Minhas (quase) duas semanas no Brasil: Parte 1 > Rio

Today was the day I did the Santa Teresa tram. I got up early and headed out to get the first tram of the day so I could get a decent seat for the ride up to where there was a good viewpoint over the city.

It was good I got there when I did as there was already a queue of about ten people and I read each tram could hold sixteen people (in reality they put about twenty-five to thirty people on) and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t in the middle so I could get some pictures and videos. The ride up was about thirty minutes and it made two stops on the way up Largo do Curvelo and Largo dos Guimarães. I wanted to go back to Curvelo Square as the views from there were good from what I could tell.

I got off at the last stop. Nobody else did and they missed out on so much. People would ride the tram to the top and then they would switch the bench backs around and then they would just go back down. How boring.

I had a wander around the top of the Favela in Santa Teresa and then I decided to walk along the road for about a mile or so. The views were incredible. You could see the Cristo Redentor and the Tijuca Forest. It was also so nice when there were no cars as you could hear the birds singing and I felt like I was part of a BBC nature documentary. I couldn’t stop looking at the mountains though. They were so amazing to see. I was totally focused on the Cristo Redentor.

I decided to walk back as I was needing to powder my nose again. I didn’t want to get caught short in a forest with nowhere to go but down. As I was walking towards the tram I walked by a funicular and it seemed to be that it was a private funicular to a house up top. Pretty cool.

I found a shop to get a drink and one that also had a bathroom. After I was done I went to the tram stop and I was told the tram was about twenty minutes away so I had a walk to the lookout point and the views were amazing. You can see it for yourself in the video below.

I got on the tram and went to Curvelo Square and got off and had a look at the beaches and the mountains from here. Amazing views again. I didn’t know where to look. I went and got back on the tram to the Santa Teresa tram stop and then headed towards the hostel. You can see the timelapse of the ride down below.

I decided to walk a different way back to the hostel and it was cool to see some of the other buildings on the streets. I dropped some stuff off at the hostel and had a rest for about half an hour and then headed back out. I decided to have a look around Our Lady of Glory Square to see what was there and then I got on the metro and went to Flamengo beach as the hostel staff said that there were some good views of Sugarloaf mountain and Cristo Redentor from there. They were not wrong.

I walked from the metro towards the beach and found some benches to sit on and I got some really good views of the mountains. I decided to walk along the promenade and got some more pictures of the mountains. I just couldn’t stop looking. The views were just something else. I stayed there to watch the sun start to set and I got some really good pictures of the sun setting against Cristo Redentor and Tijuca Forest. Really cool if I don’t say so myself.

I got back to the hostel and some of the girls there were talking about a mini concert that was happening in Our Lady of Glory Square. I don’t usually do it but ever since meeting B in Cairo I decided I would do it and it was pretty cool. I stayed for about an hour and then headed back to get some much-needed sleep as I was still shattered. The next day I was doing a walking tour and needed to be up early.

You can hear some of the music from the mini-concert below.

Total steps: 17,199

Total miles: 8.41

Below are some pics from today

Today was the day of one of the walking tours I had booked and I had to go to Cinelandia Square to meet the guide. I decided I would walk to meet him rather than take the metro. It was a nice day so why not, right.

I got some food and drink and took a slow walk and then found somewhere to sit and eat and drink before the tour started. I found the guide and sat and waited for a couple of others to join. I wasn’t feeling 100% so probably shouldn’t have gone but I did anyway. I had to ask the guide to wait as I needed to go to the toilet. Thankfully he did and then we started the tour.

He told us right next to the theatre there was the library that housed all the written works produced in Brazil. He said that a copy always had to be given to the library. You cannot take books out of this library but you can go in and ask for the book and read it in the library.

He then took us to the Metropolitan Cathedral. He said that if the benches were taken out, you could put twenty-thousand people inside. That’s pretty cool.

After we were done here, he took us to a famous restaurant in Rio called Confeitaria Colombo. It is an old cafe that has built-in mirrors in the wall and an indoor seated balcony area. It was pretty cool to see. We got to queue jump as we were a tour group.

Once we were done here we went to see Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé. We had a look around here and in here people bring heads as an offering to the Virgin Mary for help and blessings. A very weird tradition.

We then finished our tour in Fifteenth Square. Here the guide told us that the sea came right up to the square and people that were coming to Brazil would often land here and be processed here. He then suggested that we should go to Niteroi if we got the chance. It is a suburb of Rio but one that is worth a visit he said.

I decided to do just that. I went and got some tickets to get the ferry to Niteroi and back to Rio. The good thing about this is that the cost of the tickets was only R$7.70 each way.

I got my tickets and waited for the ferry to arrive. It was a mad dash to get on and get some good seats. I thought I had a good seat but sadly not. I had the chance to stand right at the back window so I could see the Rio skyline but decided against it and got a seat by the window to the left of the ferry. It was still an OK seat but the view was of the bridge going across the water.

I got off and had a wander around Niteroi and found somewhere that had some OK views so I could get some pics. I didn’t stay here for more than about ninety minutes as I wanted to get back and be close to the hostel as I still wasn’t feeling good.

On the way back I decided to get as close to the front of the queue as possible so I could get some good seats. I didn’t get the back window as some guy decided he would hog both. I was on the left side of the ferry though and this time I would see the mountains. I also went and stood by the back window and the guy moved so I could get some pictures – pretty nice of him to do that.

Below is a video I took when crossing back to Rio.

I got back to the dock on Fifteenth Square and asked for a toilet and they told me I needed to buy a ticket to get through the barriers to use the toilet and no amount of explaining that I had just come off the ferry would convince them to let me use the toilet. I remembered there was a Starbucks nearby so I went there to get some cake and to use the toilet. I did have a look around the square a little bit more before I went to Starbucks though.

I decided to get the tram to Cinelandia and then walk back to the hostel from there. I went to cross a road and as I was doing so, a taxi rolled back a little bit and clipped me and knocked me down. I wasn’t hurt thankfully. I got up and smacked the back of his car hard. I felt better.

I got back to the hostel and just chilled and didn’t really do much else for the evening.

Total steps: 14,854

Total miles: 7.40

Below are some pics from today

Today was the day I decided to do a tour of one of the Favelas in Rio. I saw a tour guide that was offering a tour of the Rocinha Favela. The Favela was about ten miles from the hostel so I got an Uber. The guide said he was surprised that an Uber went that far into the favela. Luckily for me, he did otherwise it would have been a trek and a half up some steep roads to meet the guide.

Once everyone was there, he gave us some ground rules to follow. They were single-file walking and not taking pictures unless he said it was ok. He said that we needed to remember that people lived here and they might not always be comfortable with their pictures being taken. That was understandable.

He was telling us that people often confused the favela with slums. He said that the favela was not a slum as they have the infrastructure in them and slums generally didn’t.

He then said the start of the tour was the only place where we would go uphill and the rest of the tour was downward from there. I didn’t realise how uphill he meant though. It was a steep climb but the views were really worth it. You got to see right across the favela and to the sea and the mountains. The climb is definitely worth doing for the views alone.

The guide did say that Rocinha was the biggest favela in Brazil and also the safest favela in Rio. He said they are run by cartels and they look after everyone inside. The business owners pay taxes to the cartels as if they were paying them to the government and they are looked after. He said that the schools and medical facilities are free to use for everyone that lives in the favela. He said that officially there are about two hundred thousand people in this favela. He also said unofficially it is more likely to be three hundred thousand. He said anyone from the city can move to the favela and live there. He said the only exception are those from other favelas as they are treated as spies.

He said the cost of the houses varies so much depending on whether you are on the main road or are right down inside where the sun barely reaches. Electricity and gas and internet are usually free of charge for those living in the favela. I think it’s a pretty cool system that they have.

He said there is rarely crime in the favela as there are harsh punishments that could include being killed. He said the two groups of people that aren’t targeted in this favela are the church and tourists. He said the cartel knows that tourists bring money with them to spend in the favela.

He told me he himself lived in Rocinha and one of the reasons for no pictures unless he says it is OK is because any backlash could come back on him. He says people openly deal drugs inside and they don’t want to be pictured doing so. Understandable I guess.

One thing I found interesting is that he said he was as wary of people from the city as they are of people from the favela and that thought hadn’t crossed my mind. He said he only goes into the city for school and nothing else.

You can see a video of the favela below.

Once I was done with the tour I went back to the hostel to pick up my dirty laundry and head to a launderette. I saw some self-service ones on the map and I headed to one of them but it was closed because of the national holiday (it was Republic Day). I then found another one and walked to this. I spent about two hours here washing and drying and waiting for the machines to be free. It was cheaper than the hostel for sure and I didn’t have to try and communicate that I couldn’t have my t-shirts put in the tumble dryer. In this one, you selected a machine on the display and then paid and then started it and nothing else was needed.

Once this was complete I headed back to the hostel to drop it off and to hang up my t-shirts to dry overnight. Once this was done I then headed to Copacobana Beach for a wander around. I wasn’t here very long as it started to rain. I went to the embassy for food. I ordered at the terminal and selected no ice in my drink but they put ice in any way. I took it out of the cup and left it on the counter and the staff looked really confused.

I decided after I was done eating I would go back to the hostel and go to bed ready for a day of doing not a lot tomorrow.

Total steps: 13,878

Total miles: 7.06

Below are some pics from today

Today I got up later than usual as I didn’t have anything planned and the weather was forecast to be rubbish and rainy all day.

I decided that I would go to the Selaron Steps and see what the hype was about. The hype was pretty cool. The steps are awesome and a huge tourist draw here in Rio.

I went to get some pictures but there was always someone in the way. I decided I didn’t care and would get in their way too. If it’s good enough for them to do it’s good enough for me to do. So many people in the way though. There was this one group that was monopolising the time and space so I just got in their way and took the pictures I wanted and didn’t care if I got in the way of theirs.

Thankfully most of the people only wanted pictures at the bottom. The steps themselves are tiled with tiles from all around the world. You have to see them to appreciate how awesome they are. My pictures don’t do them justice. I decided to walk all the way to the top since the rain had stopped and then walk down the road from there to see what I could find.

The road took me down to the Carioca Viaduct and I stood in the middle waiting for a tram to pass so I could get a panorama of the viaduct with the tram in it and also a selfie of me with the tram in the background.

Once I got this, I headed towards the Church of San Francisco of Penance and Sacred Franciscan Museum as the guide from the other day said it was worth a visit. It cost around £2 to get in and walk around. It is worth it. The inside is really ornate and there is gold everywhere. Even the free part of the church is worthy of a visit.

After here I decided to go to Ipanema Beach and take advantage of the dry weather whilst we still had it. The views of the mountains from here were really cool. I got a good view of the Two Brothers mountains.

I decided to head back to the hostel early as I needed to be up pretty early for the trip to Cristo Redentor tomorrow.

I dropped some stuff at the hostel and had a walk around the area of the hostel and it was pretty cool. Had some hills and some steps to climb. They had some stairs painted in the colours of Brazil. Around the hostel was pretty cool.

I then went back and chilled before bedtime.

Total steps: 14,612

Total miles: 7.14

Below are some pics from today

Today was the day of visiting Cristo Redentor. I had to be up early to be at the meeting point at 07:45. I got there and the ticket booth wasn’t open so had to wait for that to open so I could have my ticket scanned and then be put on a minibus. As I was waiting I went and got a drink and some food and I had to get some plasters also as I had cut my thumb.

One of the reasons I got there so early was because they say this is the best time to visit when the weather is nice as late morning the clouds start to roll in.

I got on the bus and the person putting us on didn’t speak any English and only Portuguese and Spanish. Thankfully a couple behind me helped me understand what he said. He said to forgive him for his English but his English was pretty good. He also said if I had any questions I could ask him. He stayed with me until we got to the top where the statue was and I dare say had I not wished him a good visit he probably would have stayed with me the whole time to help me. That was really cool of him.

He said the guide had said we had to take that minibus to the visitors centre and then from there scan our tickets to get another bus to the entrance to the statue and then scan the ticket to get into the statue and then the same for the way back down.

When we got there we got through the barriers for the next minibus straight away but they also wanted to take a picture of each of us with the statue in the background and I couldn’t say no as they didn’t listen. I did it just so I could get on the minibus.

We got to the entrance of the statue and the choice was a lift or stairs, I chose the lift as the guy speaking to me in English had chosen that and was still telling me stuff. We got out of the lift and there were two sets of escalators to the base of the statue. I think these are probably the highest escalators I have been on. We got to the base of the statue and we both took pictures for the other and then went on our merry way.

The number of people there at nine in the morning was crazy. There must have been easily three hundred people there already. I just pushed my way to where I wanted to take pictures and if the people around didn’t like it then that was too bad. I don’t do the nice-guy-wait-my-turn routine anymore. I got the pictures and videos I wanted. I didn’t stay up there too long as the number of people was too much for me. I was up there for about two hours and that was enough for me. I did get some good pictures and videos though. You can see one of the videos below.

I decided to walk down from the statue rather than the escalators or the lift. It was a nice walk down in the shade. It was nice and cool too.

Once at the bottom I tried to find someone to ask them where I got the minibus to get back down to Largo do Machado. Before I found anyone, a lady came up to me asking if I wanted to buy my picture from when I entered. I told her I didn’t want to and that I was just trying to find my way back down. She offered the picture to me for half the price so I said yes. I had to wait for about 10 minutes for the minibus and I asked for the front seat so I could get a timelapse of the journey back down.

We got back to Largo do Machado and I sat down to eat something and people came up to me to talk to me and wouldn’t leave me in peace so I ended up getting up and walking across the square to eat. Once I was done eating, I went into the church at the square that I didn’t go into a few days ago. It was pretty much the same inside as the others I had seen here.

Once I was done there I hopped on the metro to go find some above-ground stations that I could sit at and metro and people watch. I found a couple that I could do that at. It was pretty cool to just do that for a few hours. I also got off at a stop so I could go take a picture of a corner house that I had seen whilst on the metro. Yep, I do that.

It was cool to see the favelas around too – I only saw them from the metro stations. I did also take a video of the metro that you can see below.#

Once I had done that I headed back to the hostel so I could relax and get some sleep as I had to be up early tomorrow for the trip to Sao Paulo.

Total steps: 9,710

Total miles: 4.76

Below are some pics from today