Day 2 (Sugarloaf Mountain)

  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Wow, day 1 in rio pretty much blows your mind, its incredible,fantastic and freakin awesome
First off its hot,30 degrees hot,everyone wears boards and slops,its so how I used to live in saffa,everything is very chilled,laid back

Secondly the beaches are pristine,the sand golden,the water cool,and there are actual waves,Brighton UK take a hike, Ipanema Brazil take a bow

Thirdly the streets are jungles,literally,trees and luscious vegetation everywhere,its like the city was built on a jungle,and they somehow kept all the trees

The effect of points 1-3 above, breathtaking

New place to stay found with some difficulty,the 7 day thing is lifted when you walk in off the street which was a good start,but on the downside most are full,the mango tree (?name) isn't full cos it only opened 5 days before,and just like that we have another 3 nights in rio,very cool place actually,but no-one has a spot for the 18th,we don't care, we are off a day early on the bus,bought the ticket today


The afternoon is a big tick on the tourist checklist,the cable car to sugarloaf mountain,cost 35 reals, worth-it-factor=10,views outrageous,its basically a perfectly situated chunk of granite with good allround views of rio from 396 m high


Bus there and back from ipanema,what an education,drivers are all stark raving mad,all over the road,slam on the anchors anywhere to pick up/drop off,cost 2 reals per trip,worth every penny cos we went through the flavelas (Slums) and the central markets so was like a sightseeing tour in itself

Supper-nice restaurant,couple beers (brahma on tap),good value when steak and drinks comes in at £7,and this is eating expensive so can only get better

This place is fantastic,tomorrow is an action packed day again...