Slumming it
Trip Start
May 03, 2011
1
72
129
Trip End
May 10, 2012
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City".
Rio de Janeiro represents the second largest GDP in the country (and 30th largest in the world in 2008), estimated at about 343 billion reais (nearly US$201 billion), and is the headquarters of two major Brazilian companies – Petrobras and Vale, and major oil companies and telephony in Brazil, besides the largest conglomerate of media and communications companies in Latin America, the Globo Organizations. The home of many universities and institutes, it is the second largest center of research and development in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national scientific production – according to 2005 data.
After an amazing time in the Salt Flats it was time for us to meet back up with Dennis and head out of Bolivia. Dennis had survived his stomach bug stuck in Uyuni but he had endured two days of stomach cramps in a decidedly dodgy hotel , but the one English language channel on the tv had been his savior. We left "Smelly Cat" and the other guys from the Salt Flats tour and headed back to La Paz on an overnight bus. This one was a tourist bus so was a lot more comfy than the one we had used to get to Uyuni.
We met Dennis in La Paz airport and caught a flight (what luxury to be catching a flight) to Santa Cruz. We had a connecting flight to Puerto Suarez at the Bolivian Border. The Santa Cruz flight was delayed (aaarrrgggghhhhhh) so we missed the connecting flight and as they only run these services 3 times a week it was, you guessed it, back on the overnight bus to get to the Bolivian border. After a dodgy night´s sleep where Nick awoke in the middle of the night to find that a Bolivian pig had plonked itself next to Nick and was snoring like a drain for most of the night.
We arrived at the Bolivian / Brazil border to find that grueling bureaucracy is also alive and well in South America and it took us about 3 hours to get an exit stamp out of Bolivia and an entry stamp into Brazil. We arrive in Corumba and found a great hostel for the night, had a HUGE meat filled dinner and enjoyed the free music and vibe of Corumba.
After a couple of days in Corumba, we headed to our next main stop which was Rio de Janeiro. It was becoming clear that our budget was well and truly f%cked as Brazil was proving to be really expensive compared to the rest of South America. Transport is majorly over priced but we had no choice and so caught a bus and a flight to get to Rio. Arriving in Rio was amazing and it has such a brilliant atmosphere. Our hostel was right near to Ipanema beach and on the outskirts of one of the sprawling Favella´s or slum areas of the city built into the hillside. It was great to mix the excess and spectacle of Ipenema and Copacabana with the reality of life in the Favella.
We spent a couple of days on the beach at Ipanema and Copacabana. It reminded us of Cape Town as there is a real beach culture and practically everyone is pumped and worked out to within an inch of their lives. You can see that football is a major influence on this city as both guys and girls have “keepy uppy” competitions on the beach which are incredible to watch. The only off putting thing really is that 99.9% of the guys insist on wearing speedo´s, which is never a good look no matter how good your body is. This isn´t restricted to the beach either as “budgie smugglers” can be spotted at the grocery store, the dry cleaners and bent over picking up a dropped piece of cutlery whilst you are enjoying a spot of lunch (eeeeewwwww!!!)
We sampled Rio´s nightlife which was loads of fun (especially the Lapa area in the centre of town)and visited all of Rio´s main sights. “Christ the Redeemer” the huge statue of Christ overlooking the city and Sugar Loaf Mountain were the definite highlights and made our four days in Rio absolutely perfect. Even though it has royally fooked our budget we had a whale of a time in Rio and would give it a right royal 10/10.
