Fun, fun, fun in Rio

Group of younsters (and Paul) in `Death Line´
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A mammoth 61 hours after we left our hostel in Auckland, we finally arrived at our hostel in Rio de Janerio. We hadn´t booked anywhere so we were very lucky to find ``The Girl from Ipanema´´ - a quaint litle hostel set in amongst a courtyard with surrounding hostels and resdiental flats and right at the heart of Ipanema.

Another suprise we found out upon arrival was that there was to be quite a big football game at the Maracana (one of the most famous stadiums in South America, if not the World) that evening. We booked to go on a tour, ran from the hostel, which would take us there, into the ground and bring us back again. It turned out to be the first leg of the final of the equvialent to the F.A cup. Fluminese (from Rio) were playing Figueirense (from Figueirense) and the atmosphere was electric!! We arrived 90 minutes before kick off but the place was pretty full still and the atmosphere was slowly building. But the match itself was a bit of a let down. Not quite the quality you would expect to see at such a famous stadium but the atmosphere and noise more than made up for that. It seemed to build gradually up to the game itself and everyone just went wild when the game kicked off. Giant flags were being passed round, every other person had a white flare and inflatable sticks were being banged together.

Posted by George

3 Men and A Little Lady
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The game ended 1-1, nicely poised for the return leg a week later (which Fluminese won). For those interested, Figueirense scored a thumping 30 yard screamer before Fluminese tapped in an equaliser. Probably a fair result. Fluminese had more possesion but were poor in front of goal. The Maracana was an amazing stadium. It could once fit a bout 200,000 people in, all standing but they have tried to bring it up to 21^st century standard and have 100% seating. It doesn´t really work though as everyone is still standing any where they want. The only difference is the seats are in the way!!

Copa Do Brasil Final at the Maracana
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The next day we spent the morning getting a few things sorted out before an afternoon tour of a Favela. We set out, with few nerves, in a taxi to the biggest Favela in Latin America. Our tour guide, Danielle, was a non-favela resident who had been running these tours for about a year and she assured us we would be fairly safe, she hadn´t lost any one, yet! However, our faith in her soon evaporated when we saw how we would be travelling to the top of the favela, where we´d make our way down from. All lined up on the street were about 30 guys beside motorbikes waiting to be our lift to the top!! The one piece of advice we received was hold on tight – girls to the guys, boys to anywhere but the guys!! It was quite a hair-raising experience as we weaved in and out of traffic (that was going in both directions) on this slim street, round blind corners. And as you´d expect, no helmets were being worn!

Playing football on Ipanema Beach
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Nonetheless we survived. On our introduction to the favela, several aspects took our attention. Firstly some of the writing on the wall indicated which gang operated the drug dealings in that particular block. Secondly the electircity pylons were a crazed mess of wires, providing all houses with free electricity, internet and Sky!! Our walk down started at the top were the more expenisive houses were. For all those who didn´t do or don´t remember GCSE geography, the reason behind this is that the waste and sewage runs to the bottom of the hill, meaning the houses at the top are the more desirable ones.

Thats where Jesus should be
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Now the rules of getting a house within a Favela are very simple. You can rent off of someone a house that is already built, or you can just build a house, anywhere. This includes on top of other houses. You can buy the roof of of someone and just build. Or you can find a space and build there and that incidentally is also how they started. There is no structure to any of this and the alleyways are thin and enclosed, the sewage runs under houses and some times through the streets. It really is a harrowing experience.

Ever thought there would be an escalator up to see Jesus?
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But the people there are lovely. They are friendly, always have a smile and say Óla! The kids are encouraged not to beg to us ´Gringoes´ but to do something for our coins. We had a few kids play a short samba piece but apart from this we weren´t harrassed by the people . They just seemed to get on with their normal lives. We visitied an artisits studio. The paintings were amaizingly good and varied. Abstract ones of the Favelas, landscape of the Corcovado and a few of beautiful ladies. We were also taken on to roofs of house so we could over-see the whole place. It was quite a contrast seeing the slum parts housed right next to towering hotels and high-priced residential blocks.

Copa Do Brasil Final at the Maracana
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We felt safe at all times in the Favela, as we were with our tour guide. The only bit of danger we saw was a kid casually walking along with a chrome AK-47. Thankfully no-one gave him any funny looks or did anything too wrong on his turf. Apparently the safety factor is only worth worrying about if you do something agaist the rules (set by the gangs, not the government – in fact police don´t even go in the Favelas). The money we spend goes towards the community and projects like the nursery we visited, so it is in their favour to keep us relatively safe.

Copa Do Brasil Final at the Maracana
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The next day, we set off early to the market, about a half hour journey from Ipanema. Here we were able to peruse the market stalls and the shops and haggle prices down for our souvenirs and tat. It was a big market and the prices cheap enough to justify the journey. However we didn´t spend too much time there as we had to give the Brazilians a football lesson on their very own turf that afternoon.

Along with a few other guys from the hostel (from Britain, Ireland, Canada and Norway) we set off to Ipanema beach and were lucky enough to find an empty pitch. We invited a couple of Brazilian kids in to make up the numbers and kicked the leather around for about an hour. During this time, others were rocking up and asking to join in so it turned out to be quite a social event and some people were welcoming the substitutions!! Goal of the day belonged to a local who buried an overhead kick right in corner, quite a sight to see.

Copa Do Brasil Final at the Maracana
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After that, we settled down as a group in a local bar to watch England versus Brazil at the new Wembley. There were a few locals but we dominated the bar. However the whole of Rio came to a stand still and were watching the game in shops, in bars, on the streets, wherever they could!!

That evening we headed out to Lapa, a place notorious for its street parties and chilled out evening entertainment. Spread ut along a couple of blocks were bars and cafes pumping out music, vendors selling all kinds of food and drink and kids wanting their picture taken with Natalie. There was a great vibe in the cafe we settled on staying at and Ad and I made some friends with the local gangster and his pals. However they couldn´t speak English and our Portugese was worse so we had to converse in hand signals, basic words (cerveja is beer) and footballers names.

Playing football on Ipanema Beach
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The next day and with very sore heads, we set off for a guided tour of the city and the worlds biggest urban jungle, the Tijuca jungle, which houses the Corcovado on which stands the statue of Christ the Redemer. Before this though we toured the park, stopping to appreciate the size of the city and see parts of Rio that shows the colonial heritage of the city. However it was getting quite cloudy, not a good sign if we were to go up and see the staue.

We arrived there and after a mini-bus journey and a lift, we saw the escalator needed to get to the statue. However at the top of the escaltor was just a big, white, fluffy cloud. It looked like the Simpsons scene where Bart takes the escaltor to heaven. This meant that the statue couldn´t be seen, even when we were stood right at the bottom of it looking up. The view, though meant to be amazing, also couldn´t been seen. Quite a disappointment on the whole.

After that we had lunch a typical Brazilian restaurant, a buffet where you pay for the food you want by the kilo. There was even an ice cream factory for desert!! After rushing back to the hostel we had to jump in to a cab to get to the Hotel Riazor, where we were to meet up with our tour group for the next 7 weeks and set off to Lima...