Blogs from Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 37

My long awaited trip begins........................ ( unfortunately my photos weren´t put on the cd correctly so i have lost most of the) When we arrived we headed straight for Copacabana beach which was only down the road from our lovely hostel! The beach was huge with white sand and huge waves In the Evening we went to a local football match where the atmosphere was just amazing, we joined in with the locals singing and dancing! The following day we decided to see the sights and went to Chrsto Redentor- Corcovado, Rio De Janeiro. This was quite amazing! The statue is huge and the View of Rio was stunning- a lot nicer than seeing it on the ground! We also went up to sugar loaf mountain and watched the sun set over Rio. It continued to ... read more

Our flights to Rio did not go according to plan. Manchester to Heathrow was delayed, BA then parked up at the wrong terminal. We had to wait for buses to escort us to the right terminal which took a long time. Making our way between terminals was not easy...Heathrow is not the best labelled/signposted airport in the world! we only just made it to our flight! Our connecting flight from Sao Paulo to Rio was also delayed due to the cleaners having to come onto the plane and dust between the aisles! Luckily when we arrived in Rio we passed through immigration with no mention of a yellow fever vaccination and instead we were greeted by a woman dressed like she was off to a luxury casino (stilletos and flowing black dress) and a saxophonist playing ... read more

Saa er vores tid i Copacabana ved at vaere slut. I morgen tidlig drager vi mod oen Ilha Grande, der ligger 3 timer i bus+1 time i baad fra Rio. Selvom man selvfoelgelig godt kunne have brugt mere tid paa en by som Rio har vi alligevel oplevet en masse fantastiske ting :-) En af de mest facinerende oplevelser har helt klart vaeret vores besoeg i Latinamerikas stoerste Favela. En favela er en slags slumkvarter med udpraeget selvstyre - ikke fordi de har faaet tildelt selvstyre, men fordi de lokale narkobaroner har taget det. Saa det er en slags by i byen, hvor man ikke betaler skat, vand eller el. Til gengaeld hersker jungleloven og vold og drab er hverdagskost. Ca. 1/3 af hele Rio's befolkning bor i disse favelaer, og den vi besoegte har 200.000 ... read more

We arrived in Cordoba at 11a.m after a 20 hour ride, immediately checked our packs into the bus station´s left-luggage deposito and made our way to the pre-pay taxi rank. "Eros hotel por favour". A waiting driver gave me a knowing wink. Fifteen minutes later and we pull into what looks like a posh motel. However, here you clock the digital read-out at the entrance and park your car in the corresponding garage or, in the case of arriving by taxi, you walk into the garage (without driver), close the door and proceed through the door at the rear. You are greeted by a swanky en-suite room with prominent sunken jacuzzi, wall-to-wall mirrors, plush seating area, interestingly-channeled TV viewable from anywhere, and an array of lighting to set the mood.... Within seconds the phone rings to ... read more

Wow - Hostel 400 meter fra Copacabana. Temperaturen er fornuftig og de graa, disede skyer klaeder bjergene omkring Rio. Stranden er naesten tom (brasserne fryser!) og gaaturen var smuk med Jesus-figuren i baggrunden og Sukkertoppen for enden af stranden. Tilbage paa vores hostel, et foroevrigt fantastisk hyggeligt sted, fik vi velkomst-caipirinha og tropiske frugter. Vi var gaaet paa rov i det lokale frugt-supermarked med frugter vi aldrig havde set foer. Den lokale juicebar (a.k.a. Suco-manden) er ogsaa vaerd at naevne; for en 5'er, af den danske slags, faaes frugtjuice og blends der smager, saa englene synger. Hvem sagde eksotisk paradis? Vi bor so sagt paa et rigtig fedt hostel. Det er et Lotte og Mathias har fundet. Det er virkelig hyggeligt at faa selskab af dem - og ligeledes en rigtig fed oplevelse af moede dem ... read more