Rio

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Still feeling hungover from ilha Grande we checked into our first shared dorm hostel of the trip, which was better than expected.  Probably knowing that it was just for one night before we moved into an apartment helped!

We Stayed in Ipanema, which we´d recomend to anyone, the beach is amazing (nicer than Copacobana) with cycling & walking track the whole length, & the best selection of bars, resturants, cafes, & shops.  It also has an enormous lake, again with running & cycling tracks as well as many exclusive sports clubs.  We walked loads & tried fitting in with the very health / body concious locals.  I even went hangliding, as organised by Dave as my Xmas present, which was stunning overlooking the City & landing on the beach (photos attached).

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We arrived a week before Carnival for the warm up so the place was heaving with people & the atmosphere was electric!  Dispite all the roumours that follow the safety of Rio we never once felt vounerable.  There were Samba rehursals in the streets, DJ´s playing warm up sets, just an amazing buzz in the air.  Not to mention some of the most sculpted bodies we´d ever seen & unfortunatley for Dave it wasn´t the women, it was all about the men!!!  I have never seen anything like it in my life - men everywhere in nothing but the tinest speedos!

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We did all the tourist bits - Statue of Christ, which was a lot smaller than I thought from the ground, but soon realised otherwise when stood 1150 meters up  teh mountain underneath him!  Unfortunatly the camera ran out of battery after 1 shot so we´re waiting on a friendly guy we met up there to send some more on!

Sugar loaf mountain was my favourite, although nearly half the size of Corcovado (mountain with Christ) we went at sunset & could look back at the whole city in one view with a beer in hand watching the skys & city change colour.  I appologise now for the number of sunset shots, but I got carried away!

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We loved Rio so much we extended our stay to 6 nights, but could´ve stayed for months.  Although we did have a very sheltered view of hte city, & its easy to see how the wealthy do prentend the poverty doesn´t exsit.  We didn´t visit any Favela´s (shanty towns) but knew of their existence.  If we went back for longer I would like to see the real Rio, as opposed to the holiday Rio.