Rio de Janeiro Hotels
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Rio/Tupiniquim Syndrome
Entry 4 of 23 | show all | print this entry |
I write this having spent a number of nights in the awesome city that is Rio De Janeiro and I would specify that number but forgoing any enquiries, I have no idea what day of the week it is! All i know is that the beach resort of Saquerama (that was supposed to be my next destination) will not be happy. HAving already made 2 cancellations and extended my stay here by a number of days I have managed to blag a further 4-a feat of some degree considering that everywhere insists on a minimum of 7 nights during this period, not only meaning that I get to be in Rio for Carnaval but also meaning that I have spare time to write this blog! This has left me concerned about how-potentially-addicted I am to the City and my hostel(something I would call Rio/Hostel Tupiniquim syndrome) but it is easily justified by a number of reasons:
1) The hostel I am staying is amazing. I have never before come across a hostel that has a rock climbing wall within it for a start and then there's the staff who are also brilliant at their jobs. The most precarious example is the fact that they operate a tab system meaning that I have no idea how much money I have spent on food, drink and internet in this place.
2) The people who stay here are great! Up until today, the 2 Swedes (one of which has an impressive penchant for attracting the locals) that stay in my room have dragged me out until the late hours on several occasions and I commend them for it, fortunately-for me-the peer pressure they exert on me has temporarily relaxed whilst they sleep for the first time in 4 days. That is not to mention the wonderful Mancunian girls and the lovely Londoners who both have a strangely similar ininerary to myself.
3) The atmosphere is amazing One night we went to the area called Lapa, where thousands of people had poured onto the streets to dance Samba and drink-the most noticeable thing about Brazil is that everyone is integrated, I have never come across such a diverse city-we spent the start of the evening in a bar where Caprinhas (the national cocktail,a deadly combination of sugar, lemon and spirit) were unlimitied for 10Real (less than 4 pounds).
Having danced for several hours we then all sat upon some famous steps (im not exactly sure about the origins of the fame but it seemed to have Snoop Dogg to thank for) where some cariocas (locals) lads were sat playing guitar, after resisting temptation for at least 5 minutes by singing along to the classic songs they were playing, I politely took over and after struggling to find some musical common ground, settled on 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police (not Puff Daddy!) and everyone was happy.
4) The lifestyle seems almost too Hollywood-like to be true
During the same night. The majority of the hostel crew I was with decided after a while it was time to go back but as far as my crazy Swedish room-mates were concerned the night was still young, and after trying (miserably) to bail my way onto the minibus everyone else was on we visited another bar.
What a bar it was! It is impossible to describe without potentially compromising my sexuality so I have to say it was like a scene from Dirty Dancing 2-Havana nights or whatever it is (ask Eloise, it was her that made me endure this 'feminine classic' in the first place!) there were at least 6 couples who looked like extras from the film or at least the professionals from Strictly Come Dancing, salsa-ing (I think that was what it was) they way through their night to a fusion of Latin and Western music. Unfortunately this made my Western sense of Rhythm seem (I say seem, it explicitly was) inadequate and any Carioca interest was countered by my lack of Salsa experience!
Unforuntately because of this I have seemed to have barely any time to do the touristy stuff (ignoring a botched visit to the botanical gardens) apart from my visit today to the Christ the Redeemer Statue, which also led to to me being embarassingly lost for a good 2 hours but (as I continually say to the Mancunians every time something inevitably goes wrong) 'it's all part of the fun', even if it does cost you a taxi ride down the road. Saying that, I did have an extra unwelcome tourist experience via the conmen that work the vulnerable streets of Rio. Having been on the beach for a number of hours a lump of what appeared to be faecial magically appeared on my sandle and coincidentally this was all pointed out to me by a guy that happened to have all the shoe-shining equipment to fix it for an extortionate, undisclosed fee, this all allowed me to tick every box on the Lonely Planet guide to a con 'artist' and after being very assertive (a rarity I know) the con was adverted.
Maybe I will be able to make up for this in these extra couple of days but I am not holding out too much hope!
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