Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 145

Happy New Year, everyone! We arrived in Rio de Janeiro, the second biggest city in Brazil after a couple hours of layover in São Paulo (another crazy town) several days ago. Unfortunately we didn't see any Rio landmark our first night due to our late arrival. We went directly to our hostel in Botafogo neighborhood, which located only twenty minutes walking from Copacabana and Ipanema beach, sitting next to the Corcovado with the Cristo Redentor statue on top. Eating fruits in Botafogo, visiting favela (Rio's famous slums), riding cable car to the top of the Sugarloaf Mountain, swimming at Ipanema beach and getting mugged at Capacabana beach are some of minor things we experience during our first day in Rio. Getting mugged? That's right, but story will follow later. First day in Rio: don't be a ... read more

Thursday 29th December 2005 So... the boat party. I have to say we were all a little disappointed. We left really late for starters. And then the boat was full of gringos. Drunk gringos by the end of things. We could´ve been in Ibiza or something. Oh, and it just went to 1 beach in the end, and the water was absolutely filthy. But the location was spectacular so we made the most of it. Oh, and on the gringos note, I seem to have found myself in a hostel where everyone has a similar dislike for the traditional English tourist! In the evening we decided to go to a club called Zero Zero. Apparently it´s where all the beautiful people go (and in this city, that´s quite a claim!). A Brazilian girl Paul knows claimed ... read more

So we left Argentina and Paraguay behind us and caught an overnight bus to Sao Paulo - largest city in South America and usually jostling for 4th/5th place in the biggest cities in the world rankings. Half way through the journey (just before 'lights out' one of the passengers came round and collected the equivalent of GBP4 from each person. We had no idea what it was for; nobody else on the bus spoke English and we did'nt know the Portuguese translation for "what's all this about then, pal?" Anyway, we paid up and could only assume what it was for.... either a tip for the driver (very nice, thank you very much - the bus was full) or a police bribe - cops often stop buses and search them, much to the inconvenience of the ... read more

I got to the hostel, Mellow Yellow. Its pretty new but is already very popular just through word of mouth. Its right next to Copacabana beach, on 7 floors with loads and loads of dorms, one with 24 beds! It also comes complete with jacussi and bar, and chill out room. Its absolutely massive. I dumped my stuff and headed to the beach, had one of those reality check moments stepping onto the sand, as in ´oh my god, im on probably the most famous beach in the world´. It was so beautiful, with the hills surrounding, sugar loaf peeping through a gap. The city clings to the hilly rocky coast, the hills covered in green forest. Then of course there´s the Christ the redeemer statue staring down at everyone. It was paradise. It was pretty ... read more

So, we're finally here! This is our third and final day here so we do have a bit to tell you now! Getting here from snowy Maryland was no easy feat. We left the farm early Thursday morning arrived at BWI and had to wait for the rainstorms to pass through Atlanta before our Atlanta bound flight would take off. This meant that we eventually touched down in Atlanta at the exact same time our Rio flight was boarding...talk about a mad dash through three terminals!! We made it just as the doors were closing...and more surprisingly even our luggage made it to Rio!!! The flight itself was a comedy. Nobody sat in their designated seats. Jen and I boarded the plane to discover that a family had already made themselves comfortable where we should have ... read more