Early on Thursday morning Dad and I met Mark and Kieren at the airport with bikes in tow and after much unnecessary anxiety our bikes were gladly accepted without any extra charge - unfortunately for another guy flying to Anglo he wasn't so lucky and was literally throwing his 'toys' out of his 'cot' - at least it kept Dad and Kieren entertained while we faffed with the bikes and tickets..
After a cup of coffee and some brek we said an emotional goodbye and off we went.
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
Given it was a day flight we still managed to get some rest and time seemed to fly by for the both of us. Once in Sao Paulo I bid farewell to Mark and little did I know my bike and luggage too! I then flew on to Rio and Mark missioned off to catch a bus up to Rio which turned out to be the easier option - Mark technically would have won this leg of the amazing race.
When I arrived in Rio my luggage did not - note to all passengers connecting in Brasil -it is against federal law for your luggage to be automatically checked through to a connecting internal flight so you have to collect it and recheck it in (thanks SAA for sharing this info once I was already in Rio)!
So I did what was only reasonable for someone who has nothing but his passport and some cash and made my way to the hostel -made friends with a very friendly group of Chileans and Poles and drank beer while watching a local soccer game. By midnight I was shattered so I hit the sack popping my head up every time I heard the bell ring thinking it might be Mark arriving from his epic bus trip - little did I know he had already snuck in at about 2am and was sleeping away in the bunk next to me.
Fortunately TAM the connecting airline was very helpful and delivered my stuff to my hostel the next day (after telling me to come and collect it from the airport in the morning)! All's well that ends well - my stuff arrived after a couple of swims and an unnecessary pricey taxi ride to the airport- so it was time to explore Rio!
Rio de Janeiro
We stayed in the very chilled Wave hostel in Ipanema.
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
This area is awesome we walked around day and night and didn't hear or see of any incidents of crime. The tourist areas of Rio can be compared to the tourist areas of Cape Town - developed, safe, fun and breath taking!
We spent most of our time here meeting cool new people and taking in the sunshire and beauty of Rio and enjoying the warm sea. We did attempt to sample the night life but after walking for blocks to find a local place with a vibe we landed up at a place which as the evening went on did not seem very popular with the ladies - so we moved on to a place that looked very popular with the ladies ...but they showed even less interest in us than the men in the previous bar .. we later discovered we were at a lesbian bar.. made for interesting spectating though!
Entertaining Highlights
Run, exercise and swim every morning
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
Cycle along Inpanema beach, Copacabana beach, Urca and the Lagoa (lagoon)
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
Flamengo vs. Botafogo championship final at the massive Maracana stadium (host to 2014 World Cup soccer)
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
Great people in Rio: Martin the DJ and his friend: Polish; Amit: Israeli girl who'd traveled for more than 7 months by herself and woke-up screaming in the middle of the night; two Chilean dudes who are traveling up to Alaska as journalists; Pete (English) and Oded (Israeli) also just started traveling; George's boy friend (he spoke of George but we didn't get his name at first) from Italy who spoke English with a Jamaican twang (we later found out that his name is Danielle); Vinix who is from Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon); Anna and Dorothee from Germany and Raphael the hostel manager from Rio.
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| From World Travels - Brasil |
looks like yr having mad fun already. and you ALREADY have a mashup travel drama! excellent work davo. x
ReplyDeleteThaks H - hope London´s treating you well! I hear there´s good weather on the way..
ReplyDeleteNice one Davo.
ReplyDeleteWish i could have watched a game at the Marecana when we were there. Looks awesome. Glad you got a taste of the Gay and Lesbian scene there, a visit to Rio would just not be the same if you did not.
Nice one
Grant