to say they legally own their houses so they can get bank accounts etc they can also have electricity meters but most people just tap the main line!! They are running out of space so they sell their roof for someone else to build on and the favelas now grow upwards instead of outwards!! Our next stop was a bakery for some doughnuts before going to the school and daycare centre. Half the money from the tour (bealocal.com) goes into this daycare centre. On average each family has 6 children and they daycare will look after them, as long as you are off to work or school. A lot of the people in the favelas work in town as bus drivers, cleaners etc. so they don’t sit around all day doing drugs and getting drunk - as many people think they do. We carried on walking, past dead rats and blocked drain, and made it all the way out to where we started to get back on the bus. It was the most amazing thing we have ever done and we felt very safe all the time we were there.
There is a real community spirit and the world has to realise that most of these people are just poor people trying to earn a living like anywhere else in the world. Yeah there are drug dealers there and bad people causing a lot of violence, but the majority are hard working, and a lot of innocent people get killed when the police coming raiding from stray bullets. The government do nothing to help the people living there and the rich complain about having to see them in the view from their windows, even though it was there many years before their high-rise apartments. There is so much to say about our experience an favleas that I could be here all day! We were worried that it would feel like going to a zoo, rich tourist going to look at poor people. But, they are proud to have people looking around because they want to show people that it is not all bad. They also believe that tourists are a lot more open minded and brave as Brazilian middle class would not set foot inside one. It really educated us and was an amazing experience. Adriano the football player, paid
million to get out of his Inter Milan contract to got back and live in his favlea - that show the community spirit. From there we got the bus back to our hostel feeling vibrant.
That afternoon we walked to Urca to get the cable car up Pao de Aqucar, Sugar Loaf. It is Rio’s iconic 3096m mountain which offers fabulous view over the city. You have to take 2 cable cars to get to the top and the views are some of the best in the world. You get to see all of the city and what an amazing location it is in. We had a beer at the top and enjoyed the sun and spectacular views. Back down and out for a farewell Rio dinner before our last drinks in the hostel bar.
Sao Paulo We got up at a normal time and packed up our bags. We had stayed extra in Rio and were there for a week. It was sad to say goodbye to Mo and Samuel as they had been so great and you could see Mo was sad to see us go because she kept trying to get us to
stay. She got us a taxi so we wouldn’t get conned and off we were to the bus station. If anyone is ever in Rio, stay in Ace Backpackers’ in Botafogo. The rooms aren’t the best but the staff make up for it. We got a bus at 1.30pm to Sao Paulo and said goodbye to Rio. Rio is the greatest city in the world and has got some bad rep over the last few years. If you are going to see one city in the world, go to Rio because there is no place like it! The bus journey was amazing because the views were amazing - yet again!! We arrived in Sao Paulo at about 7.30pm got a cab to our hostel and went for dinner and drinks at an Irish Pub. They tried to overcharge us but luckily I was on the ball and back to the hostel for some sleep.
We had a lay in and is it was Sunday there was not a lot to do. Luckily we were staying in a safe part of Sao Paulo and took a walk to the Museu do Futebol - don’t think you need an English translation!!
It was an amazing modern museum, at the stadium where Corinthians’ play, with many interactive display. We even got to take a penalty in bare feet against a virtual keeper, both scoring of course - Zo’s via a wall!!! Got a cab back to our hostel and was going to go to downtown but it isn’t very safe at weekends so decided not to. Went out for the worst dinner to Habbibs before getting an early night before our 5am departure the next day!!
What we have seen in Brazil has been amaxing and we wish we could have gone further north and got into the Amazon, but maybe next time.
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Eric and Heather
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Hey Tom and Zo, We enjoyed reading your Brazil post. It reminded us of our time there. Our blog is looking for travel photos to post. If you have time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Heather and Eric