Merlin Copacabana Rio de Janeiro

... the beach. Apparently at new year 5 million people go to Copacabana beach, and although it wasnt that many this time it was absolutely incredible. <br><br>The weather was very changeable when we were in Rio.. we had some scorchers, and some days when it poured with rain, but we met some great people at our hostel and had some down time with them when the weather wasnt so good. <br><br>We met up with Justin and Roberta again one night and went to Rio Scenarium.. and old colonial mansion ...

... south American / Spanish (yes I know its portugeues here) it took far longer than needed to get there and back and was 50 x more complicated, i guess that is part of the fun though.<br><br>After seeing Jesus in all his glory I rush back to the hostel to meet some guys to go up sugar loaf.. Missed them by 2 mins. A taxi chase then ensued ( or I caught a taxi to ...

... which makes me feel better cause i thought i was just going to be the sequel to "taken" and so for the rest of the after noon beach dude and i did not talk but he went with me to copacabana and took me on some high rocks overlooking rio and then when i tried really hard to tell him that i was leaving on a bus he got up and packed his stuff and then asked a police officer, carrying what looks like a machine gun, where the bus was to lapa (where i am ...

... was a row of six taxi kiosks each containing birds of prey -six identical dark-haired ladies calling, cooing and signalling with their red-nails for you to come to their stand. I chose the only one displaying prices and asked how much a taxi would cost. Cata had warned me of the notorious Carioca taxis who would overcharge by up to five times. I spoke to her on the phone (apologising for appearing a day earlier than expected). She suggested I take a bus to another airport ...

... in Rio, the thermometer read 30 degrees Celsius (86F), by far the warmest day during our entire stay in Brasil. Rio has the most accessible and best urban beaches that I have seen in<br>the world; even better than Sydney because they are in the heart of the<br>city. <br><br>While on the beach, I finished The Road, Cormic McCarthy's apocalyptic book that tells simultaneously both of the degradation and humanity of mankind when everything falls apart. It is ...

WE ARRIVED to Rio on a Saturday afternoon and it was every inch the incredible city I had expected. On the first night I stayed in Copacabana and took a taxi to Lapa in the evening. What an atmospheric and electric place. People crowded the streets, and taxis and cars blocked up the busy roads. There was beautiful graffitti on its decadent and famous arches, and bright colours all over the facades of other decaying architectural beauties like old 1920s art-deco houses. We went to a bar ...

... on credit all day as we also got drinks from his stall. A crowded day where many many families came to enjoy the beach. Rio is a beautiful city with the mountain backdrop and the beaches are pretty. The pace of life in the city is fast but casual. There are lots of retired people in Rio it seems as a lot of older people seem resident here and they live the beach lifestyle as evidenced by the older people walking around with well tanned bodies. Drinking a few cans of beer on ...

... cruise around the area around Copacabana (where the Hotel was). The next day, after a ridiculously big breakfast, I headed for Copacabana beach, prob the most famous in the world. In Carnival though, the crowds on it are unbelieveable - almost like a Full Moon party in Koa Phang Ngan. It is a nice beach though and just watching the people play soccer volleyball or real volleyball itself is reason enough to go there. They are fantastic. Beware though, ridic looking ...

... of time is that they each have about 10,000 dancers, aboard the most amazing floats. The colours and the noise and the sheer energy is unlike anything ive ever seen and really is unique. The crowd must have been close to 200,000, maybe more, and the streets around were rammed with people out on the streets, drinking and partying. It is real, sweaty, energetic partying for 4-5 days contant... A mad spectacle in a mad city, but one thing it aint is dull...

... to see even 5m. Around the front of the statue there were hundreds of people trying to take photos of the statue, but around the back (near the church entrance) it was quieter. I was able to look out over Maracana stadium, Sugarloaf mountain and the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Back at the bottom I found bus 584 and jumped off somewhere in Copacabana. I wasn't exactly sure where I was, so I headed down to the beach to get my bearings ...