Where 14 Rio de Janerio, Brazil --OR-- Beaches, Breasts, Bums and Carnival

Hi Guys,

And you thought that I had forgotten to email you it has been so long.......

After deciding UK was just too cold and gloomy I left uk on 19/1/02 and spent a week in NY en route to Rio de Janerio for 6 months of hard intensive work in South America (no I didn´t think that you would believe that).
Actually I decided to hit the beaches a few hours down the coast from Rio and retuned to Rio for the Carnival (and hit the beaches again!)


NEW YORK
Was it what I expected ? Amazingly Yes. Almost everything was exactly what I expected - I must have been watching far too many of those US TV programs !


Skyscrapers (The Highs)
- The Empire State Building - Completed in 1930 and once again the tallest building in NY. Majestic against the skyline (most of the other tall buildings are some distance away).

- Brooklyn Bridge - walking across the this web of wires and pylons in the blazing sunshine towards the skyline of lower Manhaten is simply amazing.

- Seeing Winne the Pooh and Friends - now over 80 years old they are barely recognisable as the ones on sale in the nearby Disney Store or FOA Schwartz toyshop (that's because they look completely different - where the tubby version of Pooh came from I have no idea).

- For those whose knowledge of New York comes from watching ´Friends´, Bloomingdales is a shoppers paradise if you can afford it(the most expensive thing I found was a crystal US flag about 0,5m x 0,3m which cost $30,000); and there really is a Pottery Barn and they do sell apocathery tables for $499 (but only by mail order).


Low Rise (the worst bits)
- The remains of the WTC. Physically there is actually nothing left, the rubble has been removed and the site is now a regular building site. All over NY there are messages of hope and pictures of ´missing´ family and friends. Upon every subway car and bus the stars and stripes have been
freshly added; outside most houses and on many cars the flag flies and New Yorkers look at the ´new skyline´ with dismay.

- Shopping at Macy´s, the worlds largest store. It is actually very boring.

- The weather - from snow and below freezing to bright sunshine and 15C in less than a week - I just never knew what to wear when going out.


BRAZIL

The breast bits

- The Carnival. It is hard to give a good overall description of the Carnival in Rio. Most of it is a bit mediocre and it is difficult to find out what is going on where at what time. However the Main parades put on by the samba schools are absolutely amazing. The floats are fantastic with
huge moving parts and the costumes (of which there are thousands in each parade) are breathtakingly detailed - unfortunately most people never get to see the detail as most of us were too far away. Nevertheless here was the glitz and glamour I had been expecting and I was not dissapointed. Each parade lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. There are 14 main contestants for the
championship over 2 nights. We got in there at 1am on the second night, saw 4 parades and it didn't finish until 7am. Knackering.

- The beaches in and around Rio are supurb (Copacabana and Ipanema are the main ones in Rio) white sand which is actually clean, and warm water. The beach culture here is something to be marvelled at - make of that what you will. Oh and hanging out on the beach with a load of other travellers/Brazilians that I just met and having a ball! Cool stuff.

- Managed to get a game of football on the beach in Rio - well we really do have to take on the Brazilians at OUR own game. Scored a goal, pulled a muscle (no pun intended). I was easily the Most Valuable Player on the pitch as I was still wearing my moneybelt with all my cash and travellers cheques in it, but better on the person than left almost anywhere else.

- Views from
Sugar Loaf mountain - great views of the beaches and coastline from 400m up. Rio is actually built around a whole bunch of steep peaks.
Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio. Actually the statue of the late JC is rather ordinary .... but what a view he has - from 700m up it is nearly an aerial view - Does he really live here ... well it may not be heaven but it's pretty close. Up there with views from Table Mountain (Cape Town) and Victoria Peak (Hong Kong).

- The people in Brazil have been fantastic - so friendly even though most of them don't speak english and always willing to help. The bus drivers/conductors even tell you the correct place to get off when you haven't even told them where you are going .... amazing !


The cover up (bad bits)

- On the beach topless is out (except for the boys - any displayed breasts are boys that are part way to being girls). However the Brazilians do have the most minute bikinis imaginable - tiny triangles imaginatively connected by straps. As one girl pointed out this is a bum culture and the girls show as much as they can.

- The weather is a bit oppressive - over 35C in the shade and very high humidity. There are some cooler days when you can walk around without pouring sweat so long as you don´t walk up any hills or carry a backpack! It gets down to 25C at night but is still humid.

- the no. of travellers I have met who have been mugged or robbed (sometimes by thieves in costume), sometimes in broad daylight. There is no longer a distinction between being safe and paranoid.


So at last the hassle of finding accomadation for carnival is over and I actually get to travel somewhere. Next up is a 23 hour, 1500km bus journey down to Iguassu Falls on the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
Then into Paraguay and down to Buenos Aires before hitting the cool of Patagonia. Well thats the plan but it will change I'm sure ..... only 5 months left so I'd better get some more sun in ....


Best Wishes
Pete