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Published: February 2nd 2010
"...And she dances on the sand." Duran Duran really nailed Rio de Janeiro with that line - it fits every aspect of life that Rio is famous for. Stunning women, glorious beaches and parties galore. The promise of the above an alluring prospect when flying over from London. I actually felt rather ill on the plane and drifted in and out of a delirious sleep on the 12 hour flight. Watching G.I Joe did nothing to cure my ill feeling, and probably made me feel worse.
The airport felt rather lacklustre for an international hub but I was concentrating more on making myself feel normal and respectable enough to clear the immigration officials. I threw some cold water onto my clammy face and rinsed my bloodshot eyes. I was feeling better already actually - just being able to walk around freely and breathe some fresh air appeared to have magical medicinal qualities.
Ayrton Senna was reincarnated especially to take me from the airport, located north of the city centre, to Ipanema in the south. I didn’t blame him - the northern part of the city, called Zona Norte, is the poorer area of town and looks rather run down.
My first glimpses of Rio flashed by as we weaved through the traffic at alarming speed. I would have usually caught the bus but for Rio’s sinister reputation.
When reading into Brazil it was soon evident that Rio appeared to be a very unsavoury place. Crime levels are very high and being out alone at night in certain areas of town are sure to attract the attention of muggers. I had read lots of stories of muggings and murders. Each website and book focusing on necessary precautions travellers should be taking in the city. Keep money in your shoes, don't get your camera out, get only taxis at night. A lot of the literature I read advised visitors to Rio to just accept the fact that they will be robbed! Something I was not very keen on at all. It was enough to make me very paranoid as soon as I stepped off the plane.
The neighbourhoods soon changed though and I soon found myself in Ipanema - the wealthier part of town. These tree-lined streets are where some of the priciest real estate in the city is located but, at night, is still not particularly safe. The
10 foot bars and electric gates that surround each property in this area revealing Rio’s darker side. Still, this is prime real-estate in Rio with luxury apartments, expensive restaurants and cocktail bars.
I checked in and began settling into my dorm room. I was shattered and ready to just turn in for the night. I got chatting to a couple of girls in my dorm however who were both on their own. They were heading out to the nightlife centre of town - Lapa - for the night and invited me to go. I summoned the strength to go out and bond with my new room mates, unsure of when I would collapse with exhaustion.
Lapa was an incredible place and just how I imagined it to be. Brazilians are famous for their care-free, party-loving approach to life which manifests itself across the arts, dance and music. Lapa fused these creative styles together to create an electric party atmosphere in the streets. It is also through these creative means that Brazils multi cultural society and diverse ethnic roots are displayed. The rhythmic sounds of samba combine with funk blaring out from clubs along the streets, wafting over the
Panorama of Rochinha Favela
Wish I had a wide angle lens now - the Favela sprawls further up hill to the left and down to the coast on the right.heads of party goers. From another corner of Lapa steel drums and African music join the ensemble. Brazilians love to party - nowhere could this be more evident than Lapa.
Impromptu alcohol gazebo’s lined the streets with vendors selling cheap beer and Caipirinha’s. It was here that I sampled my first. It was delicious and became the first of many. They’re very potent and made with a mouth-watering mix of Cachesa (Brazilian sugar-cane rum), crushed ice, lime and copious ammounts of sugar. Caipirinha in hand we made our way through the distinctive aqueduct and into the crowds of people.
The buildings in this area are fantastically ornate with worn Portuguese facades and creaky wooden shutters. Soaring above it all the faded-white aqueduct curves around a cobbled square. It has an interesting design that is made up of two different levels. The two tiered structure used to deliver water from the mountains into the centre of town but is now used as a mode of transport for the tram into Santa Teresa.
The following morning it was time to begin discovering Rio’s day time charm. The city is absurdly beautiful - nestled between thick green rain forest covered
mountains and pristine sandy beaches. The turquoise green waters of the endless Atlantic Ocean completing the gorgeous ensemble. It lazily stretches across the coast with a glorious lagoon set in land. The hills and beaches form the backbone of many of Rio’s top drawer sights and is the perfect setting for a metropolis brimming with activities and excitement.
The first of these I went to see is the possibly the most iconic sight in Rio and perhaps even South America - Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado mountain. The bus up the mountain winds its way around and up to the entry point high above the city. The road has been hacked into the mountain and is surrounded by thick forest which occasionally presented our bus with the odd glimpse of the stunning views of the city far below.
Made with Swedish concrete, the statue weighs over 1,000 tons and sits with a serene look on his face gazing out over 700 metres above Rio. Christ Redeemer is a silent guardian, welcoming visitors to the city and is rather large indeed - in fact he's the second largest statue on the planet after the Statue of Liberty. From this
Christ Redeemer up close
I knew there was a reason for lugging round a zoom lens. excellent vantage point I had an unparalleled 360 degree view of Rio. From the jungle to the rear, the Macarena Stadium to the north and the pristine lagoon, beaches and affluent neighbourhoods to the south. From here the city looks truly stunning - undoubtedly one of the most impressive city views in the world - an unfortunate cloud blocking the view before I could soak it in for too long.
Another icon of the city is the oddly shaped Sugar Loaf mountain. The mountain protrudes like a thumb on the coast of Rio and affords wonderful views of the coastline and surrounding hills. The summit is reached by two cable cars in two separate stages. James Bond famously fought Jaws on top of these cars - the metal mouthed villain biting through the cable in an attempt to instigate a fatal plummet to the ground. Naturally, Bond escaped.
The views from here truly are amazing especially as the sun began to set behind the hills flicking its final rays over the horizon. Rain clouds moved in again however and turned the scene into something very moody indeed. The Christ Redeemer statue sat on the mountains opposite disappearing in
View from Christo Redentor
Stupid clouds spoiling the view! and out of threatening clouds as the wind picked up. The city still looked beautiful and was sprawled out in front of the mountain with the distinctive white high rises of downtown giving way to the urban sprawl that was nestled between the sandy coast and green mountains.
The following day I decided to investigate a couple of Rio’s neighbourhoods in more detail. I took advantage of the city's excellent metro system to get into the centre of town. This area is called Centro and is where many of the city's offices are located. Large office blocks here sit next to enormous Portuguese colonial buildings with such grand edifices as the Theatre and Cathedral being the most intricately impressive.
From Centro I wandered in the sweltering head to Lapa again to see this area in the day light. I wandered the cobbled back streets in search of some famous steps in Lapa. The steps are a world-renowned and colourful walkway that is being decorated by a local artist. These steps have featured in many films (such as the recent Hulk film) as well as music videos.
The colourful steps are made up of many tiles from around
the world. The artist - Selaron - has travelled and collected these tiles and has covered this entire area with them. He was there when I arrived - re-covering a section of the steps. He is a quirky man and is very proud of his creation. The fame I think has affected him though as he is a little crazy and now also paints himself with the body of a black pregnant woman. He’s a cheeky man though with a wonderful handle-bar moustache to complete his eccentric look.
Wandering back into Centro I then caught the Bonde (tram) over the aqueduct and into one of Rio’s most attractive neighbourhoods - Santa Teresa. The tram ride was quite an experience as it was busy so I had to hang off the edge clinging for dear life as it rolled over the aqueduct with a long drop below. The tram clunked in its rails through the cobble-stone streets as it rolled steeply uphill into the quaint neighbourhood.
This area has a very bohemian culture with many of Rio’s artists and musicians being based here. The old, worn buildings display their Portuguese heritage proudly and many have been converted into stylish
restaurants and galleries. The tree-lined streets are very quiet and relaxed. It was in this area that the great train robber - Ronnie Biggs settled whilst on the run from the UK authorities. I began to see why he wanted to stay here - peaceful neighbourhood in a beautiful city or a British prison. Not a particularly difficult choice to make.
I had lunch in a popular local eatery which served an enormous and fantastic lunch. I had a traditional dish that comprised of rice, beans and a stew called Feijoarda. The stew had all kinds of meat in and tasted wonderful. Whilst they are not world-famous for their cuisine - Brazilians do have some tasty fare which I tried. Also, because of their abundance of rain forest and the bio-diversity it provides, they have a plethora of juices available. The best of these is Acai - which is just incredible. It is a frosted berry drink that one eats with a spoon and is served with bananas, granola and honey. I've had one pretty much every day since arriving in Brazil.
I decided to explore Rio’s famous beach areas next - the two most popular being Copacabana
and Ipanema. Copacabana is a long curved stretch of sand with a decorative pavement, run-down beach front hotels dotted with refreshment stands selling refreshing coconuts. The beach is a hive of activity with the locals playing volleyball, surfing and sunbathing. By day this area is a hive of activity but by night it is quite an unsafe place to wander around. Muggings and theft are common on this particular stretch and prostitutes descend on it in their numbers. In the middle of it all is the decadent Copacabana Palace Hotel - a grand white colonial building that ushered in a new era of tourism for the city when it was built earlier last century.
I walked along Copacabana, sweat stinging my eyes, pausing for some coconut refreshment before stopping at the next beach along - Ipanema. Ipanema is the location of the hostel I was staying in. As mentioned before it is a much more upmarket neighbourhood. As well as pricey restaurants and apartments there are also many juice bars in the area which allowed me to constantly feed my new acai habit regularly. The sheer abundance of other fruit and berry juice combinations is truly wonderful.
The
beach here is definitely superior to Copacabana. The water is infinitely more crystalline and the sand fluffier and softer. As with Copacabana, the beach is divided into Posto’s - life guard huts. Each posto attracts certain types of people. So for example the gay community hangs out in one area, families another, poorer people from the Favelas (I'll explain later) in another etc. It’s odd to see such segregation on the beach but it is certainly interesting how it all works. The beaches are always busy with a sea of people layed out tanning themselves in front of glorious turquoise waters.
The Rio beaches are great fun and the best places to people-watch. They're pure theatre. Women wandering around in tiny dental floss bikinis, men jumping around playing beach volley ball, surfers enjoying the large waves, helicopters flying in low over the water and sculptors building large elaborate sand castles. Young, old, fat, thin, fake, real, tight, saggy, rich, poor - nowhere is Rio's reputation as a city of contrasts been more evident. Rio's residents may live in different neighbourhoods but the beach is somewhere they can all mingle as equals.
Nowhere is this reputation of a city
Favela Funk Party
My English moves proving more popular as the night wore on... of contrasts more evident than after a visit to the Favelas. Favelas are Brazilian slums that are run by criminal drug gangs. They are enormous communities where most of Rio’s working class inhabitants live. There are over 900 of them in Rio and they are built into the surrounding rain-forested hills with incredible views of the city. From a distance they are an incredible sight - hundreds of shacks built precariously on top of one another curving steeply into the hill sides.
Wandering into a Favela alone can be dangerous but a tour is a very safe and insightful way of getting up close to Rio's working class communities. The money paid for the tour goes into community projects such as schools and so they are allowed by the gangs that run the Favelas. There are no police inside - but they are all armed to the teeth at the bottom and are watched constantly from up high by foot soldiers with enormous weaponry.
Despite the notoriety of the people running these areas they are quite orderly places. No crime exists apart from the drug buying and selling that happens in various locations. Our tour guide was very
specific about where it was possible to take photos and where not to. If I was to accidently take a picture of an exchange location or a drug runner then there would be trouble. If there was other crime taking place in the Favelas then the police would have reason to get involved plus it would scare away tourism money which is valuable for the community.
The first Favela we visited, called Rochina, is the largest in the country where over 170,000 people live. It was truly enormous. The views it affords are amazing - the cities beautiful coastline framed by Sugar Loaf and Christ Redeemer are what most Favela inhabitants wake up to daily. The sort of view most millionaires would pay top dollar for. Precariously built houses hang over the windy roads of Rochina as young men on motorbikes buzz up and down the street with hang guns hanging out of their trousers.
Everything is quite orderly though and people have all the utilities required such as drainage, rubbish collection, telephones and electricity. One person generally buys the electricity and then rents it to others who hook into the grid with small cables running from an
exchange. The result is a spaghetti junction of cables that looks incredibly unsafe.
Our group wandered the streets of the Favela - the inhabitants going about their business and ignoring us largely. People were selling items on the streets, going to supermarkets and children were wandering to school. Life is normal here for people who are essential to the daily running of the city. These people are Rio's shop workers, waitresses, carpenters and more. The Favela is the only inexpensive means of living close to the city and for that reason, the government cannot evict them.
As we strolled through, the houses continued to impress with structural ingenuity. No planning permission is obtained to buy new homes and most of them are just built on top of one another. Rent is always agreed with the person below and each new tenant just keeps building upwards. The result is a fabulously diverse set of buildings that rise and fall in an epic staccato of bricks and mortar set against a blue sky and forest covered mountains.
Rounding off the trip I went to another, smaller Favela with a school that is run by the tourism money. The children
here were painting and some were playing football - oblivious to our presence. Many groups pass through here daily. We wandered onwards and entered the Favela maze. These congested alleyways are barely wide enough for a person to pass through. Yet inhabitants front doors branch off of each of these dark passageways too thin for the light to penetrate properly.
One of the quintessential experiences of Rio is the nightlife. As well as my first tired night in the city I have been going out regularly with people from my hostel and others that I have met. We have sipping Caipirinha's in Ipanema and guzzling beers in Lapa but one of the best nights out was the Favela funk party. This party takes place in a club at the foot of a Favela and is filled with people that live in the Favela above. There are a wide array of people here and an abundance of Brazilian women - who are truly stunning I must say. They're clearly not just confined to the beach!
I had gone to the party with a group of Brazilian women and a few others from my hostel who ended up teaching me
a few dance moves. Previously I could move my feet and my hips but the two never really worked well together. After a night of dancing my brain is now beginning to understand that connection between the two and I was on my way to mastering my own form of samba. Brazilians are brought up with dance and music and certainly know how to shake their thing stylishly on the dance floor. I didn't recognise most of the music but it all had a fabulously intoxicating mix that was impossible not to at least try and move in sync with.
I have heard about all kinds of problems since being in Rio with other people staying at the hostel but so far I have not experienced anything myself. The natives of Rio are called Cariocas and are very warm and friendly people. They are chatty and charming and always keen to party and talk to Gringo's. Life in Rio revolves around the beach and partying - which is a fabulous combination. Problems only seem to arise at night and in certain areas. Stories of tourists begin shaken down by the police at road-blocks and being asked to pull their
trousers down whilst the police searched their scrotums for drugs were alarmingly frequent.
If it weren't for these ugly instances Rio would be such an increcible place. It is not amazing value for backpackers - I was hoping for something more on a par with South East Asia prices. In reality it is closer to a western city. Prices are meant to become cheaper the further south I travel which I sincerely hope is true. However, despite the price and the crime Rio has been an awesome place to start my South America travels. The people are fantastic, the nightlife is incredible and vibrant and the beaches are blissfully perfect.
Rio has set the bar high for Brazil - the south has much to live up to! After a week in the party-crazed beautiful metropolis it is time for something a little more peaceful in the form of Ilha Grande - a tropical paradise island retreat a few hours south.
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Michelle
non-member comment
Too many Caipirinha’s???
Saw this after my fb msg. Looks bloody brilliant - you still look lobster red though!x