The Final Destination!
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2005
1
108
Trip End
Aug 15, 2006
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Friday, August 11, 2006
We took our final bus journey (thank God) from Porto Seguro on Thursday. 20 hours but not that bad. Arrived in Rio and headed for the Copacabana end of town, where we intended to reside for the next week or so. We got our bearings and did nothing the rest of the day. The next night we headed for the beach suburb of Ipanema for a night on the tiles. Someone had pointed us in this direction claiming it was a bit of a hotspot. It wasnīt just a few average bars with little or no atmosphere.
On Saturday we went to watch Flamengo play Goias in the world famous Maracana Stadium, Brazilīs shrine to football. It was a full house which meant over 100,000 fanatical supporters. It was everything you could imagine and more. The atmosphere was electric, with Samba drums, flares and fire crackers. It was probably the most intense sporting event we have ever been to.
On Tuesday we took the metro into the city centre which was worth a look but not much more.
Wednesday was dedicated to sightseeing. First it was up to see Christ The Redeemer which overlooks the city, then to Sugar Loaf Mountain. The Sugar Loaf is only half the size of The Corcovado, which is where the Christ stands, but gives equally spectacular views. We watched the sun set over Rio from the top of the Sugar Loaf and both agreed that Rio must be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. During the day we met two funny Greek guys, we got on great with them which resulted in an invite to their apartment for some Greek food that night. We ended up having brilliant craic and have promised to visit them in Athens in the future.
The next morning we went on a tour of Rochinha Favela, the biggest shanty town in Latin America. We had debated over the ethics of visiting the poor people all week, but after some advice from locals and other travellers we decided to go, afterall it is part of life here in Brazil. Over 60% of the tour fee goes back into the Favela to help build schools. It proved to be a good decision. The experience was fantastic. The people were warm and friendly and the system in which they live is remarkable. It showed us that itīs not just beaches and football here in Brazil and we would recommend the trip to anyone who was interested.
The rest of our time here was spent between the beaches, markets and our hostel.
Well our plane takes off at 2pm tomorrow local time. As our grand finale tonight we are heading to Lapa, an area of town famed for its street parties and good nightlife. So thatīs almost it from us. We just canīt believe how quickly this year has gone by. We have been to some amazing places, seen some fantiastic things, experienced extremely different cultures, met some great people, tried plenty of cuisines, sampled a fine selection of beers and generally found ourselves doing things we would never have imagined doing. It has undoubtably been the best year of both our lives.
Well as the saying goes "nothing ever lasts forever.." and so its the end of our trip. Back to sunny old Belfast tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for reading our blog and thanks for all the nice comments and emails and we have received. We hope you enjoyed it, we certainly did. Stay tuned for the next one, until then.....
Comments
Come home your tea is ready!
Congratulations to both of you.
What an amazing adventure you have been on.
Well done for keeping us up tp date with your blogs, we can't wait to see you!
Pete & Pat