Rio de Janeiro Hotels
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Carnival!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Entry 118 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
Once we'd finally got to Rio we had to figure out how to get to the hostel..... we did wot we have by now become accustomed to which was dive in a cab, fortunately prearranging the fee. We knew it was a fair way to Copacabana but wot we hadn't realised was our cab driver didn't have a clue whereabouts in the 4km of Copacabana it was. In fact we had more idea, having got a map. However, he wasn't really interested in any help. He in fact seemed to find it amusing to drive past the end of the hostel road.... in the end i think he did it about seven times. We wouldn't have minded only he had no air con and we were suffocating in the back. Anyway we finally got there. Next problem was finding our way in, was no signs or nothing, only a number. Once we'd found the bell it wasn't too hard tho, we were shown in and taken to our room. At first the hostel was disappointing, it was very small, very quiet and the dorm rooms were cramped with triple stacked beds. However that was gonna change, well apart from the bed thing! Once we'd been out for food we got back to discover the hostel full of people all itching for parties and a full agenda to sign up for. Getting the food hadn't been so simple.... we had wandered for ages and everything was weird!! Either weigh your plate stuff, or stand up food. We ended up going in a dead dodgy pizza joint and having some yummy tuna pizza slop (thrown at us!!)
The plans for the evening included buying a dodgy t-shirt that got you entry and free drinks in a club in the infamous Lapa!!! However, first I had to pay my bill. I mean prepaying is ok, but when it nearly 1000 dollars u don't wanna be wandering around with it much. When we finally found a bank that was working it was so much money i couldn't even close my wallet.... So before long we were signed up to go out that evening, an all-inclusive boat party the following day, footie at the weekend and a pair of tickets for the sambadrome.....add to that all the random extras and you have the ultimate party weekend. let the parties begin......
Wasnt long before the beers started flowing...we joined everyone in the bar, all in our dodgy t-shirts. We were supposed to be leaving at 11:00, but no-one was ready when it was time to go...so we all drank so more...we were getting a little annoyed that we were wasting valuable drinks time...but as it turned out that wasnt a bad thing. Eventually everyone was finally ready and after numerous photos...we all headed out to gate crash a bus. waited ages but finally it came...the bus driver obviously thought we were far too noisy and drunk and drove past where we wanted to get off....cant blame him to be honest...i wouldnt have let us on the bus! Walked back to the club. Now Lapa is an interesting place...looks like somewhere you wouldnt dream of going anywhere near....especially in Rio, which everyone regularly tells you is dangerous. But we were with our guide Georgina...so were felt safe. The club turned out to be fun....funk music and in a dodgy old building. Nothing in it except for a DJ and a couple of minging toilets! It didnt even have a bar, you had to purchase a ticket from a dodgy old guy then take it to the cool box, where if you were lucky someone would eventually issue you with a nice cold bottle of beer. The free drinks were intersting...they were supposed to be Caprihanas...which if you dont know is a big pile of sugar crushed with lime and then some alcohol or other...something which is kinda like white rum, but much harsher (Pitu if any of you know what that is). Only they seemed to have forgotten to put anything in it except for the alcohol! So it was a little potent to say the least...i drank mine...dont know what the fuss was about...it was free and alcoholic!!!!
We danced lots...until the music started to get a little wierd and far out. We looked for everyone else..but they all seemed to have disappeared...so we headed out to get some fresh air. Outside the party had spilled into the streets...there was music...people selling beer, table chairs and of course people dancing. It was all mad. We had one final look to see if we could find anyone else...but nope....so we decided to call it a night and head home. problem was we didnt know how to get back...we knew there was a bus...but we had no idea which one. We had only just arrived and followed everyone here! We waited ages, but no buses came...were contemplating a taxi, when we spotted another couple from our hostal...we decided sharing a taxi would be a good idea. But after the taxi driver annoyed us we decided to get a dodgy collectivo instead. A mini van...it was very cheap and quick, so a good decision! Got home in one piece...no probs...who said Rio is dangerous?
Day 2
Probably went to bed about 4am....and had to be up to go on a another piss-up at 10am! Yes it all sounded like a good idea at the time! We woke not feeling too bad, if a little tired. Dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready for our cool boat party, only to find they had put it back to 1pm. We weren't happy bunnies...all that extra sleep we could have had...oh well!! So we just hung around waiting for 1pm to come....hoping we would be awake by then! Eventually our lift arrived and the lucky ones, as the tickets were limited, piled into a minivan. We arrived at the dock and got dumped on a huge pier where there were already loads of people waiting. Was all a little odd...but it got odder! We waited a while...everyone just hanging around waiting for something to happen. Eventually they called our hostal and let us on the boat first. We felt so special...but then no-one else came on the boat for ages? We munched on all the food, making sure we got our fill before they finally let everyone else on! Yummy sandwiches and nibbles, no alcohol yet though! We hogged the upstairs deck and all the chairs and eventually the rest were let on....one by one...after being interrogated! Still had no idea what was going on...but at least we could finally set sail....and get some of that free alcohol! Had two choices Caprinharas...much nicer this time or glasses of beer....got our selves a supply of each and settled down to enjoy the scenery. What an amazing way to see Rio. You can really appreciate how beautiful it is from the water. It's made up of bays and little lumpy mountains....in which nestle funky skyscrapers. It is not like anything we had seen before...USA eat your heart out!!! We sailed around the bay a little....round the back of sugar Loaf, seeing a side of it few people get to see....then we dropped anchor near a cute little bay. We stayed here for ages....floating....enjoying great music...and consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Wasn't long before everyone was stripping off and jumping in....the lads having competitions...and trying to jump from the highest place possible...which ended up being the roof! Was great fun....so relaxing and way cool. As the day wore on and the music got louder we headed back out to the bay....over to the huge never-ending bridge, to watch the sun set over Rio. Was a pretty little sunset...not the best we had seen but still a sight to be seen. Eventually not long after dark, we had eaten all the food, drunk all the alcohol and danced ourselves silly, so it was time to head back!
We arrived back at the hostel, exhausted from all the fresh air, a little tipsy and bloody starving! A few sandwiches all day aint enough to keep all that alcohol down. So we headed to the eat all you can barbecue which had been highly recommended by everyone in the hostel. Was amazing....a monstrous eat all you can buffet...with everything you could imagine including sushi...and then the best bit was they came round to the table with huge sticks of meat....like huge joints of beef and carved you off huge chunks of succulent, mouth-watering meat...and it just kept coming. Oh yeah and it cost like £3.50....we did have to pay nearly that much for a drink to go with it, but it was worth it...oh yeah.
Spent the rest of the evening in the bar. By midnight i had enough and called it a night...all that drinking and that 24 hour bus journey was taking its toll. Neil went out with the others to find a blocko...which was apparently really cool but stupidly busy. A blocko in case you are wondering is an insane street party...with music and dancing and millions of people. Nuts but fun!
Sorry folks but we failed to write this! Its now 3 months after we got back and its still not finished! So I will attempt to remember what happened and in roughly the right order!! To sum it up tho we had a bloody amazing time, cos Rio is special, if it is all a little hazy as a result of the alcohol!!
Okay so where were we? Oh yeah Saturday. This was the day we had chosen to take a tour....called "live like a Local" or something like that, to a football game. We had missed our chance in Buenos Aires, having made a little error with our day calculations, so weren't gonna miss this chance! Everyone had told us it was scary, loud and amazing, so we were very excited. We spent the morning chilling, headed down to the beach for a while, but damn is it hot down there! An hour is enough for anyone who has half a brain! We showered and then as it still wasn't time to go we headed down to the beach with a few of the others to try and find a blocko that was supposed to be starting early. We never found it, either it hadn't started or we got lost, so instead ended up sitting on the beach drinking beer! Mmm...nothing like it...ice cold cans out of cool boxes....which are never more than about 2 foot from ya for only 50p! Who said Carnival was expensive?
Eventually (I sound like I was wishing the day away don't I, believe me I wasn't!), it was time for the footy. We all got picked up in several dodgy minivans, seemed very disorganised! We then got the only one of us who spoke any Portuguese to try and get the driver to stop at a shop so we could buy beer for the journey! Well it was very hot in the van! He agreed! So we all piled out, well out of our van anyway...and got several cans. We stupidly showed off our beers to the other vans and before we knew it they were all piling out and doing the same! Took ages to get there, when we finally left the beer stop that was! We arrived, it was heaving. Our driver assured us we had time for a beer, so we went in a little roadside place, got beers and kebabs, and waited. Eventually we got issued with our tickets. Weren't too impressed to see they cost a lot lot less than we had been charged! But thought it was prob cos they would look after us and enable us to experience what it was all about. But oh no! We arrived in the game late, it had already kicked off. God knows why as we were there early. Then we were in the shitty seats, where there were no people and definitely no atmosphere! Still we had a good time. The footy quality was amazing, beer to drink while you watched...oh and popcorn and biscuits! The atmosphere in some of the ground was quite cool. Was disappointed to see it wasn't very full tho. Cheered for Flamengo, thought they were the coolest. They were playing Vasco for any of you that know anything about Brazilian football! Before we knew it was over. Ended up 4-3, so lots of goals. Getting back was a nightmare, there were no minibuses waiting for us, so we stood in the middle of the busy road waiting for what seemed like hours! Eventually we got back, grabbed a beer and decided to head out and try and find the blocko we couldn't find earlier, as we were convinced it would still be going on! We did find it too, was a tiny little thing, where basically someone had erected huge speakers in the street and everyone was dancing round them! We all joined in dancing and drinking beer! Was fun and some of the dancers were amazing. Samba-ing, the lads particularly like the couple of 12 year old girls dancing together! They were very good dancers but I'm not convinced that was what they were looking at! Think we spent the rest of the night in the bar in the hostel, sorry cant remember anything else about it....I'm sure there must have been a lot of beer and drunken conversations
Ok Sunday, somebody it seems, no-one will own up to it tho!, decided it would be a good idea to go up and see the Christ today. It turns out it probably wasn't the best idea but hell it was fun anyway! Managed to convince a couple of others to come with us. Exactly who I seem to have forgotten! So we all set off. We took a bus which is always fun. They have turnstiles on the bus....its just weird! We didn't really know where we were going but spotted the crowds so got off. It all seemed to be going well! We were hassled by numerous taxis, tour guides to use them and not take the train, but they were expensive and the train sounded fun. So we joined the hoards to get tickets!! Queued for ages....only to get to the front of the queue to be told there was a 3 hour wait for the next train! Oh bummer. We knew it would be busy, it being Carnival and all, but 3 hours!!? We decided we weren't going to wait and headed off to see what dodgy deal we could make with a taxi driver. They weren't having any of the bartering, and so ended up agreeing to take a minibus. We thought it was just us, but no, he bundled us on the bus and disappeared off to find more suckers! Eventually we were off, joined by a group of South African business men! It was a long drive, and very busy. The roads just aren't designed to take that many taxis and buses...hence the train! Still eventually we made it one piece! Then our driver told us that we had half an hour!!! We were like yeah right whatever, and off we went. Not really worrying about getting back!
Now the Christ, everyone has seen it, right? I had, still it didn't look like I had pictured it! It is a monstrous statue on top of a huge hill.....with tourism and tacky written all over it!!! Its amazing what there is up there....cafes, restaurants, shops, lifts! Yes even lifts! We avoided all the tack and headed up through the hoards to find the views...the reason we were there. Was damn difficult to get anywhere near the edges or the statue, but we snatched a few pictures....Christ with a thousand tourists! The views were amazing; it was a little hazy which was a shame....but not much cloud. Rio really is amazing....its just not really describable; you just gotta go see it! We enjoyed the views as much as was possible with all the annoying rude tourists, most of which were fighting to get a picture of them, with there arms out in front of the statue....how cheesy is that? Then we headed to find a beer....it was damn hot...and there were quite a lot of steps!!! We sat in the café, which was surprisingly quiet, and enjoyed a lovely cold can of beer. Then we saw this guy wandering around....he seemed to be looking for someone, one of us suggested it might be our driver, but no-one was sure, so we just carried on drinking. We hadn't paid all the money and made all the effort to get here, to take a picture and leave! Eventually the mysterious guy came back, with someone else...our tour guide? He explained in broken English that we needed to get back to the bus as he had to leave, we explained in very broken Portuguese that that wasn't going to happen! We hadn't paid anything, so we paid half the fare and managed to get him to agree to pick us up later, having no idea if he would or not! He seemed very upset, so we doubted he would. Anyway we enjoyed the rest of our beer, had a last look around....even in the tacky gift shop. Then we had to find a way down. We headed for the spot he had told us to meet him, and waited and waited and waited. We were kept amused by the crazy drivers, trying to turn around in a tiny space and refusing to move for each other, then getting out and hurling abuse at each other! In the end we decided to set off walking, as we had no idea if he was gonna turn up ever. We walked a reasonable way dodging the cars and trying not to die, then we saw him going up the hill with a bus load of tourists, we flagged him down and he promised to pick us up on the way back down, which to be fair he did!!! It was all fun. We got back to the hostel a lot later than planned, exhausted and vowing to think about what day it was before hitting the tourist hotspots again! Had been an expensive day but well worth it!
Starving we headed to the juice bar....have we mentioned that yet? Not sure we have. Well let me explain, it was just across the road from the hostel....a cool juice bar with stools and a bar, where no matter what time of the day it was, there was someone from our hostel propping up the bar!! Well we headed down there for burgers, chicken cheeseburgers which affectionately names 'burp burgers' as they tasted damn good, but man did they make you burp! The place became our second home from the day we arrived, when we had to go get water as the hostal had run out!!! It was cheap cheerful and easy!
After that we started drinking, it had become our job each day to start off the drinking of beer in the hostal. We would ask for a beer about beer o'clock, sorry I mean 3 o'clock - ish and everyone would slowly follow suit!! So by like 7pm, when quite a few of the hostal headed off to the first night of the big parade, we were a little tipsy! We decided to head out with a young couple who we had got friends with. We went off in search of a blocko....which turned out to be the best of the carnival, for us anyway!
It hadn't started when we arrived, so we sat on the curb drinking beer, from the nearest cool box! Weren't convinced anything was gonna happen, but it's the carnival way! Suddenly someone started a drum beat and we were off. Sambaing down the street! A huge crowd of people all sambaing for miles down the beach! It was an amazing sight and an even more amazing experience. Every few steps there would be someone in the midst of us with a cool box full of cold beer, taking our empty cans from us and giving us more Skol for a few Reals. Was amazing, and yes we got extremely drunk. Trying to cross the road to go for a wee in the nearest restaurant was hilarious! We some how made and even managed to join up with the crowds and continue sambaing like we had never left!! It was such fun, and its so addictive, you just cant help yourself moving to the beat! After the party disappeared we hung around awhile drinking and chatting to a mad bloke who we bought one bottle of weird lemon stuff off and who just kept giving us more for free. He was so funny, he couldn't speak any English, we couldn't speak any Portuguese! The only thing we had in common was "boo Vasco", some derogative term for Vasco football club, which we had picked up on the football and "Bon" the word for good, which sounds more like bong the more you drink! It was such a funny night. After that not sure what we did, prob hung out in the hostel bar and drank more I'm sure!!!
Next day was carnival day proper. In other words the day we had tickets for the big parade. We were very excited. We had decided on the cheap tickets. We had been told it was abut the experience not the view, and the difference in price was ridiculous. Anyway we figured it was good enough for all the locals it was definately good enough for us. We spent the day chilling, knowing we had to stay up all night!! The show runs from about 10pm till 7am!! Yes crazy, but the way its done, guess to avoid the heat?
We got up late, wrote some blog, and then headed down to the beach. Was way too hot to spend too long down there, but we had great fun spalshing in the very rough sea. When we got too hot, we grabbed a cold beer from a passing man with his cool box on his shoulder. TThe first beer of the day!! When we could stand no more sun, we headed back to the hostal, where of course we had to oficially start the days drinking. We then showered, headed to the juice bar for more burp burgers then hung around waiting for time to go.
When everyone was finally ready, we all headed off as a group. We still didnt know our way round Rio that well, having not really ventured that far, so we just followed!!! Got the subway and got off in the dodgiest looking place ive seen!! Looked like the sort of place you would find in England, dark dingy streets, buildings very close, almost like alleyways, and people hanging around everywhere!! Thought it was a very odd place to build the Sambadrome!! we walked for ages, fighting our way through the dark streets and ever increasing crowds. Decided my flip-flops probably were the best choice!!
Eventually after walking round what seemed like the entire sambadrome, we found our entrance. We stopped to rest, grab some quick food and a drink. The food options were interesting, basically sausages or things on sticks!! I opted for a hotdog, with piles of stange additions! The others had cheese on sticks, sausages on sticks and kebabs!
We then decided it was time to take our seats before it got to busy. We discovered on the way in just how much we had paid for our tickets, put it this way a lot more than the price on the street, but we wouldnt have had a cool where to get any, so were happy to just have tickets for one of the most amazing shows on earth!
The stand we were in was huge, like football stadiums of old, rows of concrete terraces. We picked a spot in the middle, and waited for it all to start. The stadium is that big you can see the other end. Its stupidly big. Monstrous floodlights, so much so that you forgot it was the middle of the night, wasnt dark at all. The best bit about our seats was the fact that we had a big screen, so even when there was no action at our end we could see what was going on. In case anyone wants to know for future, we sat in stand , the furthest from the start, and paid about $100 dollars for our ticket, they go for a lot less on the street, but you risk not getting one, or it being fake. But i would recommend it to anyone!! It was an amazing night. For any of you that dont know how it works, there are 13 schools which all compete over 2 nights to win the crown of samba carnival champions. We were lucky to have caught the bigger of the 2 nights with 7 schools to watch. Each school has to samba its way from one end of the sambadrome to the other, with the most ellaborate costumes and dances it can think of, in a set amount of time. The only rules as far as i can see is everyone has to be continually dancing the whole time and if you go over the time limit you get penalised. Im sure there were other rules about the number of people, but as the rules were in portugese that was as much as i mananged to work out!!
Each school began with a huge firework display, which was funny due to the fact that it was a lot bigger on the telly, they then began. It took about 30 mins before we could even see the first person of each school, the sambadrome is that big!!!! But man when they arrived it was worth waiting for. I have never seen such amazing costumes and floats. There were thousands of people in each school, hundreds of costumes and floats big enough to hold hundreds more people! It was a sight to be seen, and really something that is virtually impossible to discribe. But put it this way if you ever get a chance to go, take it!!! It is something you will never forget!!
We spent the time between schools, sambaing, getting refreshments, somehow beer wasnt the thing here, and watching the big screen. The non-exsisting laser effect was best on the TV!! Some of the poeple in the stadium danced all night, where they found the energy i dont know!! The night went pretty fast, and it wasnt until about 6am when we started to fall asleep. I have to admit i did miss a little of some of the last one!! We decided to leave before the very end, but only just. We thought we would avoid the 100,000 people trying to leave that way! Turns out the last school where the winners, still we had seen enough, its the being there that counts.
We left exhausted and ready for bed, only problem was we couldnt find the subway station. We had no idea where it was having followed the others here!!! We wandered round the crazy streets for ages, people everywhere, discarded costumes in big piles and people dancing the samba in their underwear!! They just cant stop dancing these Brazilians!! Eventually we gave up and joined the hundreds of people trying to get a taxi. We managed to flag one down by standing in the middle of a busy road! He took us home, everywhere was eerily deserted when you got away from the sambadrome. We arrived back and headed straight to bed, exhausted but very happy!!!
We still had over a week left in Rio. What to do now most of carnival was over? Chill and enjoy our last few weeks of freedom. We werent looking forward to returning home. There were plently of things we missed, but we knew after a week or so of being home, we would be wishing we werent!!
So we spent the next week on the beach topping up our tan and exploring the rest of Rio, although most of the time it was too damn hot to do anything. I am gonna be brief here, as i think i have written enough and still havent finished this....if ya wanna know more let me know, i may update it later, as it seems a shame to not end as we started!!!
Monday we explored by day, rio downtown is not bad at all, then went to watch the start of one of the big canival balls they have. It was a gay one, and was funny to see some of the costumes!!! We then ended up sitting up and watching Shaun of the Dead!!
Tuesday we chilled on the beach then headed up to Sugar loaf with a few friends to watch the sunset. Sugar loaf is much nicer than the Christ, no where near as busy and touristy. We sat and enjoyed a beer as the sun set, with amazing views....
Wednesday we decided to go to the football oursleves and do it properly. We wanted to really experience it. So a few of us headed down there, somehow managed to buy tickets for the right bit for a lot less than we had paid previously, and enjoyed a very good game of football. We squeezed our way into the main fan bit, was Flamengo and some Bolivian team who had like 3 fans. It was crazy but not at all dangerous, very polite infact! Beer served to you, and the empty cans collected, everyone politely warned if a flare was being lit, and people even asking if we could see!! See who needs rules it all works perfectly. Was a good night, and glad we decided to do it again, properly.
This is where it starts to get hazy....
most people started to leave, gradually leaving us on our own, but we didnt mind, carnival had been amazing, but was nice to have a little space again. We basically just spent time on the beach, drank beer and tried not very successfully to do some souvenir shopping. Rio doesnt seem to have souvenirs, other than fake football shits and sarongs!!! Still was all fun, we got a lovely tan and ended up very relaxed at the end of it all.
When wednesday night came we were very sad. 8 months over, couldnt believe it had all come to an end. We packed up for the last time, a lot of our stuff going in the bin to make room for souvenirs, then it was few last drinks with the few people left and that was it hometime!!!!!
The flight home was simple and straight forward, except that my screen on the plane was broken, and the only thing they could eventually offer me after trying to fix it was a different seat, yeal like i wanted to lose my window seat i booked 12 months ago, it must have been the worst seat on the whole plane they were trying to give me!!!! So i just stayed where i was, enjoyed the views and slept!!!
We arrived home in one piece, got through customs and immigration no probs, think they did need to look at Neil twice as he now doesnt resemble his passport photo at all!!!
8 months travel....no major problems......and one hell of a lot of memories!!!!!
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