Corcovado/Cristo Redentor (The Christ) VS. Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf)

As with seeing any other tourist sight in a large city anywhere in the world, timing is everything.  If you go at the wrong time of day and the place is rammed, you will not only have a thoroughly unpleasant experience jostling through crowds of people but you will also have paid through the nose for it.  Therefore, I am about to pass on to you three very important pieces of tourist advice if you want to make the most of seeing both Corcovado and Pao de Acucar during peak tourist season (i.e. January):

1.     Corcovado – GET UP EARLY & CATCH THE FIRST TRAIN UP THE MOUNTAIN.  Why? The queue to get tickets is short, you will not get jostled around, it’s not schvitzing, it will not be wall-to-wall bodies when you get to the top, you can actually get some decent shots of you in front of the statue, the view from the top is clear (if you go later in the day, sometimes the Corcovado clouds over and you can’t see anything).

2.     Pao de Acucar – GO AT THE END OF THE DAY AND WATCH THE SUNSET.  Why?  Again, it’s not busy, you will not get jostled, you can get up without much fuss, the ‘recreational areas’ aren’t packed, the sunset over the city is sensational.

3.     DO NOT GO TO EITHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY.  Are you mad???  Why, why, why do people do this to themselves???  It will be packed, people will be knocking into you left right and centre, it will takes ages to get up, longer to come down and worst of all it will be boiling hot.  Don’t do it!  If you’re going to pay an arm and a leg, make it worth your while!

Visiting both the Corcovado and Pao de Acucar is not cheap.  We took the train to the top of Corcovado, which set us back R$43 (£16) each.  You can take a van up there for a few reais less, but we’ve been told it’s not as pleasant an experience and the extra cost is worth it. 

To go to the Corcovado, we got up at the crack of dawn around 6.30am & left the apartment about 7.45am (I take a while to get going in the morning – sue me).  We got to the little train station about 8.20am and took the very first train of the day at 8.40am, arriving at the top around 9am. 

The train journey was lovely, the views from the top were great, the statue was very impressive, but they could have done a bit more to make the facilities up there a bit nicer considering how much money they must be making on the thing.  Also, some complete bastard of an insect got under my t-shirt and bit me VERY hard while I was taking a picture of the Christ, which made me really paranoid about being bitten again, so we can’t have spent more than about an hour up there.  To be honest, that’s all we needed because it was starting to fill up about 10am anyway.  Glad I did it, but I’m never doing it again.

 

One of the trains coming down from the top of Corcovado & me looking like a bloody tourist

View from the top!

Pao de Acucar was a totally different kettle of fish.  It costs R$10 more to take the cable car (R$53/£21) but it’s a far better experience & view (in my humble opinion). 

You actually take two trips to get to the top: one cable car takes you to the peak of Morro da Urca (Urca Mountain) then you take another from there to the peak of Pao de Acucar. 

The facilities on Morro da Urca are quite impressive: shops, cafes, plenty of viewing decks, ample seating on very comfortable chairs, tables, an amphitheatre displaying a film about the history of the mountain & the cable car company, and a small museum area showing the inner workings of the cable system.  Everything is clean and cared for, all the staff speak some level of English, they don’t sell the usual tat in the shops – the souvenirs were actually really nice.

The peak on Pao de Acucar isn’t as flat so the cable car company didn’t have as much room to work with, but again they’ve made the most of the space they have: viewing decks, comfortable seating, tables, shops and snack bars.  They also have well-maintained paths and stairs going down the mountain into the ‘ecological park’ that they have cultivated on the forested side of the mountain.

But the most impressive thing of all was the view.  It. Was. Amazing. You could see the whole of Rio de Janeiro from up there: the city, the mountains, the Christ, the beaches & the sea.  The sunset was simply breathtaking.  We got to the top about 6.45pm and stayed until the very last cable car was leaving at 8.30pm.  I could have come earlier and stayed all afternoon and evening: it was that fabulous up there.

The only improvement I would suggest would be to open a really fancy bar/restaurant on Morro da Urca, like they have at the top of Tower 42 in London or the CN Tower in Toronto.  I have paid through the nose to have dinner at the top of the CN Tower and I have never regretted it – I would have paid more.  They have a lot of spare space on the Morro da Urca complex that they’re not doing much with.  They could make it a real evening hotspot.

All in all, Pao de Acucar was well worth the R$53 price tag and we’re actually thinking of doing it again before we leave.

Botafogo beach & surrounding area

Morro da Urca viewed from Pao de Acucar

Sunset over Rio - Copacabana beach on the left

Night view of Flamengo beach

I *LOVE* RIO

OK, so I’ve changed my mind about this city.  I’m sure everyone who’s been here knew that would happen.

We spent the first couple of weeks in a tiny studio in a sleazy part of Copacabana with an asshole host.  The refrigerator wasn’t working (he tried to make it out it was, it just “wasn’t very cold”), the toaster oven wasn’t working (he tried to make out that, despite the fact there were clearly two heating elements in the toaster oven, only one of them was supposed to work: “that’s how they work in Brazil”), the apartment building backed onto a favela, the entrance hall stank of sewers, there were cockroaches in the hallways that weren’t cleared away for days, the apartment was humid and dark… I could go on. 

Anyway, when we did complain about the refrigerator (quite reasonably, given we were staying for a month and a refrigerator is ESSENTIAL in 30C-35C heat) he firstly tried to make out it had been working until we got there, we then reminded him he’d said himself it wasn’t working very well when we arrived, he then backtracked and said it was a new refrigerator under guarantee he just hadn’t gotten around to calling the repair service because he would have to wait around for them to come and he’d need our permission, we gave it to him, he then backtracked again and said we’d have to wait, we said “fine, because we need it working”.   Long story short, it took 3 days out of OUR holiday that WE had PAID FOR waiting around for a repair man to service HIS refrigerator, he got very unpleasant when we started getting annoyed, we ended up complaining to the booking website and they rebooked us into a much nicer apartment.

We are now 10 seconds from Copacabana beach in a much nicer part of Copacabana near the Copacabana Palace Hotel, the apartment is still a studio but has at least another 10m2 to it, it’s brighter, it’s not humid, there aren’t cockroaches, the amenities in the flat are old but they work, and our new landlord couldn’t be more helpful and welcoming.

Apart from that, Rio has really grown on me.  Most of the favelas have been pacified – especially near the tourist areas – so all those warnings about safety in Rio are mostly redundant.  I wouldn’t walk around with a massive SLR camera strung around my neck and R$500 in my wallet, but then I wouldn’t do that in London either.  Copacabana beach is a very interesting place to take a stroll of an evening: lots of people out, live music on the beach, restaurants and bars along the front, art and tourist fairs.

I’ve been to the Botanical Gardens, several museums in Centro (especially the National Historical Museum – finally some Brazilian history has been filled in for me), Sao Bento Monastery to hear Gregorian chants at Sunday morning mass, Flamengo Park, Lage Park (it’s like Neverneverland), Petropolis to see the Imperial City, walked all the way around the Lagoon, and had a night out in Lapa.

We’ve got plenty of stuff left like Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf mountain), the Christ, jeep tour around Tijuca forest, the zoo & winter palace, Fiscal island….

Basically, Rio is about more than just sitting on the beach, getting a suntan and sipping a caipirinha.  It’s stuffed full of culture, art and history – and finally I am really beginning to enjoy it.

P.S. I don’t have a reliable internet connection here, which is why I’m not posting so much.

P.P.S. I have taken shitloads of pictures.  Due to aforementioned unreliable internet connection, I am not posting any pictures to my blog until I get back to SP.  I’ll do a blog with a few selected highlight photos later.

Weirdest museum visit ever

Ok, I just had to blog about this before I forgot about it because it was hilarious.

Amongst many places we visited today, we went to Museu de Belas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts).  It was a very bizarre experience.  The building was beautiful, architecture was impressive & the collection was very good.  BUT... each room was manned by what appeared to be either a military or civil policeman, which is a first for me.

In other public art galleries that I have visited (in several countries), you can take any route around the gallery that you want.  Not so at the Museu de Belas Artes.  Each time we looked like we were starting to wander, a guard would come up to us and very emphatically send us in the 'right' direction, adding further instructions as to how we were to proceed.  I've never been bossed around an art gallery in such a way in all my life.  I've been told to take off my bag, not to use my phone, not to take pictures - but never told which way around I was supposed to go.

We were redirected no less than seven times by five different guards.  By the third time, I had resorted to replying 'obrigada' and making a bad attempt at muffling my laughter.  My mother, on the other hand, was getting quite irritable: "I thought I was visiting an art gallery, not a military institution!"

It's the little things

Children being carried around by hand
You don't see many push-chairs and prams here.  Hardly any, actually.  The general practice seems to be carrying small children around in one's arms.  Unlike large cities in the US/UK/Canada, you see small children everywhere.  They are very family-oriented here and it seems children are taken everywhere, rather than left at home with a babysitter/grandparents/whatever.   This may be down to childcare being a luxury expense, or it may have more to do with the fact that push-chairs/strollers/prams can be prohibitively expensive here. 
But carrying children around by hand actually makes sense to me: you don't have to go through the hassle of folding and unfolding a push-chair when you get on/off a bus, you can get on and off a metro train without fuss, you're not constantly squeezing past people in busy parts of town with a massive unwieldy push-chair, etc.  I think it's a good idea. 
The other part of not having a push-chair is not having to carry around loads of baby/toddler crap with you: nappies, bottles, baby food, etc etc.  They don't seem to worry about all that malarkey here, and I've never seen anyone having a baby-related 'accident' as a result.

Everything is upside down.
By this, I mean things you expect to be cheap (cocoa, for example - Brazil produces it) are expensive and things you think should be expensive (e.g. anything involving manual labour) is cheap.  A tiny packet of pure cocoa (no sugar or additives) costs like R$10 (£3.50) and my mum got her sandals fixed the other day for R$8 (£3) - they were properly fucked and the general fix-it shop round the corner brought them back to life.  Also, things you expect to be quick and easy are slow and difficult, and vice versa.  It's a bit like stepping into 'Alice in Wonderland'. 
Example #1: we were told that dealing with the Federal Police to renew our visas would be a nightmare.  We were told to bring a book/iPod/newspaper and be very very very polite because they can be absolute bastards.  Well, apart from it taking a while to get there, none of the staff speaking even pigeon English (this department only deals with foreigners) and the building looking like something out of George Orwell's '1984', the process was very quick (just a 20 minute wait) and the staff were very helpful and welcoming - even the guards at the entrance with the bullet-proof vests, massive guns and batons were very friendly.
Example #2: In the UK, you can just walk into a bank.  I mean, you can just open the door and walk in.  That's all you need to do.  In Brazil, you cannot simply just walk into a bank.  Firstly, you must put your bag in a specially provided locker either in front of the bank or in the ATM area (a kind of purgatory for people wishing to enter the bank or get some cash out).  You only bring things with you into the bank like the key for the locker (if it has one, some just have an electronic pin code), your wallet/purse and your mobile.  There is usually a clear revolving door entrance on every bank (which is supposed to be a metal detector, but I've gone through with my metal belt buckle several times and nothing's happened), manned by a security guard (or two, often armed) which has a special clear plastic box to your right into which you put the few belongings you have left with you, so that the security guard can see what you've got.  Once you are through the revolving door, you can open the clear box on the other side and take your things back.  And that, children, is how you enter a bank in Brazil.

People help eachother
Example #1: my mother dropped her sunglasses while crossing a pedestrian crossing on Avenida Paulista, just as the lights were turning green.  All three lanes of traffic waited for her to pick them up, even after the lights had actually turned.
Example #2: when the dog had his accident at the Metro station, the staff and several passers-by came rushing to help.  They calmed my mother down, called the Veterinary Hospital to tell them to expect us, and wrote down the address so we could get a taxi - all without speaking English (our Portuguese was non-existent at that point).
Example #3: on the bus, people stand up for old/disabled/pregnant people and women with children - always.  I have seen people offer to carry other people's groceries, children, bags, help old ladies get on/off the bus, etc.

Brazilians don't trust eachother
You may think this completely contradicts my previous point, but it doesn't really.  Helping people with small things has very little to do with trust.  When it comes to money, possessions and promises Brazilians do not trust each other - and with good reason (in our experience).  The ridiculous amount of bureaucracy often has to do with counteracting the endemic corruption in this country.  In order to get our visa renewed, we had to pay money at the Bank of Brasil then get the visa renewed at the Federal Police.  When we got our CPF, we paid for it at the Post Office then picked it up at the Poupatempo.  Both measures were clearly in place to stop the Government offices getting hold of the money in cash or accepting bribes.
They tend to trust gringos - they are under the impression we keep our word and Brazilians don't.  Obviously, we know that's not entirely true.  But it is an interesting point that I have spoken to several Brazilians renting rooms or property who simply will not rent to another Brazilian because of bad experiences being screwed around, stolen from, not paid, etc.  They say they don't get the same problems when they rent to gringos.

I'm in RIO!

Copacabana beach

I have wanted to visit Rio for years and years and years.  It was on my 'places to go before I die' list.  So I was super-excited to come here.

However, thus far I'm actually not as impressed as I thought I'd be.  The mountains are beautiful, the beaches are great, some of the architecture is lovely etc etc, but there's some magic thing that I'm not getting yet.  I'm holding off on final judgement because I haven't explored all the sites I want to see yet, but everyone went on and on about how amazing this place is and it just...isn't, so far.

I was told it was really beautiful, I've actually seen prettier.  They could have done a hell of a lot more with the beaches and the seafront in general - there's hardly any shade.  A lot of the stunning art deco buildings in Copacabana have either been replaced with ugly square monoliths or the ones that are there are left to rot.  It's sad.  Someone told me Rio "doesn't smell" (I haven't noticed many bad smells in SP tbh) - I can tell you quite confidently that it definitely does.  The people are not that friendly.  My mum tripped on an uneven patch of pavement the other day while she was out with the dog, fell flat on her face, and not one person offered to help her up.  To illustrate my point, she dropped her sunglasses in the middle of a pedestrian crossing on Avenida Paulista (in Sao Paulo) once when the lights were changing to green and every single lane of traffic (all 3 of them) waited for her to pick up them up.

The lack of friendliness may be down to the local population being sick to death of tourists.  I know I hated them when I lived in London, so if that's it I can understand how they feel.

But before any Brazilians (or anyone else for that matter) jump on my back about being a negative bitch, I've got plenty of exploring to do in Centro and elsewhere, plus I haven't been up Corcovado (where the Christ is) or Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) yet so I'll probably stop complaining soon.  The landscape is stunning, I'll give you that.  Plus I'll be going back to the Botanical Gardens for a daytrip because they were just delightful.

We're also planning a daytrip to Petropolis, which I've heard good things about - it was the Imperial City or something.

And I need to go out clubbing.

Anyway, I'm glad I decided to settle in Sao Paulo: a) the atmosphere is nicer and b) Rio is much more expensive when you compare like-for-like.  Seriously, we were in the poshest, most central part of town in SP (Jardim Paulista) and the property prices there are a fraction of what they are in Rio (Ipanema).  AND getting basic food from the supermarket is about 25% more expensive.  I have no idea how the Cariocas (people who are from Rio) get by.

I am really enjoying the holiday atmosphere - people are definitely laid back and relaxed here and I'm really unwinding quite nicely.  My time in Sao Paulo has been incredibly stressful on all fronts, and I need the break.