Advertisement
Published: February 9th 2007
The journey from Peru to Brazil went by in a haze. Due to lack of sleep and plenty of alcohol still flowing through my system from partying in Lima, i slept for most of the way. When we arrived in Rio we got in a taxi at the airport, but didn't´t have an address for Crab Hostal where we were staying in Ipanema. Because we had to leave our hostal in Peru in such a hurry, we hadn´t had time to go on the internet to find out where it was. Luckily the taxi driver was able to radio to his control and find out where we had to go. When we arrived the hostal was in a fantastic location. One block back from the beach in a very swanky area of Rio. The hostal had good facilities and seemed like it would be great. The first night we had a wonder around the district and then went to bed to catch up on some sleep.
The next morning we woke up late for breakfast, but sneakily managed to grab a bread roll and cup of coffee from the kitchen while the maid was cleaning up. Not the crime of
the century, but enough to earn us our first reprimanding from the hostal owner. Over the course of our stay it wouldn't´t be our last telling off. After breakfast we headed out into Rio to check out some sights. The first port of call was the statue of christ at Corcovado. It is probably the most famous landmark in Rio and stands 2400ft above the city, providing spectacular views. During our time traveling, Simon Pete and myself had started a competition to see who could get the best naked picture in some of the most spectacular locations around the world. Simon and Pete had both managed to pull off photos at Machu Pichu and Mt Churrup, but i was still on a duck. I was hopefully that i would be able to make my debut with a cracking photo of my pasty white arse framed by the backdrop of Rio from the Christ Redeemer. When we got off the train at the top, the views were amazing, but there were hundreds of tourist. I was still game to get my photo, but Pete insisted that due to Brazil being a catholic country, and given our location, i was sure to
get arrested. I decided he had a point and kept my clothes on. I will have to wait till Sydney opera house or the harbor bridge for my next opportunity.
After the statue of christ, we stopped at Copacabana beach to see if music and passion was still the fashion, before heading back to Ipenema to spend the afternoon on the beach near the hostal. The beaches are by far the best thing about Rio. Although it was the Brazilian summer time, and there were no waves, there is still so much going on to keep you entertained for hours. The first noticeable thing is how amazing the sand is. Although all the beaches back on to busy streets, the water is crystal clear and the sand almost looks artificial. Every grain is perfect and looks like golden brown sugar. We found probably the only available patch of sand to sit on (it was the weekend and very busy) and kicked back to take in the atmosphere. Beach volleyball, beach vendors, beach football and obviously the most famous thing of all. Brazilian Bikinis!!! If anyone has seen a ´Reef Brazil´ surf advert, then you will have an idea of
what it is like on the beaches of Rio. All the girls show as much ass as possible and you certainly spend a lot of time using your peripheral vision:-) It is also easy to see why they are the world champions at football. All the blokes play keep ups at the water edge and the ball hardly ever touches the floor. There is also a variation of beach volleyball, where it is only permitted to use your feet and head to keep the ball up. You have to see it played to appreciate how unbelieveably good the brazilians are at it.
The next morning we went on a tour around one of the cities largest favellas. Apart from the beach, it was definatly the best thing we did in Brazil. The favella backed on to the richest area in Rio, and it was strange to be driving past some of the biggest houses i have ever seen in my life and then suddenly be faced with some of the poorest. When we stepped out of the bus, i was immediately greeted by a young boy called Nicholas. He was about 8yrs old and lived in the favella. He
spoke really good english and was selling paintings that he had made himself. He showed me all his work. Bright coloured oil paintings of his family, the favella and the city of Rio. They were amazing. However, i hadn´t taken any money with me, and felt so guilty having to walk away from him without buying anything. We walked around the favella with a guide for about 1.5hrs. We saw houses, streets, gangs, markets and schools. It was a great experience and although the conditions the people live in are terrible, you get a real sense of a strong community when you wonder around. In some areas our guide told us to be careful and not to use a camera, but everywhere else was fine and you felt completely safe. Our guide told us that there is a deal with the gangs that run the streets. If anyone robs one of the tourist coming through the favella on a tour, they get their hand cut off.
The same afternoon we returned to the beach and got talking to two Brazilian girls that spoke good english. One of the girls used to work as a guide in the city and
helped us out when she thought one of the beach vendors was trying to over charge us for a beer. She offered to take us out round Rio that evening. We arranged to meet at a 24hr pizza restaurant in the Lapa district and then we would catch an old school tram to a place called st Teresa. The tram was similar to the cable operated ones in san Francisco. There were people crammed in to every available bit of space. People were even hanging on to the sides as the tram raced through the city. At one point a car had parked across the tracks and the driver was nowhere to be seen. After waiting for about 5 minutes, a group of guys got off the tram and picked the car up, moving it out of the way. St Teresa had a real Bohemian feel and there were lots of bars with live bands playing samba and roots music. We went to a couple of bars and watched some music before returning back to Lapa, where there was a large open air concert. We had a great night and went to places that we would never have visited on
our own.
After only a couple of days in Rio, we had spent about the same amount of money that we would have done in a month in Peru or Ecuador. Although we were both very keen to stay for the carnival, prices were going up nearly every day. We had also had a few more run in's with our hostal owner. She lived in the hostal and ran it with an iron fist. She had large lists of rules displayed on every available piece of wall, basically forbidding anyone to have any fun. We decided that due to the expense and also because we had Hitler as a landlady, we would leave brazil and go back to Chile. My foot was looking pretty good, and i was starting to crave some waves to ride. Hopefully Chile would be cheaper than Brazil and have some epic surf.
For our last few days in Brazil, we explored as much of the city as we could. We went to Downtown Rio. Walked around the Lagoa (which is at the heart of rio's affluent south side) and Jardim Botañicas. We also went on a night out to an Irish bar where
we partied with a group of Norwegians. We have met a few Norwegians on our travels and they are always good fun. They like to drink similar quantities to us Brits and they share a similar sense of humor. On entry to the bar that we were drinking in, you were presented with a coupon. When you brought a drink, it was recorded on your ticket and you paid for all your drinks at the end of the night. As Pete and i were drinking in a round, we decided to put everything we had on to one ticket. When we were in the queue to pay at the end of the evening, i realized i had lost the my coupon, which was blank. I had obviously had a few sherbets and wasn't quite thinking clearly. I thought i would be able to explain the situation to the cashier. However, it soon became clear that anyone could have found my ticket and had a free nights drinking. It turned out there was a charge of about 100 pounds for lost tickets. Myself and Pete pleaded with the cashier, while the Norwegians we were with frantically searched the floor for my
coupon. Luckily it was found under the table we had been sat at and i got out without having to pay a fine.
After dipping our big toes in Brazil for only 5 days, it was time to head back to the airport to board a flight back to Santiago. We had another early start, but managed to resist the temptation of going out drinking all night like last time and got an early night. We boarded the plane to Santiago, but both made a vow to return to Brazil at a time of year when the waves are better and explore properly.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.264s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 14; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0525s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Gazza
non-member comment
NO WAY MAN........
Gooday John Boy! You should be a writer dude! You tell your tales so well! Glad your having an ace time, can't believe you put a tailpad on that lovely fish tho!!! (that's sooooooooooo gay!) Take care mate, Gary