Arrived safly in Rio... well I mean I arrived safely in RIO but more importantly that MF*&#$ bag... luckily.... Heres what she looked like at the other end (drama!)!! One latch opened...
Despite the fact that I even SAW the baggage guy with my own eyes - see the opening and try to press it close as i was disembarking in Montevideo or maybe even Rio.... the bag was ok when it got to me at the baggage carousel. PHEW! Not to be outdone by a bag.... scroll to the end and see how I planned NOT to be beaten by the threat of malfunctioning bag in airline cargo hold next flight.
Ok So i arrived in Rio, and I must say with some trepidation.
I´d heard, from first hand that Rio can be a dangerous city. An Aussie girl i ran into on my holidays once told me she and her bf had been held up on the BEACH in full view of everyone on a sunny day by guys with guns yes thats right GUNS on the beach!, asking for their bag! She gave it to them. Another friend had told me how he had witnessed some 6foot something brazilian come up to some little guy on the beach lift him up in a bear hug while someone else went through his bag... hmmmm Even my brazilian friend whom i met in Rio told me that now and again there is crime but generally it is all non violent, they just want your stuff; you give it to them - all good.
So with all these fearful thoughts in my head... suspcious of everybody, i set off from the airport in the pouring rain to where i was staying...which happend to involve a short walk up about 50 steps !!!! pissed off to say the least when i got there! Rain, Steps, Bag being a bitch!!! Least i didnt get held up or mugged!!
But by the end of the week in RIO that was the thing... even though i was kinda extra careful everywhere i went... yes i did walk down some dodgy streets at night on my own, caught the subway and buses, even walked into a Favela with no guide or local.... nothing happened and I saw nothing... True to say there were lots of police everywhere which is probably a good thing. So by the end of the week I had relaxed more and more each day and was feeling a little stupid for being so worried in the first place.
Ok so the good stuff....
I really dont know how to begin this except by saying:
OMG RIO is ($#(*)&¨¨¨@) amazing.
And that is an understatment.
It has got to be one of the best cities ive ever been to.
How to explain this (?) It was just so phenomenal ... I actually dont know where to start and even if i do i know i wont be able to express it all in a way that will communicate what I thought...but lets try...
So Brazil, the largest country in south america and the only one out of all of them that speaks Portugese (they all speak spanish) was originally colonised (after the natives) by the Portugese in the (guessing 1800s). This has left the city of Rio inparticular which was once the capital of the Portugese empire, awash with stunning old homes and magnificent european style buildings. Ok so no big deal... same as a host of other cities around the world right? The thing with Rio however is that its actual setting of being sandwiched at the foot of these small mountains which are black rock covered in lush lush greenery like the set of LOST and some beautiful beaches some stretching for kilometeres along this beautiful azure blue sea harbour makes the city breathtaking and really beautiful. Similar to Hong Kong with big buildings under large hills on the water, but with beautiful water and beaches, the main ones (ipanema and copacabana are maybe 2ks long each!) and a tropical vibe going on....once you´re there its easy to see why everyone loves the way it looks. Its a damn sexy looking city. You can grab lunch, go shopping, see the sites and hit the beach all within a few kilometeres of each other. The city has a huge divide between its rich and poor. And culturally its pretty different as youd expect, people just drop rubbish on the street and there is a lot of rubbish on the street. If youre into the organisation and clenliness of some of europes biggest cities, even Sydney, then Rio is an eye opener. Theres rubbish everywhere. Not that it doesnt get collected and not that its something that takes over the city but the residents seem to just accept that thats part of living and get on with it. The city has a lot of poverty. The day i arrived it was raining and people were sleeping (under cover) in full view of everyone on the street. its normal. you may have heard of the Favelas (slums) where 100s of thousands of people live.. well they aren´t the poor. Those peole are the lower class, they have jobs and tvs and ovens, water and schools and later on I was to find out...even cable TV! Infact for those of you that are interested, Rio has started handing out the titles of the land the Favelas sit on, to the people that live in the Favelas so they will own something. The real poor are those living on the streets.
And that was pretty challenging. People just lie down in the street with their bag (backpack) or blanket and sleep - I mean like in the middle of the footpath in SOME neighbourhoods. The day I left I was walking back to where I stayed to get my bag and I saw this guy asleep next to a parked car with a bag full of aluminium cans I guess he was collecting. It was 3pm in the afternoon, a hot day and he was sleeping on this small footpath next to a huge wall (out of view I guess). Its pretty heartbreaking to see that. I imagine to get some food or whatever he needs he has to collect cans and sleeps on the street when he can.
The city is dirty, and crazy, traffice is hectic, no seatbelts in taxis, amazing how cars dont hit each other.
But that, even the poverty, all just adds to the interesting mix of this city. Theres a metro and lots of buses and lots and lots of sexy people! Girls, Guys, and all kinds of colours of people its really beautiful...like a moving mosaic of people colours walking the streets.
Ok so heres some of what I got up to this last week...
SUGARLOAF
its not something you eat...rather its a mountain coming out of the sea just off the coast of the city.
And its amazing. To get to the views you take a cable car for a few minutes to the lower mountain and then a second car takes you to the top mountain. Sugarloaf (so called as it resembles a bread the Brazilians eat or used to eat?) has these incredible views of the southern parts of the city and looks across the bay (i guess) anyway i was REALLY blown away by this and stayed for maybe two hours just starring at the city.
These photos DONT EVEN DO IT JUSTICE! But migth give you an idea of the dramatic nature of the cities natural setting. Here are some views from the first peak and the top peak.
Me in silhouette.... in the far right of this peak you can see the ´sugarloaf´
Oh wow sugarloaf!
View from the top peak looking down... the beach on the left of the pic curving is Copacabana, beyond thiat beach is ipanema beach.
Wow how awesome is RIO
PS - The city is like 50 times bigger than this this is just a small section of it!
REASON FOR COMING TO BRAZIL 1 - see the sugarloaf
CHRISTO
ok so i guess we all know RIO is synonymous with CHRIST the Reedeemer.
Hes a tall statue standing on one of the mountains behind Rio looking over the city out to see.
Pretty cool statue! I wasnt as impressed with Christ as I was with sugarloaf...but yeah he was good to see...
Put your hands up in the AIR! Put your hands up in the AIR!
REASON FOR COMING TO BRAZIL 2 - put your hands up in the air with CHRISTO
Met this random on the beach one day...
He was holding a didgeridoo (!) So it sparked my interest... I asked him if he could play it, and it struck up a conversation....this guy Bernardo, is an Austrian, living in Rio. Hes been travelling around for 2 months and has just landed a job (volunteer) teaching english to kids in a Favela (thats a slum).
We chatted for a while and he even played his Didgeridoo for me on the beach AND gave me a lesson. These things are hard to play!! Ok so whats an Austrian (who has never been to Australia) doing with a didgeridoo....?? apparently in the 90s Didgeridoo music was really popular in Austria and so were some of the Australian bands that played it. So Bernado knew people that were into it when he was a kid and got into it himself, he was proud to tell me that this didgeridoo was an authentic one (made in oz) and had been shipped to Austria. So he obviously is so into it he brought it on his travels to south america for 3 months! Committment. Anyway... he was really cool and told me that if i wanted to i could just walk up into a Favela on my own. Now I´d done Christ the Redeemer with a Dutch guy and german girl the day before and the dutch guy was going to do a Favela tour with me the next day. Yes they do Favela tours... which you pay to do...and apparently the Favela gets some money for it as well. Its kinda weird and possibly even gross going to see someones neighbourhood - just because they are poor, but as mentioned the Favela dwellars are not the poorest and they actually have a fully functioning society. Thats one of the reasons people want to go and see the Favelas. The Favelas just spring up out of nowwhere, on odd pockets or the sides of the mountains of the city where there is nothing. They are fully organised though and have a system of governance which is outside of the jurisdiction of the city...ie i think some of them are run by guys with guns! In fact this day we were sitting on the beach Bernardo, the Austrian told me that 2 years ago the most lawless, biggest Favela very close to the city had a gun battle with the city police and SHOT A POLICE HELICOPTOR OUT OF THE SKY with a BAZOOKA! Sadly all the police died. Since then the city has worked to curb the violence and that sort of thing...i guess...doesnt happen anymore. Bernardo walked me to the subway and pointed out a Favela and the next day me, Guido the Dutch guy and this American girl Emitly did our own tour. Thats kinda freaky as for a tourist with sunnies, camera, phone etc, entereing into that domain where the potential for violence and the unknown is pretty high.
REASON FOR COMING TO BRAZIL3 - meet random Austrian guys on the beach
Anyway, it was a bit hectic... standing out like sore thumbs dressed in tourist gear with backpacks. Me no backpack just a stylish plastic bag... We went in and walked for about 10 minutes and it was hard going...most of the Favelas are built into the sides of hills in Rio (where it was probably too difficult to build normal buildings or the city did not want development). That said some of the structures in the Favelas are 3 or more stories tall! It was a bit creepy...until we saw door to door salesmen trying to sell CABLE TV to some of the homes. (!)
Acai.
words cannot describe my new love for this thick purple stuff.
no jokes now - (its not veiny). Ok Acai is a little berry that grows in most of Brazil
Its available all over the world (including Sydney) where i´d had it before i left, just to try it, as someone had said to me.... acai is good in sydney but when you go to Brazil...it will blow your mind.
OMG. MIND = BLOWN.
So what is so good about thick purple sweet tasting stuff??
Its hard really to say beyond it tastes friggin awesome.
...as soon a youve finished it, you want another one.
You look forward all day long to having it. You dream about it.
You consider becoming a Brazil citizen to eat it every day.
Or Marrying a Brazilian to get residency so you can eat it every day.
The berry itself has one of the highest levels of antioxidants of any fruit and a bowl of it has the same ammount of protein as a bowl of eggs! In the Amazon they eat it as a savoury dish but elsewhere (including Australia) they serve it as a smoothie or dessert. It is so good. and whoever said that to me about it being different in Brazil was right... as the fruit cant last more than 30 hours after being picked the stuff in OZ is freezed and shipped therefore i dont think the shops use as much in their products (too expensive). So thats probably why it tastes so good here...more cocentrated. YUM.
REASON for coming to Brazil 4: try the native Acai and go to tastebud heaven.
In addition to that there were heaps of other random fruits id never seen nor heard of before.
And yeah... im like a dirty street dog with stuff like that...walking along eating everything.
I TRY EVERYTHING!
This thing that looks like a tomato is actually a fruit called Acerola tasted sweet and awesome!
This thing is like a very popular Brazillian snack... its minced chicken with mashed potato in this crumbed ball. Yes I love this too!
Went out on the town as well.... had a few nights out with these Spanish girls I met and that was fun.
Rio is a party city. The usual vibe is drinking beer in the streets .... street bars with tables overflowing onto the footpath are everywhere...dancing to samba or traditional latin music. Lotsa fun.
Id also put an add on craigslist for any other English speakers out there that might be gay and want to hit the town. I got a reply from an american guy, Fern (Fernando - latin heritage) who was up for a party. We met for some beers.... then in my `way` of just asking anyone who looks helpful (and gay) where the best gay disco would be - we hit onto these french and israeli guys and their friends that were girls. Not their girl friends because the boys were gay. We knew they were gay beacause a) they kinda looked it and b) this american and i had nativagated ourselves to one of Rios gay streets where..... all the restaurants and bars are essentially gay. The french guy clarified who was dating who out of the 4 guys by pointing to the other French guy and saying `i´m fucking with him`!
So im like `guys know any good gay discos´ French guy is like `yeah you go to Central (suburb) to ´the week`, then Israeli guy buts in with... ´you just come with us...´ so me and the American Fern, hook up with 8 of them (now 4 french guys/2 french girls and 2 israeli guys) go to their apartment so they can `change the girl´, that was the french guy explaining that one of the french girls wanted to change her outfit LOL and then headed out to this FUCK OFF awesome club. CLUB? Sydney you got nothing on Rio!
The Week, or the Week-i as the locals say.... is this mega dance club like a New York club in this old building on the docks of Rio. |I wish id been a random tourist and took a photo like the other guys but nana thought she´d loose her camera... anyway the music was hot, (and loud) the club was great and as the Israeli guys were saying... if you leave your shirt on in this club you´re the odd one out. Dont worry, I didnt take my shirt off...but I cant even begin to explain what that was like...think of that song ´its raining men` but imagine it after the rain has stopped. Take that thought into the Beatles classic Yellow Submarine (and you´re the submarine) ok where am i going with this? There was a sea of brazilian men...with tatts, and guns and abs and everything, they all looked 20/30 and just to throw in another analogy or two, its like.... you love food a lot and you find yourself lying on a buffet rolling around. Or more simplistically you´re a pig and then theres a pool of shit. haha no just kidding. Im laughing about it right now...it was just such a good nigth.
So easily REASON 5 for coming to Brazli: The week
So that was it in a nutshell. There were some funnier stories which arent for here ...but basically Rio was great! hitting the beach, having a swim, eating some random fruits, an acai, talking Portugese lol with my hands as I cant speak any! It was on about the 3rd day.... I realised that one of my communication tools the `OK` symbol with my hand (like diving) actually means ASS HOLE in Brazil. Oops. LOL no joke...id been going around giving thumbs up and OK and then the american girl tells me - dont do that! its offensive here!
Now for the random photos...
Copacabana beach....stretching around to Sugarloaf in the distance...mainly for tourists I´ve been told.
Bit of Capoeira practice on the beach.
Manuel and Juan...your friendly Brazilian life savers (Ipanema beach). I think Im drowning...gasp! Lifesaver!
Oh! and just in case you forgot your Bikini top whilst at the beach (LOL) this guy one of many walking the beaches selling everything from acai, to coconut juice to bikinis!, will sell you one.
Oh yeah - you can tell by the expression on his face he´s thinking about fitting one of those bikini tops onto a gringo now!
Goodbye Faithfull Blue Havianas...youve served me well... now back to your native home to rest!
Planning to leave these here... (did you know Havianas come from Brazil)
Black tape and this random seatbelt thing - works every time.
ahh goodbye fantastic Rio... juice was had, tans were made, i never got into a g-string / speedo vollyball match on the beach with the brazilian boys but maybe thats for next time?? It was a great place to see and visit...and yeah I think ill have to come back. Any one up for a trip to Brazil??
Next stop on la adventure, is the capital of Brazil, a city only 50 years old, they couldnt decide if the capital should be Rio or San Paulo, so they made the city of Brasilia! Here is one of its many interesting architectural sites, the Temple of Goodwill or in Portugese the Templo da Boa Vontade. It was an interesting visit (thanks Paul for the tip) open 24 hours, and free entry gets you in to see a swirling black / white marble floor which circles around into the middle of the space and puts you under the largest crystal ever mined on the planet which is affixed at the apex of this pyramid. Brazilians are a spiritual lot so it seems.
The shadows are me and the guide...
See you on the other side....
...Rio...!
