Date of Entry:  May 13-15th 2016

Date of Writing:  August 24th 2016

(All photos in this Entry we’re taken by Lydia Weber as I lost my photos from Rio until Sao Paulo due to an unfortunate incident with my SD card)

Rio,  paradise on earth, pristine beaches, sexy people, coconuts, christ the redeemer, host city to the olympics and billed as tropical paradise. Well not during the three days I spent there in may with Lydia. But that’s not to say we didn’t have a good time.

Basicaly we arrived in Rio during the winter and got three days with varying levels of intermittant rain.  This paired with a bit of laziness meant we didn’t visit any of the beaches, didn’t climb any of the moutnains for stunning viewpoints of this beautiful city, instead we enjoyed more of a wandering, cafe, and even nightclub experience if rio.  Allbased from our awesome hostel mameluco on the border of two neighbourhoods Lapa and Santa Teresa.

Our arrival starts with a bang as we get into the rio airport and decide it’s too late for public transport and hop into a taxi with one of the craziest and best taxi drivers I’ve had the pleasure of doing.  He babbles at us in portuguese even though neither of us understand much and he knows it.  He loves my name because its from the bible and gives us a thorough and energetic tour that we can’t understand before getting us to our hostel where we run into our two canadian friends from the Uruguayan border at the hostel before heading out for an expensive but tasty pizza in Lapa before calling it a night.

The next day we hit up one of many free walking tours which meets in lapa and takes us through the city, but before we get there we find out something fascinating, all the phone booths in rio are smothered with nudity, a lot of it transsexual nudity, and for the life of me I can’t understand why.  Rio is bustling as we walk towards the meeting point for the free tour, and I’m given my first full taste of the incredible diversity of brazil, racial, socio economic, you name it.

Our city tour guide is a professional dancer who is about to move to new york with her husband and speaks flawless english as she leads us out of lapa and through some of the historic old town of lapa.  For me the tour is like almost all walking tours, fine, but not a highlight, and the rain starting to pour doesn’t help things.  Still it gives you a good tiny taste of part of the city and also leads us to a delicious looking but overpriced bakery which is beyond tempting.  The architecture in Rio is cool, and they have some fascinating flowering trees all over, but perhaps my favourite observation times during the tour come when looking at the local people or ‘cariocas” who are diverse, interesting and beautiful (not just in the sexy way), varied and very much alive.  They are what makes me want to come back to Rio along with  the nature I missed due to the shitty weather.

The tour leads us past various government building until we’re back near our hostel in Lapa near the aquaducts which loom over the neighbourhood on top of which runs a free tourist train heading up into Santa Teresa neighbourhood.  Something we’ll do a few days later and find pleasant enough though hardly a can’t miss experience.  The street art all over Rio including massive murals on huge buildings though is very special and it, along with the diversity of people reminds me a bit of Cartagena Colombia.

The tour comes to an end at the world famous escadaria Selaron which was al made by a single artist who battled many issues in life including alchoholism, depression, homelessness but left the city soemthing beautiful.  He died several years ago and the circumstances of his death are in that cloudy area between suicide and murder.  Basically the steps are one massive mosaic, tiles brought by people all over the world for him to add to his massive work of art.

We say goodbye to our tour guide and tip her as that’s how these free tours work (we gave 50 reals between the two of us)  and then we head up the steps for some photos.  The steps are beautiful undoubtedly but it’s all very crowded, though not so crowded that I’m not going to get in a solid paint me jack which thank goodness was taken on Lydia’s camera.

The next morning Lydia and I head out to the very strange but beautiful Cathedral in Rio which we both agree feels like the hall of the senate in Star wars just with a bunch of huge beautiful stained glass added and lots of crucifixes too.  It’s unlike any church I’ve ever seen and while I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite it is a fascinating peace of architecture and well worth a visit when you go to Rio.

Later that day we meet up with Lydia’s german friend Maria who she knows from Ecuador and Maria’s Ecuadorian boyfriend, giving Lydia and I a chance to speak Spanish.  We spend a lot of time looking for a specific cafe to eat at but can’t find it and eventually settle for a subpar meal near the hostel not as good as the other cafes Lydia and I have whiled away hours in the past couple of days, but oh well.  It’s great to speak Spanish again, and after so long in Chile and Argentina and Uruguay it’s amazing to hear the clear and precise Ecuadorian accent spoken.  Eventually we head back to the hostel and  Maria and her man disappear to do there own thing whileI start the process of cooking Lydia and I a nice chicken curry while getting to know lots of other awesome hostel guests.  For me mameluco was the perfect mix of social party and chilled out hostel.  There was always people to hang out with, a bar on the weekends but it was also calm enough to sleep.

The curry goes well and Lydia and I meet awesome people including two sisters from New York, Michelle from Switzerland and Harriet from England and through the early evening we talk about anything and everything until the bar opens and people start in on the caipirinha’s brazil’s most famous drink.  A really awesome group of people helps me enjoy nights which I otherwise might not, and tonight that was the case.

It turns out everyone is headed to a massive street party and since this is likely Lydia’s last chance for a big night out we venture out with a huge group of people to the street for more drinks then a club playing very shitty music with not to many brazilians.  As a man of course I have to pay and it’s quite annoying when 10 minutes later we’re leaving back to the street.  Oh well.

Our group fragments and before long it’s down to Lydia, me , Michelle and a nice girl from the netherlands.  We’re wandering the crazy crowded street looking for a better club as the girls want to dance and finally we find one, the bottom floor is playing silly pop western music and sees Michelle and our dutch friend Leave but soon after Lydia and I discover the second floor playing a great mix of really bad pop and brazilian r and b /rap which works out to be pretty great to dance to.  We have the latest night I’ve had in a long time staying out till 6 a.m rocking out to such artistic anthems as get low by flo rida. ” I got my apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur and the whole club looking at her”.  I’ll never be able to hear that song without thinking about Rio De Janeiro and Lydia now.

Anyway at around 6 we wander back to the hostel and sit out on the lovely terrace watching a sun rise through clouds on the beautiful city of Rio De Janeiro.  Talking about everything and drinking water to hydrate before both turning in for a few hours of much needed rest.  We’ll be leaving Rio later in the afternoon for Paraty but here’s a few more photos of Rio including a few brief glimpses of sunshine and the beaches that makes this Brazilian city special.  I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll be back, and hopefully then I’ll get some better weather.