Rio de Janeiro

Taking in the amazing Rio views
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Another long bus trip (18 hours) followed by a high speed taxi ride through the streets of Rio and we arrived at our hostel in Ipanema. It was still early, so we had breakfast by the pool and chatted to some fellow travellers for a couple of hours before our beds were vacated and we could catch a couple of hours sleep. It was obvious from the untidy state of our dorm that the previous nights inhabitants were used to mum clearing up after them! Batteries topped up we went out for a wander around Ipanema, the more upmarked end of town with various designer shops and expensive jewellers dotted along the street. We were pleasantly surprised at how nice the beach was for a city beach, though it was very crowded being a Sunday. We had been told that this part of Rio is relatively safe and it certainly felt that way, part of the beach even had security on it which made it particularly popular with tourists. That night we ate in a restaurant around the corner from our hostel, nice food but much pricier than we'd been used to.

Christ the Redeemer statue
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Next day we hired a guide to drive us to see the iconic 'Christ the Redeemer' statue. One of the staff from the hostel joined us, so we had the commentary in both Spanish (for our benefit) and Portugese as we sped through the madness of Rio. On the way up we stopped several times to take in some of the spectacular panoramas of what must be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Sugarloaf mountain, Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon... We were reminded that the harder side of Rio is never far away however and we also gazed in awe at the massive Favellas that spread out below us. After stopping to feed some 'wild' monkeys on the way up we continued to the top where we enjoyed the spectacle of the great soapstone figure of Jesus facing Sugarloaf, arms outstretched as if to embrace the city. Our driver then brought us back down and across town before dropping us at Sugarloaf Mountain. We bought our tickets and boarded the cablecar, made famous in the James Bond movie, Moonraker (in which Roger Moore and Jaws fight it out leaping from one car to the other!), which took us to the top for yet another perspective on this amazing city. We watched a documentary on the history of the cablecar which itself was a fantastic feat of engineering before heading back down and catching a bus back to Ipanema.

View from Sugarloaf Mountain
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Our last full day in Rio was spend doing some souvenir shopping before enjoying a few hours people watching on Ipanema beach. The beach culture in Rio is second to none, so it was fascinating to watch this piece of life happening around us. I did some haggling with a beach vendor, eventually reaching a fair price for a double hammock we had been looking for, now all we needed was a hot summer in Ireland so we could actually use it! We took a stroll towards Leblon after sun set and soaked up the atmosphere of this unique city. Before heading back to the hostel for a couple of beers.

Copacabana
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The next day we caught a cab, skirting a frighteningly massive Favella, before reaching the airport, hard to imagine what life is like for some of these people. It was time to move on, leaving Rio and Brazil and flying back to Santiago in Chile.