Round the World

4hrs drive Manchester to London, but for this marvellous city we had to sit tight for a 22hour bus journey from Iguazu to Rio. Once again we had our super duper first class bus seats and for what was awaiting us at the other end, we endured with smiley faces.

We arrived in Rio on the afternoon of Tuesday 24th October and were booked in to stay at Mellow Yellow hostel in Copacabana. This was a hostel that was on every backpacker’s lips in Iguazu and so we went with the universal recommendation. We checked into our room, which was the only double room with ensuite. The room was ok but the bathroom was a little small and dinghy. We settled in and decided to shower before going for a wander. Susan couldn’t manage to get any hot water so she had a cold shower and I managed to get hot water at the expense of being electrocuted! Yup! The shower had came with it’s own set of loose wires and trip switch which needed to be tripped far too frequently for a 5 min shower. Fortunately it wasn’t a huge shock (ha ha) but I was a little shook up nonetheless. We thought nothing more of it and went for a walk to Copacabana beach, 2 blocks away, an amazing place thronging with men in Speedos tighter and skimpier than an Essex skirt, and women wearing thongs finer than dental floss, letting arse, cellulite and flab all hang out for all to see. This was definitely a very traumatic start to our stay in Rio.
Later that evening we met up with Andy and Katherine, our Amazon buddies, on Ipanema beach, which is, a stones throw away from Copacabana beach. We sat and caught up with them whilst the sun was setting before grabbing a bite to eat. We then returned to Mellow Yellow at midnight for some well-needed shuteye.
Upon entering our room we were hit with an awful smell emanating from the bathroom and if that wasn’t bad enough the room felt damp too, even the bed sheets felt moist. So we decided to check out. After having tried half a dozen or so hotels, all having no availability we had to settle for another room without an ensuite and the size of a rabbit hutch.
After little sleep we checked out of Mellow Yellow, walked round the corner and stumbled upon a really nice, nearly new, 4 star hotel complete with rooftop pool and Jacuzzi bath. After all we did need to recover from our backpacking ordeal!!!! We checked in for 6 nights, which we then extended by another 6 nights.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks we spent time chilling on Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach, visiting Corcovado, better known as Christ The Redeemer (twice) and getting a cable car to the top of Pao de Acucar, better known as Sugar Loaf Mountain, both affording amazing views of Rio below us. If anything I think Corcovado definitely pips Pao de Acucar for views. I’ll let you decide from the photos!!!!

In the first week we went to a Favela Funk Party, which was organised, from Mellow Yellow Hostel (yes we were still taking advantage of our backpacker credentials even though we were living in abject luxury!!). We went with a 2 vanloads of people to a Favela, which is a slum area up in the hills. These areas are controlled by drug barons but for some reason foreigners are welcomed to these Sunday night parties as we are paying guests and the money we pay helps improve the facilities within the community. The drug barons are supposedly given a cut of this too, a) not to kill us and b) to stop others from killing us. So we’re safe then!!!!
We left the hostel at midnight and got there half an hour later. Clubs and bars in Rio don’t kick off until midnight, so our timing was perfect. The party was held in a huge warehouse, which was packed with Brazilians gyrating their hips to the local favourite tunes. We had our VIP area above the dance floor where we watched them strut their stuff. There was one guy who looked like a reject from a Madonna video. He was donning a cowboy hat, shirtless and buffed and keen to gyrate and simulate a humping movement against……..of all things…..a railing/pole. Couldn’t figure out whether he was gay or not but judging by what he was doing, I don’t think he was that fussy.
We were the last to leave and got into bed at 6:00a.m. on the morning of my 34th birthday.

For all you football fans (girlies feel free to switch off now), the 2006 Beach Soccer World Cup started during our second week and the whole tournament was set up in a stadium 5minutes away on Copacabana beach. Didn’t know the thing existed. Did you???

Anyway entrance was free. All you had to do was turn up early enough before the stadium filled up which it did most of the time when Brazil were playing.

It was 5-a-side with 3 halves (or 3 thirds as I liked to call it) of 12 mins. In between the halves we were entertained by bikini clad Brazilian cheerleaders making the crowd go wild. (See!! I told you it was traumatic.) Somehow England weren’t in the tournament but Bahrain and Iran were??!!!! I suppose this has something to do with the fact that their countries have more sand than us??? The tournament was fun as each game averaged 8 or 9 goals (loads of scissor kicks) and watching the games became our ritual every morning for 10 days. Susan wasn’t bored either. Watching fit men (physically of course!!!) running around kicking a ball whilst sunbathing in the stands. What more could a woman want???

We were greeted with the presence of Monsieur Eric Cantona who was coaching the French side, who won the tournament last year and were Brazil’s biggest rivals. France lost to Uruguay (unlikely finalists) in the semis, so it was a Brazil v Uruguay final. There were huge queues outside the stadium as the stadium was full very early, so we didn’t get in to the stadium. So I flung my camera round my neck with my huge zoom lens and made for the press entrance. I spoke to a FIFA press officer and tried to blag that I was a freelance photographer working for The Independent but he needed an email from my boss to confirm before we were to pass go. Not one to give up easily, we headed back to the hotel and emailed the Editor and Sports Editor of The Independent saying I could cover the story for them. In desperation I emailed The Times and Guardian too but wouldn’t sink as low as emailing either The Sun or The Mirror. After all, I do have my (future) journalistic credentials to maintain. Pretty much immediately I had a response from the Sports Editor of The Independent saying that they didn’t have room for this article but wishing me luck trying one of the other papers.
Half an hour later I still didn’t have a response from the other shmucks so we decided to go and watch the game on the big screen on the beach by the stadium.
Inevitably Brazil beat Uruguay comfortably and the celebrations began.

Ok girlies, you can switch on again now.
On my birthday we went hand gliding over Rio which was very calming and peaceful and not at all scary. We ran off a platform on a hill above Sao Conrado beach with our instructors and landed on the beach 15mins later. The views were incredible and we bought ‘in-flight’ photos, as even I wouldn’t dare hang from the sky with a camera round my neck!

We went to watch Flamengo play Vasco (another derby) at the Maracana Stadium, which at one time used to be the largest football stadium in the world holding 200,000 people. It was an ok game but we arrived 25 mins late due to the hostel staff not allowing enough travel time for a derby!! Anyway the game or the atmosphere wasn’t quite as good as watching River Plate play Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires.

The first Friday we went to The Lapa street party. This is the next best thing to The Rio Carnival and takes place in an area called Lapa every Friday night. People drinking and dancing to samba beats whilst unwitting tourists get their chains whipped off their necks as did happen to one of the lads in our group who looked remarkably like Froddo Baggins. Well at least they didn’t take the precious.

We clearly had spent too much time in Rio because towards the end of the trip we were being recognised by the locals; the cab drivers, the staff at Dominos Pizza, the Laundrette staff, but best of all the staff at Copa Lima Sucos Bar.

This was our favourite juice bar, on a street corner, where you could have any fruit milkshake or juice made for you freshly, instantly. We loved it!!!! We tried Guava juice and milkshake, melon juice; strawberry milkshakes, mango juice but our firm favourite became dois banana com leite e dois Americano sim presunto (2 banana milkshakes and 2 fried egg sandwiches without ham). Lurvely!!!! At any given opportunity at any time we would walk the one block for our favourite Rio meal.

Even though the language barrier was difficult we found the Brazilians to be very friendly, patient (with our lack of Portuguese) and chilled out. The Cariocas have a way of life, which seems pretty damn perfect, their attitude, nightlife, food (way better than the Argies) and of course the love of football. Somebody told me last night that when Brazil lost in the world cup, even the women cried. There were issues with safety at night but we didn’t feel threatened at all. Brazil has the largest Japanese community outside Japan so it is a sushi lovers (us) delight.
The setting of the city with the beautiful beaches, Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer make for a fabulous city to live in and I for one could happily do just that!!!