Rio de Janeiro

---

---

If I would have only two words to describe Rio de Janeiro then I would use "not impressed". Yes, yes I know everyone claims that Rio has the most beautiful setting in the world, is full of girls in little bikinis laying on beautiful city beaches but I still think it’s not that great.

I did the usual tourist things like going up and say hello to Christ, view the city from above from the Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) and have a look at the admittedly exceptional setting the city has. A mandatory stop at Copacabana and Ipanema beach (which were more or less deserted when I was there) were also on the program.
My problem with the city is that it lacks flair and has apart from the well known sights not that much to offer. Oh and did I mention that it’s very expensive. Most of the things here cost twice as much as in the rest of Brazil and are sometimes very close to Sydney prices.

Saying all that the stay hasn't been that bad (Maybe I was just in my bitchy mood for a couple of days). Christ and the sugar loaf are nice to look at and you have great views over the city. The hostel was ok (apart from the 12 bed dorm) and the nights out ended at 4am in the morning.

My recommendation is that if you ever come here stay a couple of days do the touristy things so you can say you did them and then go to Buenos Aires which is way cooler (IMHO).

You can view a video with an overview of Rio from the usual spot which is here: How to play the videos

---

Photos

I swear the fish was that big
Christ the redeemer watching over Rio. It seems that every South American city has to put something on the top of the highest nearby hill.

View from the hill where Christ the Redeemer stands
On the left you can see the sugar loaf mountain, in the middle Copacabana beach and to the right Ipanema beach

Setting up the CD shop
As everywhere in South America there are lots of people selling everything from chewing gum to high tech gadgets

Maracana Stadium
In the distance you can see Maracana stadium which holds the record (183,341 spectators in 1969) for the biggest crowd for a soccer (of football) match. This is also the Stadium where Pelé made his 1,000th goal.

Ipanema beach
As you can see the weather wasn’t that sunny that day.

Viaduct in Santa Teresa
Build by slaves to divert water throughout the suburb and then later conbverted into a bridge for the tram

View from sugar loaf mountain
In the background you see Copacabana and Ipanema beach

Spot the Cathedral
The funny looking building on the left is a Cathedral. Not very nice from outside and inside but interesting to look at.

The hostel
Quite nice house but the 12 bed dorm was a joke. There was no room to put your bags.

Comments

[Miss Wendy O]

Gutted
I'm gutted. I thought Rio would be a fab vibrant place to visit. What about the hottie Brazilians???