Simply Riodiculous

Sorry this post has taken so long however it has taken a while for me to get a decent internet connection and time to sit down to write my first post from South America. The trip to Rio ended up taking 52 hours due to the fact that I (and half of my plane) were forced to overnight in Santiago, Chile. The problem according to LAN was that a plane didn't leave Santiago on the Monday (Chile's Day of Independence) and hence there was a backlog on Tuesday forcing the flight crew to rest for 5 hours in Auckland in turn making the plane 6 hours late to Santiago.



A decent summary of the trip over

Although being delayed by 26 hours was far from ideal, there were a couple of unexpected bonuses. Firstly, it ensured that I visited Chile during my trip, I still may visit the Atacama Desert at some stage however now there is less pressure to do so. Secondly I got to spend a night in a nice hotel room (Crowne Plaza) and finally dinner and breakfast were included. I did however discover one annoying thing about travelling alone; that trying to eat a buffet breakfast is almost impossible as whenever I left the table to get another serve I would find that my table had been completely cleared.

Santiago Sunrise

I arrived in Rio at about 7pm and agreed to share a taxi with a couple from Melbourne who had been delayed the same as me. This was just as well because none of my ATM cards could get money out at the airport and they generously paid for me, I really don't know what I would have done without them, so thanks Sharon & Scott if you ever read this!
Upon arriving at the hostel I had a quick shower and headed straight to the bar (as I decided that this would be the best way to meet people). I ended up sharing a few drinks with Christian from Austria and Cesar from Chile. We went to a local bar with the bartender from the hostel and ended up back in the Hostel at about 3am (an early night compared to what was to come)

The next day I woke up early, grabbed breakfast and then spent the rest of the day inside as it rained all day...it also helped me get over my jet lag to some extent. Again I headed up to the hostel bar at around 10 and bumped into two English guys (Danny and James) and an aussie called Amy. It ended up being a big night in Ipanema, starting at an Irish bar where I experienced my first Brazilian F**k (unfortunately for you all it was an aniseed flavoured shot).

I awoke the next day to find that the weather had subsided and decided to do the city tour (a slight misjudgement to say the least). After picking up other tour attendees for approximately 2 hours we finally headed up to Christ the Redeemer

The man himself



I think we would all agree it's more impressive with me in the foreground

After that we went down to see  Lapa Steps  


Sitting next to the Opera House

Next was on to one of Rio's famous cathedrals

I can only imagine it is famous for being a serious eyesore

After that we were meant to head up Sugarloaf  Mountain however due to the weather the guide decided that it wouldn't be worth it (at least we got some of our money back)!!

Botafogo vs Corinthians (ended 2-2)

Rather than go step by step through the rest, as Lapa Steps were made famous by Snoop Dogg in his song "Beautiful" I thought it would be appropriate for me to include a quick tribute

I used to think Rio was the capital of Brazil

And not famous just because of the big statue on the hill

Yes I'm talking about Christ the Redeemer

And boy I wish you coulda been there

Look down from up above

Wishing he would guide me in love

Yes that's for you dad

I didn't find the girl so please don't get mad

I went out every night

And tried with all my might

I checked plenty of clubs and even the beach

But 'the girl from Ipanema' was never quite within reach

Rio I will be back

Next time please cut me some slack

Forget the rain, give me some sun

And together we can have even more fun

Brazilian Beach Art

 Until next time...

Tom