Me oh My-OH, the Marvelous City of Ri-OH.

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Trip Start Sep 15, 2008 Previous
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Entry

  Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Rio De Janeiro, The Marvelous City; after losing our tans somewhere along Argentina's Route 40, we were very excited!  

Day one we visited the beach, walked around a night market, and ate some pizza.

First Impressions
Some people call Rio "Manhattan in a Bikini", and that it definitely is.  Only in Rio is it normal to be surrounded by a mass of concrete skyscrapers and traffic, you glance to the right and amongst the crowd is a dude wearing only a Speedo in full form, to the left a group of young Cariocas (residents of Rio) girls   cross the street casually in their thongs (aint talking sandals here)...
The language was also a bit of a surprise, after 4 months speaking Spanish we were hoping the Portuguese language of Brazil would be easy to transition to

Ipanema

.  While many words are similarly spelled the pronunciation is so different that for all we knew everyone was speaking Chinese.
The one other, completely not funny, first impression is that Rio has some very rich inhabitants driving European sports cars, playing golf, and living in high class and high security condominiums.  This "marvelous" city also has many very poor people sleeping on mats and smelling like urine.  Not too uncommon in cities of this size, but the difference here is that the two, the very affluent, and the oppressively poor live in such close proximity.  Only in Rio is a shinny, modern, condominium tower standing directly beside a favella shanty town with little running water or electricity.   The unique aspect is that the beaches unite the city where your neighbour on the sand is just as likely to live in a crumbling one room shack as they are to live in a Penthouse of a 20 story skyscraper.
Our second day in Copacabana we moved into a different hostel, Rio Backpackers wasn't all we had hoped.  The new hostel, Mellow Yellow, had way better services and facilities in addition to being located in what appeared to be a better and more active neighbourhood (more on this later). 
We hit the beach, in search of the right place to plop down in the sand for the next week.  We settled on a spot between Copacabana and Ipanema named Devil's Beach

Arik, Japanese Pose

.  This strip of sand had the biggest waves, the least amount of people, and a gangsta' concrete dumbbell gym full of gunslingers from the local favellas - marvelous! 
Going to the beach in Rio is great.  Beach chairs are $1 for the day, or $1.50 if you also want an umbrella.  Ice cold beer (aptly named Antarctica) is $1.50 and never more than 10m away.    The beaches of Rio are also really active with runners, boogie boarders, swimmers, surfers, fishermen, men playing paddleball, kids flying kites, touts, police, and lots of sun worshipers.
Charis started her 50th book of the trip while Arik made friends with the gym rats and did some bodysurfing.  The day went so well we kept the same schedule the next day because it was so....marvelous.
After feeling extreme relaxation for a few days we decided to travel around town a bit and see the sights.  First stop was Latin America's biggest mall.  Arik found the bookstore of his dreams (he is really into bookstores) and Charis picked up some sunglasses for Arik's Bday (already gone through 4 pairs this trip).
Once fully shopped out we headed to Pao de Azucar (aka Sugar Loaf) to take in the sunset.  A gondola ride later we were high above Rio looking at one of the most beautiful views of a major city we have ever seen.  The green hills, the steep mountains, the many beaches, and the looming Christo statue combine to create a spectacular backdrop.
We took a cab back to Copacabana and stopped in at a Middle Eastern stall a few blocks from our hostel for some Hummus, Tabule, and Rice.  Over dinner we talked about what a great day it is, and how unique this Marvelous city is...then walking 2 blocks back to the hostel we were MUGGED

Dinner in the Hostel

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We are mad because it happened 1 block from our hostel, 1 block from a police station, and 50m from 5 star hotels.  However we were the first to admit we made a few dumb decisions to get us into this situation.  We hope anyone reading this entry can learn from our stupidty and stay safe in Rio (did I mention the city is supposedly quite marvelous?).
Dumb decisions of the Night
#1  We stayed in Copacabana, over Leblon to save a few bucks.  Even though we knew Leblon was a safer area.
#2 Walking around with a bag of goodies freshly purchased from the mall (completely hidden in our day bags, however still a bag of goodies)
#3 Letting our hunger take precedent over our bag of goodies, after getting out of the cab we said we would take one picture of the beach and then return the bag to the hostel...we were really hungry and so close that we figured grabbing a bite first wouldn't make a difference.
#3 Not taking a cab from the restaurant after dark (only 2 block walk, but cab is only $2)
#4 Recognizing a sketchy park and crossing the road as a solution as if criminals can't make it across 2 lanes of traffic...
#5 Noticing an abundance of prostitutes and thinking, hmm lots of prostitutes in this area and still walking.
#6 Thinking that being within 50m of a police station makes you any safer than strolling a favella
Now we aren't totally useless, we did make some smart decision

No Comment

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#1 we bought good insurance.
#2 we emptied our bag of usual things before heading out, saving some damage
#3 We took a taxi from sugar loaf to 2 blocks from the hotel for safety.
#4 We didn't take any cards or passports out with us.
#5 we kept notice of our surroundings and forsaw the situation long before it started, it still just wasn't enough time, and not worth an attempted sprint.
What happened:  As we were walking opposite the park, with 50 other people on the same block, we noticed a guy crossing the street and looking a little strange, by the time he was half way across and glancing at us we knew what was going on... from behind ran another guy and in seconds they had their knives drawn and were headed right towards us (again locals abound).
The entire event lasted only 5 or 10 seconds.  With knives pulled it was wallet, watches, and unfortunately our bag (at first it seemed only the wallets were going to go).  Inside the bag was what made them a good night and gave us a bad night: 
Both of our cameras (one for being inconspicuous and the other for those shots it is needed, ie view from sugar loaf).
The Sunglasses Charis bought Arik for his Bday
Three new books: A Portugal Guidebook, and Novel about life in India, and an Indonesian Language book for the next stops on our trip

Arik in the pocket

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The rest of the items were of little value and we wouldn't lose one second of sleep over.  Ariks hat that was sweat stained and had a burn hole in the top, a timex and casio watch, sunscreen, a few small trinkets, and $50 or so in cash. 
Before leaving Canada we had made peace with the fact being robbed in South America was almost a guarantee, the stats are just mind boggling.  We also knew that if anywhere, Rio was the place...
We have insurance, in fact we purchased extra coverage for peace of mind, so hopefully the camera, sunglasses, books, and souvenirs are all completely covered (AIG, no reason to assume they won't be, right?).
The important thing is that physically we were nothing more than a bit shaken; entirely unharmed.  We are also still able to continue on our trip of a life time, not to forget having great families, being Canadian, healthy, blessed, and having a great marriage.
While the crime was going down the residents of Rio, the marvelous residents stood around and watched.  Can't blame them but also can't give them any medal of honour.  The first 20 people walked by and said their blessings the gringos got hit, even after the slumdogs were gone no one would help or even say a word

Friendly Neighborhood Juice Dudes

.   Eventually a local couple walked us the 1 block to the police station, said it is totally normal and apologized for Brazil.
At the police station stood 6 marvelous officers, inside shooting the breeze - thanks guys!  We let them know what happened and their response was that Rio has special tourist Police and we have to wait for them.   We spent 1.5 hour waiting.  While there we watched a few drama's unfold.
First there was an older man caught shoplifting who immediately called his entire family to come to the station (which everyone seems to do in Rio) and act as his posse.  Then there were paroles checking in, and also brining a slew of family members as backup.  The worst situation involved a lady of the night who came into the station crying, bleeding, coughing, covered in dirt, and in general rough shape.  She was either rapped or beaten (our Portugese is still bad).  The police took a few sentences from her and then told her to sit on the bench beside us.  The police showed little urgency or sensitivity, despite the seriousness of the crime and her state (she didn't bring / have a posse).  Not knowing what to do, and us both feeling so bad for this girl, we tried to help.  Arik asked the officers if they had a cup to get her some water, no go.  This girl was really hurting so Arik ventured back onto the street where we were just jacked to find a cup

Charis Chillin in the Hostel

.  When handing this poor lady the cup, she was shaking so hard the cup was spilling water everywhere.  She thanked us, but water obviously can't heal that pain.  We sat there with this girl for the next 40 mins. hoping we would get some help, but wanting her to have some attention first.   When the tourist police arrived we had to go to another station, so we said we were sorry and good bye to this poor girl.  Seeing the police's lack of compassion for this woman was actually more traumatic than being held up by knife point...  We counted our blessings and thanked god for how ridiculously lucky we are.
  The tourist police were something like the Brazilian Super Troopers (movie about immature, reckless, yet hilarious police department).  The two officers were squealing tires, testing their best English jokes, driving with no hands, teaching us Portuguese jokes, and making fun of each other. 
Once at the station we filled out some forms and were asked to look through a catalogue of muggers caught in Copacabana in the last few years.  The stack of books had to have 3000 plus pictures of muggers caught in Copacabana, let alone those from other neighbourhoods or those who weren't caught.  The Super Troopers informed us that a minimum of 15 people are robbed on Copacabana EVERY day.  We definitely aint criminal statisticians but that seems really high...no?
If you've followed the blog you know that we met a couple in Buenos Aires from Rio.  The night we were mugged we planned to head to their place for the weekend, obviously that didn't work out.  Instead we met up with Julio the next morning.  He happens to live very close to the largest mall in Latin America, where we needed to get some receipts reprinted for our insurance company, and helped translate for us

Julio, Tatchy, and the Family

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After the chores Julio took us to his condo to spend the day with his family.  Julio cooked us a huge typical Brazilian lunch, we played guitar hero and then headed to the beach by their house.  Accompanying Julio and his wife Taty were their Aunt and her two kids.  The kids were really marvelous, and their interest in us made it easy to forget the not so marvelous residents of Rio.  After the beach we hit the sauna at their apartment, more guitar hero before heading out for some dinner.  Julio had a specific spot in mind, and guaranteed we would like it.  Then we started driving for 40mins into the jungle...there was actually a restaurant, a really great restaurant, deep in the forest behind Rio.     Julio and Taty, thank you for the hospitality!  See you in Canada.
Sunday we spent at the beach and cruising the local artisan market, literally called the Hippy Market.  After picking up some souvenirs we took a cab to the hostel. That afternoon on Copacabana there were Samba schools practicing for Carnaval, with drums beating and bootys shakin!  Of all the Latin American dances we've seen, Samba is definitely the most fun to watch.  Back at the hostel there was a Capoera show put on by a school from the favellas, which was equally as fun to see live.
Monday was split between calling our insurance company, sending home a package of goodies we've been collecting since Bolivia, and of course da beach

DSC02970.JPG

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Our final day in Rio de Janeiro we clocked some more time at Diablo Beach before a taxi to the airport.
Summary
We definitely were given the full "Rio" experience, if we wanted it or not.  From the very worst, to the very best the city has to offer, we won't forget either.  We are leaving with very mixed emotions after being mugged, seeing the poverty, denting the bank account, laying on amazing beaches, and meeting some truly marvellous people (Julio, Taty, and their family especially).
Our message to the City of Rio: with such an amazing location and great culture we find it sad you are plagued with such drastic poverty in addition to a lack of general safety.  Improving these issues, that are no doubt inter-related, would pay back major dividends to your potentially "Marvelous" city.
Our message to would be travellers:  Rio is not a safe city and you need to be very careful, unless you are into getting mugged.  We don't recommend it for the package or short term vacation, as there are too many other beautiful beaches with less than 15 people being mugged per day.  However, we admit that any long-term cultural tour of South America wouldn't be complete without a visit to Rio not to mention we've never experienced anything quite like it - so for the road warriors out there don't erase Rio from the itinerary.

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The Girls	Charis and the Kids	At the Jungle Pizza Place	Arik and Julio

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