Bloody hell, Rio is beyond expectations.

The mountains, the beaches, the forests and the beautiful range of people...just fabulous!We arrived in Rio a few days ago (8 December) and jumped on metro and bus to get to Sugar Loaf Mountain. In a word amazing.

Rio is huge and set in the most beautiful and natural settings of massive granite faces, thrusting out of land and sea, clothed in greenery and shrouded, many of them, in mantels of mist and cloud. It was 28 to 30 degrees all day today, not too shabby at all. Of course we leave the Insignia tomorrow morning after a final night in port.

It is kind of sad to be leaving, and I guess it marks the point from total pampering and luxury to our more independent style of travel and daily hassle that goes with it. Ho hey...Let the real adventure begin, for we will see and do amazing things!

While in Rio we hired a guide from Rio Hiking and had a fantastic day! After all that time on ship, we needed to stretch the legs, so we hiked to the top of Pico de Tijuca, the highest of the many mountains and hills overlooking Rio. It is just 1026 meters, but it is up through spectacular Atlantic Rainforest in a National Park and crests after a very steep climb from almost sea level up. With 35 degrees, creeping up to 38 degrees, away from the coast and in the forest, it was hot and sweaty stuff for sure!

The views across north and south were great and worth the trek. Vultures soared around and above, which was less reassuring, but they are spectacular in themselves!Back down through the rainforest we then drove to Corcovado. At 980 meters stands the Christ Redeemer statue, which is simply beautiful, even for a heathen such as myself! It towers over the city, standing at some 280 feet and is quite awe inspiring...it is yet another ´wow´in this fantastic city of ´wows!´

Less religious and perhaps more sacrilegious was our escapade to IpanemaBeach the day before! With Anni in Bikini (yet another Wow!) and me in newly acquired micro shorts (it is what the locals wear!) and cowboy hat we strutted and promenaded with the rest of them. It turns out of course, that Posto Nine (closest to our Hotel on IpanemaBeach) is the Gay Posto of Ipanema! Anyways, we sat and watched the body beautifuls for a while and walked the beach.

Of course there was eye candy a plenty for both of us as well as a beautiful beach, so it was not too stressful! In my micro shorts and cowboy hat, well I was glad Anni was not too far away! To top this off, it also turns out that our Hotel, which was 100 meters from the beach and Fab, the IpanemaPlaza is also well known as the RioGayHotel! Not exclusively though...clearly!

Is Rio worth visiting? Hell Yes!