Christ! Tuesday 26th Feb 2008
Trip Start
Feb 11, 2008
1
15
87
Trip End
Ongoing
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Visited 'Christ the Redeemer,' which stands on Corcovado hill and is now one of the seven wonders of the world! We had planned on getting the train up, which costs 35 Real but we managed to negotiate a deal with some tour touts and got taken up in a taxi for 25 Real and they even stopped off at a place on the way, where we got a perfect view of the Christ. Fortunately it was a beautiful sunny day with only a few patches of cloud. We then got taken up to where Christ itself stands and it was amazing. To be so close to the most famous sight in Rio was cool. The large concrete statue stood prominently, arms outstretched as if to welcome everyone to Rio. Whether you're a believer or not, you should not visit Rio without visiting the Christ!
We then visited an area called Santa Teresa, a community, which clings to the hills. We got a tram up from Centro (60 cents one way), which took us through the cobbled streets. The tram ride was an adventure in itself - packed mostly with locals and a few tourists, where there was no room, others were hanging off the sides. As it made various stops on the way up, people would jump on and off the sides. School kids enjoyed running alongside the tram, while holding the rail, to see if they could keep up with the speed of the tram - a dangerous game!
There wasn't a whole lot in Santa Teresa, just a few shops, bars and restaurants but it was a quaint place, with pretty houses. We stopped at a bar/restaurant for a beer and dinner - it had just started to rain outside so it was a welcome escape. We walked back down the hill in the dark and although it is no favela, I couldn't help worry about being approached as you hear of so many horror stories, but we made it back to Ipanema without any problems.
