At one point we nearly gave Rio a miss due to the ever spiralling out of control budget. Well, screw the budget because Rio Rocks!

Rio occupies one of the most spectacular metropolitan settings in the world. With the world famous Copacabana beach fronting a deep blue sea, to the verdant Tijuca rainforest, to the tops of the scenic Corcovado and Dois Irmois mountains and to the distant sound of samba and the non-stop party in Lapa. What is there not to like??? It is without doubt that Rio's residents (cariocas) have certainly perfected the art of living for the moment and this is certainly the most captivating city we have ever visited.

Of course, there is also the crime...


City of Crime

The serious crime in Rio has improved over the last ten years, homicides have now fallen from over 8000 per year to just over 4000 in 2012, so it's now really pretty safe (The whole of the UK gets 553 per year). Unfortunately, street muggings and pickpocketing has doubled and we had heard soooo many stories of muggings and other crimes that it's hard not to be on edge a little bit. Our first journey through Rio only made things worse. We opted against the sensible advice from the guidebook and other travellers about getting a safe taxi direct to our hostel and instead took the advice of our bank account, which meant catching the local bus (as we would in any other city).
Everything on the bus was quite ordinary at first and we wondered what all the fuss had been about. As we drove past a few different neighbourhoods, we got our first glimpse of Rio - we sauntered past the many communities as we made our way into the city, admired lots of colourful buildings set back up into the mountain sides, spotted a few of the locals and saw the army tanks... TANKS! Holy ****! As we passed a favela there were actually three army tanks and a shed load of army/police with guns, bazookas and god knows what else blocking the entrance to the favela! We later learned that there had been a huge gunfight between the police, the drug-lord and his favela gang just a few hours earlier and we were simply witnessing the left overs!
Things went from bad, to worse when a very, and we mean 'very' scary looking man decided that out of the 400 buses to get on to get into the city, he decided to get on ours. It didn't take us long to reach the assumption that he was 'very' scary due to the sheer size of him, the amount of tattoos he sported and also the two great big scars on either side of his mouth (aka Chelsea Smile). We also soon decided that he was probably part of a violent street gang that preyed on the vulnerabilities of british tourists who would likely be carrying backpacks containing a fair amount of cash, electronic equipment, passports and credit cards etc. This, plus the fact that despite the bus being pretty much empty he decided to sit in the seat directly behind us and lean right over the back of our chair practically breathing down the back of our necks, made for the most unnerving bus journey we've ever had the pleasure of.
Thankfully, safe and unscathed we made it to our hostel with all our possessions in tow. As it happens, at one point Scary Man stood up and stood on David's toe. Thinking this was going to be the start of something much worse, David closed his eyes and tensed in preparation for some pain, however all the scary man did was smile and politely say sorry. Hhhmm perhaps our imaginations were running a bit wild.
The attitude of muggings however by the locals in Rio is almost expectant and in someways comes across as 'normal'. It is not long before someone asks if you have been OK when walking around and travelling through the cities of Brazil and we have spoken with many locals who have at least one story of being mugged (usually at gunpoint). One night we got chatting to a Rio local where we told him that we had some reservations about the infamous crime and shootings, to which he looked shocked, almost offended..

Jorge - "Nobody just gets murdered in the street" He quickly told us.

Us - "Phew!"

Jorge - "But you'll probably get mugged. Everyone gets mugged in Rio!"

Brilliant. So we wouldn't be shot in the street but there's a fair chance that we'll get all our money stolen.


City of Art

As we mentioned before, in São Paolo we discovered our new found love for art. Well kind of. Rio was a bit better than São Paolo. The whole city is covered in graffiti. Not the rubbish graffiti you get under canal bridges in Brierfield but huge fantastic murals spray painted everywhere there is a space to spray, especially in and around the Santa Theresa area in which we were staying. Although most of the 'art' is lost on us it still provided a unique backdrop for us whilst we walked around the city streets. But the best bit is definitely the iconic Lapa steps. They were made by Chilian street artist Jorge Selaron who devoted his life to creating a colourful tribute to the Brazilian people. Using tiles from all over the globe he transformed a very mundane set of stairs into a bright colourful work of art, that used to constantly change as he swapped and replaced tiles as he saw fit. On the bottom of the steps he wrote that as his work constantly changes his project would only be fully finished on the day he died. In 2012 Selaron was found dead at the bottom of these steps. Though it was unwitnessed, police believe he killed himself by setting himself on fire. Art is Cool!


City of Christ

By visiting Christ the Redeemer, on this trip alone we have now seen our third of the official Seven Wonders of the Modern World (The Great Wall and Taj Mahal being the other two), and we still have one more to go (Machu Pichu)! Whereas the other two are certainly older and perhaps greater human achievements, Cristo is perhaps more iconic?
The obviously catholic idea to build a huge statue of the big JC watching over the city came in 1920 and was completed in 1931. It stands on top of the 700 metre high Corcovado mountain, it is over 600 tonnes and is 30 metres tall. There's a lot of areas in the city that you can simply look up and see the big guy standing up with his arms outstretched looking as though he is either reaching out to the city below or that he is about to perform a spectacular high dive in to the ocean.
There were two ways to get up close with JC, we could either catch the tram or the take a van. The vans are cheaper so it's needless to say which we chose. It only took about 15 minutes from the centre of the city and it was very simple to organise. Once we were up there, the view was fantastic. We could see all the way across the city, the mountains, the beaches and the favelas - it was definitely worth the trip (and the price!). Up close the statue is not as impressive to look at as it is to think how the hell they managed to get it up there nearly a hundred years ago? Either way it's another world famous site to tick off the list on this little honeymoon of ours.


City of Beauty.

On our last day in the city, along with a couple from New Zealand, Holly and Olly and Getulio from Brazil, we walked up the Two Brothers Mountain (Dois Irmaos). Most people visit the Sugar Loaf mountain via the cable car to get a view of the city that includes JC. We were told though that the view is better from Two Brothers if you are willing to walk. Sod the walk, this mountain was free! So up we went and what a walk it was. You reach the mountain by first navigating your way through a 'pacified' favela and although it wasn't a long walk, it was most definitely a steep one. When you see it from the bottom you wouldn't even think it was possible. But it is, and more importantly it is worth it. The walkway is mainly sheltered from trees but halfway up you reach an opening which gives impressive views of Rio's largest favela - Rocinha, home to 200,000 people. It is incredible, and when at the top, well the view is simply amazing. If anybody reads this and goes to Rio, make sure you do this walk! At the top, you can get dangerously close to the ledge where you can see birds riding the thermals around you and you can see the entire city stretched out below. It's jaw dropping.


City of God

Rio de Janeiro is almost as famous for its hillside favelas as it is for Christo the Redeemer.
Although we didn't spend too much time in an actual favela, thanks to them being on our doorstop and one of our favourite movies being City of God, we developed a fascination with them which we feel warrants a little explanation about them.
For those that don't know, a favela is basically a slum. Most cities have slums of some sort, but most slums are on the outskirts of the city hidden away from the centre. What makes Rio's favelas so interesting is that they are pretty much in the city itself intertwined with the other affluent hillside neighbourhoods.
Favelas in Rio were originally settlements for soldiers returning from various campaigns and they later became the 'go to' area for all the poor and homeless. Over time, many communities were established and the favelas were born. There are currently over 600 recognised favelas in Rio De Janeiro.
In the 1970s in particular, favelas became more and more over populated. This led to increased poverty, poor health and ultimately crime. Many favelas became under control by various drug-lords and gangs and Rio was now one of the major trade routes for Cocaine. Shoot outs were a nightly occurrence between the rival gangs and the police, leading to an incredibly high murder rate of adults and even children...and this was pretty much how things remained for about 30 years.
In the last ten years though the government and the police and have been under tougher pressures to resolve the crime and deaths related to this, especially as they were coming under the worldwide spotlight for the recent World Cup and the upcoming 2016 Olympics. So there are a few ways that they have solved this problem, and this is more 'hear say' than official.

1. Going to war with the drug gangs. In the middle of the night the police literally enter the favelas with tanks and guns and take out everyone who is associated with the gangs - it usually ends when the major drug lord is killed or simply 'disappears'. This has resulted in many favelas now being classified as 'pacified'. These pacified favelas still have a huge police presence and importantly it seems to have worked. They are deemed to be safe to visit and live. There are about 40 favelas that have been pacified to date, primarily in the city centre. This means that there is still over 500 that are run by the drug gangs!

2. Other means include simply moving the favela. Many residents have been relocated to new housing projects away from the city centre with no choice, the sad news is that the new housing projects are not due to be funded after 2016.

3. And finally another less complicated method was to hide them. In 2009 most of the favelas had walls built around them. This then hides them from sight and also prevents further growth making them much more manageable and containable by the police.

Our experience of favelas was limited to say the least. There are several official 'favela tours' available throughout the city. These are only recommended with a guide and only in pacified favelas. We didn't do a tour but we did get to go through a favela before our walk up Two Brothers mountain. The start of the walk is at the very top of the pacified Vidigal favela.


Our view of it was brief. To get to the beginning of our walk up 2 brothers mountain we had a choice to get up through the favela - Motorbike taxi or a combi van. A combi van is basically a guy who has a VW camper that he simply drives up and down the favela all day every day ferrying people from the bottom to the top and vice versa. We chose the van as there was five of us. So we joined a queue of folk and waited patiently to be taken in a VW camper all the way to the top giving us a brief view of the favela as we travelled up the steep hillside winding round the thousands of tiny homes. There were people in the streets, some of whom we wouldn't particularly want to have any dealings with, but other than that it didn't feel too bad. In fact at the bottom it was almost a party atmosphere with loud samba music being played and a huge barbecue. There's not a chance we would ever head there at night, but it felt safe enough during the day, in a group, after having been reassured by several locals it was ok. The only thing that made it feel slightly edgy was the numerous stories and history that we had read about before our arrival.



City of Beef

Without question we had to try the beef in Brazil. With mainly sticking to our pasta and tomato sauce diet, it felt about the right time to treat ourselves. So, catching up with a couple of lads from Cambridge, Oscar and Phil who we had previously met in Paraty and our new Kiwi friends Holly and Olly from our Rio hostel we easily, between us, unashamedly finished off a full cow. It was a rodizio/churruscaria restaurant where the waiters repeatedly bring freshly roasted skewers of delicious, fat dripping, juicy meat direct to your plate (very much like Bem Brazil in Manchester).


So that's our little take on Rio. We have loved it! It isn't often a city grabs us as much as this one. It's definitely the most fascinating city we have visited. Every area of the city has its own individual charm. The green mountains. The golden sands. The fantastic people. Brilliant.



Things we have learned

1. Constantly calling the statue 'Christ the Reindeer' is not funny. And David should stop this immediately
2. How to make a caipirihina
3. In Portuguese to say 'thank you' men say 'obrigado', not 'obrigada' which David has been saying and apparently makes him sound very camp to the locals!






Transport stats-

Planes used - 10
Buses/coaches used - 29 (+3)
Trains used - 24
Metros/subways used - 39 (+6)
Cars used - 8
Minivans - 10 (+2)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 13 (+2)
Cable cars used - 1
Bicycles used- 2
Tuk tuks/autorickshaw used - 31
Scooters used - 6
Elephants used - 0
Ferrys used - 4
CycleRickshaw - 1
Bamboo HouseBoat - 1
Tour Boat - 1
Combi Van 2 NE