BRAZIL: Foz Do Iguaçu>Rio De Janeiro

  Rio de Janeiro (Christ The Redeemer - New Wonder of World), Brazil
Thursday, August 31, 2006

The afternoon held a once over tour of the Foz do Iguacu on the Brazilian side for me... after a stressful and badly administrated border crossing on 2 local buses I got to the town of Foz........ noone could tell us how to carry out formalities on the border and i didnt even have my luggage scanned by customs.. no filling out of declaration forms.. nothing. noone seems to care..considering how many people normally cross this Argentine-Brazilian border to get between Rio de J the falls and Buenos Aires for example. ridiculous. had to pay exit tax and poor natasha accompanied me thinking it would be easier.. took a long while and by time we got to the town, she had to turn back as had night bus to buenso aires booked.. even me, with my anticipated 7pm departure to Rio, I was kinda pushing it...

dumped gear in international bus station and got a taxi to the national park of Foz do iguacu... costly but worth it....everyone said that you have to see both sides of the falls even if the Argentine side reigns supreme for its variety, number of activites and paths etc.... so I literally spent 2 hours or so marching along the only real path leading to the panoramic watchpoints and lift up at the start of the falls... though impressed, thought the arngentine side was much better overall.. enjoyed the lift ride higher up to get feel for the flow of the falls....

Come tea time I was back on a bus to town and then lucky enough to get seat on the last service to Rio, my final destination.... had fright at the cost and quality of the bus so knew was in for a hard journey... boarded at 7pm and took 24hours with many long stops at motorway service stations... really felt anxious at not understanding the portuguese lingo.. for first time, had to make real effort just to get by....

So bye bye Argentina, land of mate eta drinking, political debates re spanish conquest and british takeover of Falklands, tipping baggage loaders in bus stations as a formality.... and HELLO BRAZIL..... wel like 1percent of it lol....

23rd: really enojoyed the green hilly scenery on route to Sao Paulo and onward to Rio. felt like what i expected from brazil really. motorway well constructed and the scenery beautiful.... had contemplated stopping briefly in Florionapolis but couldnt bring self to do that aaaaagain.... arrived in the ex-capital at tea time and went to one of the more cheaper hostels.. costing 13 dollars which is OK for rio!!!! crazy!! unheard of before this on my travels... still was thankful to get a bed and dorm to self for the first night. slept like baby and planned my adventures in the cultural capital.....

24th: today was the day of the historical and political centre of Rio..idea being to get it "over with" before the beach, partying and chilling string of days commenced. metroed it up to the central zone and found myself emerging in the main square, Praca Floriano...admittedly all I did was follow the Lonely Planet´s rough walking tour guide to fit in the most important bits of what remains of the original Portuguese settlement 500 years ago. the weather was baking and rather humid, very differnt to Buenos Aires indeed. Stuff to have checked off my list were a couple of museums, the convento san antonio whose statue is an object of great devotion to many Rio female folk in search of husband.

From there I trotted along the Rua da Caricoa containing many old shops and cafs. Lunched in Bar Luis, a trendy locals place - just to get the feel for the working day lunchtime atmosphere. Next up was a once over of the Campo Santana, a pleasant leafy park where emperor dom pedro I declared Brazil´s independence form Portuguese crown in 1822. continuing on, I hit praca 15 de novembro which houses the paco imperial - old monarchial palace and now seat of goverment. Though closed, there was an exhibition narrating the history of Rio as old capital of portuguese empire before passing to capital state and all this... very interesting in fact. also saw the legislative palace through virtual tour and had peak inside the tribunal. just behind this is the port area where ferries frequently cross across to Niteroi on the other side of the Bahia de Guanabra.... boats were passing to and fro..pretty views... just behind the saefront was the raised dual carriageway with motors whizzing through the city lol. all together...

To finish up, I walked through the Arco de Tees, an arch formed by part of an old aqueduct and inside which runs the travessa de comercio.... number of chique outdoor restos and several colonial churches... retraced my path back through the downtown area and went back to hostel.... Now - Rio vs Buenos Aires: downtown in rio is more claustrophobic and dirty and manic with people.. not as scenic and spreadout either but has much more random greenery and isolated areas at high relief too. Come eve time I was shattered and satisfied with the extent of my historic walk so felt fine just sitting in the hostel and having early night

25th: my 23rd birthday - wow! so lucky and spoilt... decided to move to a bigger and better but cheaper party hostel that my irish friends had recommended. el misti in the botofogo district hugging the seaside promenade nearly.. was delighted to find out that the weather was stunnig for it.. 30 degrees with clear skies... also learnt that the hostel was having a routine all you can eat bbq buffet that eve which all guests participate in normally and that i would have a mini surprise later on.
also wanted to celebrate in style that night and found out that all ppl were going to the famous Lapa street party as well. so couldnt have asked for more.. met nice people in hostel wich bonded with too. particualrly Ian and Laura form Kent.... got free drinks, a happy bday song and a delicious chockie cake as well.

so wasnt drunk enough to let my hair fully down at that stage but promptly got our coats and after sayin a million thankyous we all headed out to the carnival atmosphere in lapa near city centre.. was wild... caipirinhas going for nothing.. so strong.. food stalls..drinks.... vendors.... bars and clubs with open terraces and a rave area all within a few blocks... people for miles in all directions..... tourist police chatting away to us......

headed to nightclub to end it at 2 am... nice mix of latino and hip pop... good crowd of strangers there both from hostel and natives of rio... didnt drink too much or spend too much as wanted to enjoy and remember..
new wanted to veg out on the copacabana and ipanema beaches to recuperate and lap up sun.

oops i missed out the higlight of my bday day...i went up the sugar loaf hill or pao de acucar.... 700 m high, accessible via 2 cable cars from Urca distric, this naturally preserved hilltop as reult of ancient erosion is on the coast but in the midst of rio's metropolis. is the best thing about rio... honestly, i neevr thought this "must see" landmark was so rich in history and definitely trully astonishing... went up in the cable car paying 8 quid for the privelege but never knew i would fall in love with the city the way i did..

its like i got up there an hour before sunset and took so many fotos.. the city from above has to be the worlds most beatiful..... panoramas stretching miles... beaches vivid, skyscrapers tidily arranged, the imposing ststude of christ the redeemer on corcovado in the distance as if flaoting in between clouds.. copacabana in the distance.. traffic like micromachines.... green hills everywhere and many small diff islands in the ocean.. plus the airport is ona peninsular so what a landing or take off it must be.... breathaking..

to add to the experience i bumped into 2 french ppl i went on tour with in the bolivian pampas... chances.. so i was able to share the moment sipping my first brazilian made caipirinha cocktail on my bday and chilling in front of sunset on top ofthe world! wow..... only thing that lacked was the armada of family and mates lol... boo hoo... anyhow, waited for dusk and then darkness then the illumination and cool breeze of the city was very impressive also! loved it...

26th: rose early and as planned took to Copacabana and Ipanema beach strips to soak up the sun and swim in the ocean during brazil's winter time haha. 30 degrees so not complaining! copacabana, the worlds most famous beach certainly didnt let me down. was long, white and beautiful. not too many bppl on the beach but many vendors passing by.... got many hours in and a couple of soaks... walked further along the coast to ipanema, the nicer but smaller beach strip with bohemian feeln earby. did pretty much same there. in the evening I joined laura and ian for dinner back at the copacabana area on teh seafront... ppl were strolling by in the dozens....
was a concert on the beach too as well as arts n crafts market in the area. so locals and tourists alike were flooding by. ate a mixed grill and salad platter for 3 and absorbed the hotel and casino like beachfront atmosphere.

27th: lazy day and then watched sao paulo vs a top rio team in the footie league... flamengo drew 1-1 with top dogs sao paulo in a somewhat mediocre and non dirty affair. stadium wasnt that huge and has work being done to it. got seats with the homeside so loved the atmosphere at least. made up for not seeing boca juniors in buenos aires suppose.
Afterwards, took a well deserved powernap before headingout with a dozen ofthehostel's guests to the Favela Funk party..... a favela is a shanty town or district basically which is potentially dangerous by day to non fevela dwellers... in the north of the city, these folk live in poverty comapred to the middle class in south.. all makes up rio's dioverse culture though... instead ofpayinga fortune to go there with hostel folk, we all jsut made own way there and had many drinksbefore grunging away in the sweaty meat market club with funky music with heavy base.... wasnt too bad and chatted away to locals in every direction. v differetn from the lapa street party but worth the visit. returned at 5am

28th: LAST FULL DAY IN BRAZIL, LAT AMERICA AND ON TRAVELS.... intended to go up to the christ the redeemre statue for fotos and view but sky was overcast.. saved me money .. instead took a long walk to copacabana to get fresh air as all museums closed on mondays and i had done everythign else on the checklist. nice to chill to be honest and not fok out unneccessrily........ bought self two pairs of funky brazilian sandals to keep me going lol.
in the night time i went out for one final meal in the neighbourhood I had grown fond of before returning to the hostel in its ususal rowdy state - pizza night. managed to avoid happy hour and hibernate and face the ominous task of packing and thinking over.... booooring....

29th: final morning in Rio and on travels - puring rain and wind lol.. ah wel, nice slap in face back to reality scenario hey.... not bothered really. temperatures were similar to UK weather so I just accepted and in end took refuge in cinema and watched a touching documenatry on lat america's poorest nation, bolivia... was about the poverty, political corruption and the campaigns of Goni in 2002-3 elections to try to save the country.... gruelling but educational! enjoyed thoroughly.. couldnt be arsed to go to museums for sake of it as that would be depressing to say that was last thing did in Rio lol!

taxied to airport well early in anticipation of heightened security checks but ni end had plain sailing and smooth flights to Madrid then onward to Gatwick where I am sitting right now, polishing this goobldigook off before boarding my final flight home to home, jersey, first world stressful routines, reality........ autumn... all that depressing stuff.. on the other hand, will relish reunions with family and home comforts at least.

So where now? That IS the £1,000,000 question people.... :S

August 30th 2006: So i hereby conclude my adventures of Latin America March-September 2006 - how I will sorely miss the countries, culture, climate and poeple met and made friends with on the way, both locals, natives and foreigner backpackers....

The dream was not only made a reality, but one hell of a journey and unforgettable experience.

ps keep posted for photos to be uploaded.

See or bump into many of you soon ",) x