Christ and carnival

Rio de Janeiro is one of those places on my trip that I was really excited to finally get to. Everybody knows Rio, everyone has seen the photos of Christ the redeemer looking out over the city and pretty much everyone you meet on tour way tells you how much they love it there. Now I'm just another one of those people! Warning- this post is pretty picture heavy as I finally stopped being lazy with my camera.

When we first got to Rio we stayed in a hostel in an area called Leme, an old favela close to Copacabana beach. The area has been regenerated and feels nothing like a favela these days and seems very safe. I think one of the great things about Rio in general is the diversity of the city and the people living there- it's a lot harder to tell who is a local and who is a tourist and there seems to be less judgement of the poorer people living on the streets. We decided to head to Rio a few days before carnival started in order to get a lot of the touristy stuff out of the way before the madness of all day street parties kicked off. Our first tourist destination to tick off was sugarloaf mountain. Jack, Andrew, his friend Nick and myself all set off on a boiling hot day to go find the cable cars to take us to the top. There are two cable cars and I've heard that you can walk for the second one but I've no idea how/who would be daft enough to do so! The views at the top are pretty great with all the beaches and Christ peeking over the clouds in the distance. 

However this view paled, in my opinion, in comparison to what we did the next day. A few friends who had recently been to Rio recommended that we go do the two brothers mountain at the end of Ipanema beach. I was told it was a half hour hour walk up so you can imagine the shock and horror on my face when we got close to it and I was faced with these monsters (this photo taken later on in the day at sunset). 

So, the way to do the two brothers is to go to the bottom of the Vidigal favela. From there you get a motorbike taxi about 2/3 of the way up the mountain- which was pretty terrifying, those motorbike drivers are even crazier than normal taxi drivers! Then you're dropped off near some football courts, you go behind them and start hiking. I think everyone reading this by now has read enough tales of me hiking to know I probably didn't love this part- bear in mind it was about 35 degrees and humid as hell. On the way up you pass lookout points where you look down into the favela below, which is so far down at this point that it looks like it's made of lego.

After a bit more walking, about 45 minutes in total (probably faster without me holding you back), you get to the top and the view is incredible. Unlike at sugarloaf there's hardly anybody else up there and there are no railings so you're free to get as close to get edge as you like! I may have moaned the whole way up (seriously don't do anything that involved uphill walking with me if you have no patience) but it was so worth it and is probably one of the best things I did in my time in Rio. It's also really cool to see the favela on the way up and down the mountain- it's amazing how they managed to build whole towns on the side of a mountain and when you're looking over the whole of Rio it's very easy to spot them dotted all over the city. You can do favela tours but we decided against doing one as we weren't sure how much they benefit the people who live in them and in a way reduces them to being a tourist attraction which I'm not sure I feel comfortable with. 

The next day, feeling like very good travellers for being so productive, the four of us decided it was finally time to go see the big guy. Again, you can walk up the road leading to Christ the Redeemer but we decided that we weren't feeling quite that unhinged and instead went to go get the shuttle bus up there. Much like when I got to Machu Picchu, I find it pretty hard to describe what it's like when you're actually there staring up at the huge statue, apart from the obvious that it's really impressive! The only problem is just the amount of other tourists up there- it takes so long to try get 'that' photo without other people or their selfie sticks invading it. By the end Jack and I were just trying to get in as many other people's photos as possible- spiteful maybe but entertaining all the same. 

We didn't do too much on the nights for our first few days apart from venturing a couple of blocks down to Copacabana beach to sit and drink a few beers. However the next day we moved to our hostel in Botafogo which we were using as a base for Carnival. We also met back up with Neil there who we spent Christmas and New Years with so it was lovely to see him again! 

Carnival is basically constant street parties known as 'blocos'- it's impossible to keep track of them yourself but luckily our hostel had a list of them all on the wall, as well as highlighting the ones they recommended for each day, which helped us out no end. The festivities started on Friday the 5th, so that morning we all headed into town to pick up some costume items. We'd heard that people go all out dressing up for the parties so we all grabbed a strange and wonderful mix of things, plus a lot of glitter, and went back to the hostel to get dressed. That night we decided to head to a bloco on Copacabana beach where we watched a big parade and then just continued the night amongst the crowds, drinking and having fun spotting all the other costumes out there. 

One of the real highlights of carnival was the sambadrome on Sunday night. We decided to get tickets pretty last minute and in true traveller style got the cheapest ones possible, meaning we were in the final block where the parade finishes. I had no idea what to expect of the sambadrome but we had so much fun! The parade starts at 9pm and there are 6 different samba schools competing, then another 6 the next night. Each school has a different theme and each parade lasts at least an hour, meaning it ends up being a pretty late night! The floats and costumes were incredible to see and absolutely huge- being at the end of the sambadrome meant that we got a good view of the cranes at the end that were used to get the dancers down from the floats, so that gives you an idea of how big they were! All the locals in the crowd are singing and dancing along giving a really fun atmosphere, despite none of us having a clue what any of the words to the songs were. As the night went on I started feeling pretty sick so a few of us left at about 4am but I don't think it ended properly until at least an hour after. All my photos are taken with my iPhone so excuse the quality- unfortunately you hear a lot of stories of people being mugged on their way to the sambadrome so I decided not to take my proper camera.

The next morning I was feeling better, very luckily, as we were heading off to the bloco that we were most excited about; Sargento Pimenta, which was described as 'The Beatles to a samba rhythm'. I know, doesn't that sound like so much fun? Off we went at 10am, armed with some cans of Skol Beats (sort of like Smirnoff ice but stronger) to the park where it was being held which was absolutely packed and boiling hot. As soon as the band kicked off we knew we were in for a good time- they started with a medley of a few different songs, which ended in one of my favourites, twist and shout. They went on over the next three and a half hours to play pretty much every Beatles song I know, including a lot of the less well-known songs. The surprising thing was that so many of the locals around us knew every word just as well as Jack and I did! I think this bloco actually beats the sambadrome as my favourite part of carnival- I think there are a few videos of them on YouTube if you're interested, but if you ever happen to be at Rio Carnival in the future please go to see them!

Over the days we went to various parties across the city, but the other bloco we were really excited for was a Super Mario themed bloco up in Santa Teresa. We went up there at the right time and found various Marios and Luigis up there but unfortunately the bloco never really kicked off. However the organisers had hung a few pixelated coins from the trees- Jack and his stepbrother managed to get one down so we could at least entertain ourselves by putting it over the heads of the disappointed dressed up Marios. I was also given a costume that someone had taken from the sambadrome to wear for a bit which I appreciated as most of my costume items had been lost or discarded over the course of Carnival. 

Needless to say, the few days after carnival were pretty uneventful. A lot of Netflix was watched and a lot of sleeping was done. Jack and I also went to go see The Revenant at the cinema as it turns out most foreign films are shown in the original language in Brazil. It felt strange to be doing something so normal in Rio! On the Friday we then moved to our final hostel in Rio which was in an area called Lapa, which is where a lot of travellers stay but is maybe a little less safe than other areas we stayed in. Our hostel there, called Books, was really cool though and was a good place to spend a few days before Jack finished his trip and flew home. We went to see the famous Lapa stairs nearby, which were really impressive. Jorge Selaron, a Chilean artist, started working on the stairs in 1990. He wanted to cover the stairs in mosaic-style tiles, originally only using the colours of the Brazilian flag, but eventually using many others and actually asking people from all over the world to send tiles from where they lived to use on the stairs. Because of this there are so many different tiles- I spotted some religious ones, one with the Simpsons on, ones with musicians on and many many more. 

Another day we also went to the maracana football stadium. I wasn't that bothered about going but it was Jacks last full day in South America so I decided to be nice and go with him! I think we'd both agree that the tour itself wasn't the best but at least now I've seen where some of the 2016 Olympics will be held! 

Last Tuesday Jack flew home after 5 months out in South America and about 4 months since I first met him in Cusco! It's very strange to be completely by myself again but I've been in Salvador the last few days- I'll leave that, and my last few days in South America, for yet another update coming soon. 

I really did have such a great time in Rio and Carnival was such a cool time to be there- if you can ever make it there you 100% should go!

Brazil pt. 1

I feel like I've been in Brazil for so long. It's been a month and a half of beaches, sun and just a few English-style downpours and I can't say it's been anything but great. I'm very close to the end of my trip now (hence the fact I remembered I actually have a huge blog post to write) and though I feel pretty ready to come home, I have a lot of amazing places in Brazil to tell you about. I also want to apologise for the lack of photos- this is due to a combination of being lazy and also not wanting to take my camera out to the many beaches I've been to so as not to get sand in the lens. 

My first stop in Brazil was in Foz do Iguacu, where most people go see the other side of the Iguazu Falls that I mentioned in my last post. Unfortunately timings meant that I had to skip the Brazilian side, so my only experience with Foz was in the bus station. It wasn't the most pleasant experience either; angry-looking armed police men with sniffer dogs came round the station and arrested two separate people, I couldn't get any money out meaning I had no Brazilian currency and my bus was delayed an hour. Nevertheless, eventually my bus turned up and off I went to Florianopolis. Floripa, as the locals call it, is a lovely place- however my time there also had a stressful start as I still couldn't get any money out of the ATMs and I knew my hostel was ages away, leaving me a bit worried about how I was going to get there. In the end I plucked up the courage to ask three friendly-looking fellow travellers if they happened to be heading the same way. Luckily they were and offered to lend me money for my share of the taxi! Travel karma is a very real thing I think. Once I arrived at my hostel in Barra da Lagoa, a good 40 minutes away (Floripa is huge), I started to relax. Barra is a chilled beach town with a good mix of tourists and locals, and my first hostel there (Barra Beach Club) basically overlooks its own private beach. The only problem is that Barra doesn't have any cash machines either and the closest place, Lagoa, can be reached by a bus, which sits in traffic for an hour, or by a 30 minute speedboat. At this point my lack of money was becoming a big problem so I opted for the boat; I think this is definitely the better option as you get to see kids playing in the river, other people waving at you from their own private boats and as you head across the sea you're surrounded by people kite-surfing as well as various other water sports that I don't know the name of. Anyway, I finally managed to get money out at a proper bank and could finally stop worrying. I stayed in Barra for about a week, not doing too much to be honest, just enjoying the sun and the caipirinhas. If you're not familiar with them, they're Brazil's favourite cocktail made from an alarming amount of sugar, limes and a liquor called Cachaca. They're delicious but deadly, especially when the street vendors sell pints of them for the equivalent of £1.50. One day I also joined a guy from my hostel in a hike across to another beach, Praia Mole, which he described as a nice walk away. Instead it was like trekking through the jungle- the beauty of Brazil is in the fact that every city seems like it's just been plonked down between masses of dense jungle and forest. This sometimes makes it hard to get around but it's certainly a lot more visually pleasing to drive through than the dull stretches of land that Argentina has. We also headed to a daytime pool party at a club called P12. I'm not really up on my DJs but Robin Schulz played a set and I'm pretty sure he's fairly famous (do I sound cool yet?) and we had such a good day dancing and drinking in the sun, watching wealthy Brazilians flaunting their plastic-surgery-enhanced bodies. When I say flaunt I really mean it- the girls all wear thong bikinis and the men all wear, for lack of a better term, 'budgie smugglers'. I almost feel like a prude wearing my high waisted bikini! 

The rest of our nights in Floripa were pretty fun too. Every night you can go down to the beach to watch teams from all over Brazil playing football, which ordinarily I wouldn't really choose to watch but seeing them play in the sand was pretty impressive! Otherwise there are always local musicians and bands playing music in the streets which was pretty cool too. Later on in the evening we often headed over to the private beach to chill on the rocks with a bottle of rum, where there also tended to be musicians sat around entertaining the crowds. However on one such night I got a bit carried away watching the waves coming in and out, so much so that unfortunately one of my sandals got washed out to sea. Luckily Havaiana flip flops are really cheap in Brazil- problem solved! 

After Floripa I decided to head on to São Paulo with a few others that I'd met at various points on the trip- two of the guys I actually met for the first time in Quito, Ecuador so they probably win as my longest running friends I keep bumping into on the way! I had my worries about São Paulo as a lot of people say it's really dodgy but yet again word of mouth was proven wrong. We stayed in a hostel in the Vila Madalena part of town which is the more bohemian young area, so I suppose it probably did feel safer than other parts of the city would have. 

São Paulo also doesn't have as many well known attractions as other big cities and is more known for the nightlife; however one day a few of us went for a wander to the grafitti alleys near the hostel which were pretty cool to see.

The next day Alexia & I also did the free walking tour around the downtown area. Unfortunately we both felt it was a bit too long and the history and architecture of São Paulo not quite gripping enough to impress us too much, but we did find out about the municipal market where we later went to eat enormous ham sandwiches. I also got given a free bag of mixed olives, peppers and garlic by one stall owner- I tried to pay him but he just pointed at my face and said 'linda' which means beautiful so I just went with it! 

Something I did find odd about São Paulo was that it has the highest Japanese population outside of Japan, meaning there are Japanese restaurants everywhere. Unfortunately I don't eat fish so sushi is lost on me but everyone else seemed to enjoy their food! I won't lie, it wasn't my favourite city ever but nowhere near as bad as I'd heard from others. After a few nights there I headed to Paraty, meeting Jack at the bus station after his solo trip to Iguazu. 

When we arrived it was absolutely pissing it down- South America is currently experiencing what they refer to as the 'El Nino' phenomenon. Every 5 years (I think) for some reason the weather during summer is a lot more overcast and rainy than every other year. I haven't done much research into why this is but it was pretty annoying for a few weeks! Our hostel in Paraty was right across the road from a popular but small beach and 10 minutes walk from the lovely old town area, all cobbled streets and street vendors selling their crafts to the crowds of tourists. Paraty was very chilled for us, partly because the weather wasn't the best and partly because we were sort of killing time before eventually getting to Rio for Carnaval. Still we had a good time relaxing by the beach with a few beers. One day we did venture to a nearby town called Trinidade- unfortunately El Niño hit again and the weather wasn't the best for a beach day which is a shame as it seemed like a cool little town. We also discovered an amazing Thai restaurant in Paraty simply called Thai Brasil- we were both craving something resembling curry and this place did not disappoint. After months of being disappointed by things claiming to be spicy but being anything but, this restaurant was a godsend and I'd highly recommend it.

After Paraty came Ilha Grande, an island (would you believe it) about 40 minutes boat ride off the coast. The only way I can describe my first impression is that it felt like arriving at Jurassic World. The whole island is covered in dense jungle with just a few restaurants and buildings dotted along near the pier. There are mountains covered in mist in the distance and just walking 5 minutes to our hostel we spotted little monkeys running along the power cables above us. It turns out this is pretty common in Brazil as we saw them loads in Rio too; I think they're kind of the equivalent of squirrels in England. 

Ilha Grande has loads of different beaches that you can either get taxi boats or trek to. On our first full day we just went for a short walk to find a nearby beach. Unfortunately the weather had also been a bit rubbish in IG for the last few days meaning that the whole walk I was convinced I was going to end up falling in the mud. We made it there eventually and found a sunbathing pig there so it was definitely worth the mud-filled walk. 

We also went to a beach called Lopes Mendes. Again, this involved another terrifying walk- the trails are all pretty steep, slippery and impossible to navigate in flip flops. Jack got a lot of entertainment from watching me struggle down the pathways, holding on to vines and branches to steady myself, muttering swear words under my breath and hating him for making me go. Lucky for him the beach itself was really beautiful, probably the nicest beach I've ever been to! 

Our nights in Ilha Grande were spent drinking cachaca and rum on the beach with others from our hostel- one of the good things about Brazil is that drinking on the streets is perfectly legal, meaning a night out can be extremely cheap! Although I did wake up one morning with half of one of my big toe nails hanging off and not much recollection of how it happened..

We left Ilha Grande after 5 nights, accompanied by Luke, an English guy we met in the hostel and another girl who we met on the boat back to shore who was also heading to Rio. We bought our bus tickets and waited for the bus- a few buses pulled up but the guy working there told us ours was the next one. 25 minutes later the same guy then put into google translate 'that was your bus, do you want a car there?', leaving us all a bit confused and annoyed. He walked off then two minutes later pulled up in a van, gesturing for us to get in the back. Still a bit confused we all piled in the back of his little van and off we went. I was the only one with a 'seat' (a spare tyre) which I was quite grateful for as the other three were clinging to the walls; drivers in South America are absolutely nuts and this guy was no exception. About 40 minutes later we finally arrived at our destination- a service station where the bus was waiting for us to catch up to them. I have to give them credit, although the mistake itself was annoying, at least they put in the effort to sort it out! Anyway, after another hour and a half spent snoozing we finally arrived in Rio and bought tickets to our final destination of the day, Buzios. 

Buzios is a popular holiday destination a bit further north from Rio. It has 21 beaches and is apparently famous for being Brigitte Bardos' favourite place- they even have a street named after her.

This post is already incredibly long and to be honest this was another place where we just chilled out for a week, visiting different beaches every day or just enjoying the hostel pool with some homemade caipirinhas. We met some great people there- one hilarious Aussie guy called Andrew, and two lovely Argentinian girls who went spent most of our days with.

In the evenings I'd cook big family meals for the group and one night Luke even made the whole hostel an apple crumble! If you ever find yourself in Buzios I'd totally recommend Lagoa Beach hostel- really cool staff and a great atmosphere which feels a lot more like someone's home than just another hostel. 

I think Rio deserves a post all of its own so I'm going to leave this one here- I'll do my best to have everything finished before I leave Brazil this Friday!