Rio de Janeiro

Well, a few words can sum up our time in Rio de Janiero. Hot hot and hot! We are averaging 35 to 37 degrees in the day time and it's taken some time getting used to it. Having said that it's still been much too hot to cram in the activities that we'd gotten so used to doing in a single day when we were in US.


So far we've managed a lazy day in the hostel followed by a trip to the beach after 6pm! The sun was on it's way down but that gave a chance to get to Copacabana beach and relax to read our books followed by some delicious beach-side Caiparinhas whilst watching some volley ballers do their thing.




On Satuday we happened upon a Carnival related procession which started in a town square in Ipanema and moved onto the beach closing the roads down in the process. It was a good example of the spirit the carnival brings and it was still a week away before the main famous procession! There were hoards of drummers and a huge sound system float which got the locals all charged and jumping up and down to traditional Carnival tunes. Great to see how such a simple set up can get the crowds so rallied up and enjoying themselves - the locals have a lot of passion for the Carnival period (basically 5 days of non stop partying!).




On Monday we made it to our first main tourist attraction the 40m tall Jesus statue called Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcavados mountain - this is the famous view many of you will have seen in films / postcards. After a sweaty bus journey and a short ride on the mountain furnicular train, we reached the Christ statue with his open arms welcoming all to Rio. The 'arms out' gesture was also a representation of the holy cross. At roughly 5pm the statue provided a welcome shade under which we able to take in Rio and surrounding landscapes in it's entirity. What a vista! We could see across all the major landmarks, the Atlantic ocean, the cruise liners, a lagoon, a football stadium to name a few.



We've settled into our simple hostel accomodation. During our first few nights, we pretty much had the dorm to ourselves so got used to the privacy however since Thursday / Friday, all the dorms in the hostel have filled up. It's good to meet other travellers all doing some combination of sights / routes across Brazil and South America. We've swapped stories and advice and generally there is good comeraderie amongst all. There's several Brits (from as close to home as Chiswick and Putney no less!), Japanese, American, Dutch and Belgian! We all went out together last night to take in some live music and dance Samba style - again all part of the Rio carnival festivities.


We're patiently working our way around the language barrier, each day being slightly easier than the last and is being helped by the easy going locals and Navi and I quizzing each other from our make shift phrase book ripped out of our Lonely Planet guide book.


On Wednesday we took the bus to the base of Sugar Loaf mountain, so called due to it's resemblance to a mound of unrefined sugar. We met Stephen, a friend from university, and went up the 2-stage cable cars to enjoy the sunset. The ever changing mountainous and lush tropical landscape in front of us at this viewpoint was spectacular at dusk and at night when the city was illuminated and shimmering with light from the favelas high up! We'd managed to truly relax and take in the surroundings before heading into Copacabana to eat at the popular restaurant concept of paying for what you eat by weight.