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I woke up early on Thursday morning to make my way to the Tiete Bus Terminal in Sao Paolo for my 6 hour long ride to Rio de Janeiro. It was comfortable, quiet and some of the scenery was incredible driving through the lush green hills.. but as we approached the Novo Rio Bus Terminal the scenery couldn't have been more different. Grotty favelas lined either side of the highway, homeless groups of people sought refuge under ongoing road works as the tailbacks began to grow in the afternoon sun.
The bus pulled in to the station at around 4pm and the heat was extraordinary.. 36 degrees! Carting a heavy backpack around aswell didn't make things easier but on I went. I had to catch two local buses to the destination of my hostel in Vidigal and it was quite a challenge with the language barrier, not knowing the city and carrying all my gear.. somehow I managed it though, getting my first glimpse of the sun soaked beach fronts.
It took an hour and a half to get to the foot of Vidigal which is a big favela stacked on the side of a mountain on the coast. Now I'd done my research on how the area had been pacified but nothing quite prepares you for when you're stood at the bottom of this ridiculously steep road, next to a group of armed guards, looking up into the favela, surrounded by the locals, they're all staring at the white tourist.. me, and you know your bed for the next 6 days is hidden somewhere at the top of what looks like an absolute disaster site. I was massively doubting whether it was safe or not.. if you ever saw it for yourself you'd think I was mad!!
There is one road in and out of the favela which is barely wider than a cars width but it's stupidly steep and winding so there are two options.. walk up, or on the back of a motorbike as taxi's don't like to take the chance for fear of getting stuck. I obviously chose the latter and it was absolutely mental! There are no rules whatsoever on this road, motorbikes flying up and down with passengers mounted on the back, pedestrians everywhere, stray dogs jumping out from houses and shops, large groups of people lurking around.. this all going on while the driver is rocketing you up there swerving out the way of the aforementioned. It was just so crazy I couldn't stop myself from laughing!
But I arrived at the Varandas do Vidigal Hostel relieved and in one piece but it sure looked pretty shady walking down steep steps past tiny huts and flee ridden dogs. However, all the previous was eradicated from my mind when I was given the most friendly greeting from the owner Armando who showed me to the terrace where I was met with a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean with Ipanema Beach and the Sugar Loaf Mountain to the left.
I checked in to my room which had the same sea view as the terrace to my delight. And it turned out to be great as I'd have it all to myself for the next 6 days even though 12 people were crammed into other dorms while I had 3 spare beds in mine. It seemed very odd but I didn't ask questions. I'd have had two American lads with me in my room but they actually feared for their life so they checked out. Cheers Vlad and Nick!!
I made the plunge and took my first walk out into the favela. Only a short walk down to the supermarket and to grab a pizza but I felt weirdly safe.
I relaxed for the remainder of the evening, chatted to a few of the foreign backpackers and hit the sack as I was shattered.
The following morning I woke to a blazing hot day so I decided I'd head to the beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and further on to Copacabana.
The road from the hostel through the heart of the favela was a lot calmer than the previous evening which made for a less complicated journey and again I felt extremely safe. But because the road is so steep the walk down is a 15 minute tip-toeing achilles snapper!
I walked along the coastal path from the bottom of Vidigal to Leblon beach and it looked incredible.. beautiful white sands and a perfectly calm sea lapping the shore. I soaked up the atmosphere casually walking along the beach front which linked on to the next beach of Ipanema. There were guys working out on the body weight apparatus, people running and riding their bikes in the cycle lane, thousands topping up their tans. And the women there.. let's just say I was thankful for my dark shades!
I walked through to the famous Copacabana beach where I had a few beers then carried on walking the full length of the beach and turned back on myself at the far end. I really enjoyed my walk but coming back the opposite way was completely different. The mood seemed to have changed somewhat in Copacabana.. there was street sellers hounding you literally every 5 yards down the length of the beach front trying to get you to buy anything from food, water, drugs and general tat. I then witnessed an actual mugging a few yards from me so I became very aware of looking after all my belongings. Police presence was more apparent aswell.. it just seemed very hostile and I couldn't wait to get to the end and back to Ipanema and Leblon where it's much more calm and pleasant. My first impressions of Copacabana.. not to my liking!
I walked all the way back to Vidigal covering around 8 miles of beach front in total but my feet were shot at.. bad blisters! I jumped on the back of a motorbike and made the crazy journey up to the hostel in no time.
I met a cool girl called Erica at the hostel bar on my return and we decided to go out that evening to a few beach bars down at Leblon. We had a good night getting to know one another and came back to the hostel late on.
Saturday was the beginning of the Rio Carnival so the hostel had planned a BBQ for the guests in the afternoon. I'd gotten up extra early at 6am though to make my way to Christ The Redeemer and hopefully avoid the crowds.
With my feet still in tatters I found my way to Largo do Macho where I'd be fifth in line to catch the minibus at 8am up to the famous statue. It wasn't long before we reached Tijuca Forest National Park where another minibus took us to the steps that lead up to the statue. I was in awe when I'd reached the top of the steps.. watching over the city it is both huge and impressive. The panoramic views were also impressive even though it was an overcast day. It was around 9.00am but it was still pretty crowded even at that time. I took a few snaps and made my way back down to Largo to catch the metro back to Leblon. However, I'd forgotten it was the start of the Carnival and the metro was absolutely rammed with every walk of life in fancy dress, women in skimpy outfits and horrible sweaty men in just their underpants.. WTF?! It was seriously uncomfortable.. especially when it broke down in Botafogo and everyone had to pile off onto the platform.. it was carnage! So I got the hell out of there and somehow managed to navigate my way back on the bus to Leblon.
People were piled onto the roads everywhere heading to various Blocos.. a lively early morning start to the 4 day carnival.
Back at the hostel the BBQ was in full swing, the beer was flowing, everyone began mingling and I met three great lads.. Njaard and Vegard, two brothers from Norway and Liam from Cornwall.
Later on in the evening Njaard, Vegard, Armando, his partner, their friend and myself went for pizza and a few more beers. I hit the sack pretty early though as I was wiped from the early start to the day but it was a lot of fun.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling refreshed. There was supposed to be a hippie market on Ipanema which Erica and I had decided to walk down to. We even bumped into an old English couple along the way who we'd met back at the hostel BBQ the day before.. they were also heading to the market. We walked with them, had a good natter but we couldn't find the markets, or they were cancelled due to Carnival.
I came back to the hostel to watch the Cup Final and met 2 more cracking lads.. George and Dave from London. We watched the game and then some of us decided to hit a Bloco down at Ipanema Beach. It was crazy and mental as expected.. drunk rowdy Brazilians everywhere!
We had gone down with two Germans from the hostel and we ended up meeting with his friends, two Brazilian girls and one from Bolivia. The Bloco had spilled out onto the beach where we carried on partying and getting to know the girls among other various interesting people too.
After a while we made the walk back to Vidigal and hit a small bar at the bottom of the hill.. the locals seemed very entertained by us. It's so strange how comfortable we had become with the favela life and the people who live there. They're so welcoming, friendly and not at all intimidating to us anymore.
A German girl who we'd met on the beach happened to walk into the bar and asked if we wanted to go back to her apartment in the favelas. Whether we were mad, drunk or not thinking straight we thought it was a great idea at the time and agreed to go with her. So she began frog marching us out the back door of the bar and up through small tunnels, dark corridors, steep steps and pretty much through the locals living space. It was an eye opening experience of what it's like to live in a favela, I just really hoped this wasn't a set up! After 5 minutes of climbing it turns out it wasn't a set up and her apartment was pretty cool.. totally not what I was expecting. I was expecting some sort of dingy, grotty pad but it was great and the view from her balcony was amazing! We stayed a little while, thanked Ayo for being so welcoming and left for the hostel through the mini rat runs. I was so happy to have had a real favela experience.
Monday morning I had to get myself down to Copacabana to exchange an awful lot of Brazilian Reais into US Dollars for my forthcoming expedition. Having experienced Copacabana a few days previously and hearing about George from the hostel getting held at knife point there, I was extremely paranoid and just wanted to get the hell out of there.
I went down to a Bloco in the evening in Leblon which was absolute chaos.. thousands had lined the streets but I didn't stay long. I came back to the hostel and ended up having some food, a few beers and a great crack with George, Dave and a Swedish lad called Sebastian.
I met George and Sebastian early the following morning to go on a bit of hike to the top of the mountain behind Vidigal favela which is approximately 530 metres high, around the same height as Christ The Redeemer.
We set off early at 8.00am to avoid the midday heat. As we trekked through jungle paths we came across a spider monkey and managed to get him down from his tree to feed him water from the palms of our hands.
The climb became tougher and steeper but every now and again we'd get a glimpse of the special views that were in store for us at the top. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be and I was soaked in sweat but it was totally worth it. The panoramic views were absolutely incredible and far better than those on offer at the top of Christ The Redeemer. This was definitely my highlight of Rio!
We made our way back down the mountain, grabbed a burger near the hostel and relaxed there for the remainder of the afternoon.
Mardi Gras was the last day of Carnival and there was plenty of Blocos on offer but George, Dave, Erica and I decided to stay in and order two supersize pizzas, plenty of beer and enjoy our last night at the hostel.
Before checking out the following morning I had to try and get some camping gear for my forthcoming trip so I made my way over to Barra da Tijuca which was a 20 minute bus journey along the coast. Unfortunately everything was still closed as it has been for the whole of Carnival but it was great to see a glimpse of Barra.. it looked so nice.
I'm off to Flamengo now to stay in a hotel for the night where I will meet up with the people who are on the 18 day Dragoman tour from Rio to Buenos Aires.
I've had a fabulous time in Rio, more so in Vidigal and especially experiencing life in a favela. I've felt safer here than anywhere else in Rio which I never thought would be the case.
I've met some awesome people here and made some genuine friends again so I'm sad to be leaving. However, I'm looking forward to something different now and moving away from the party scene.
Caio Caio xx
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