Rio to Salvador

So we said goodbye to all of our travelling companions and then mom and I headed out for our last day in Rio. To our surprise, the rain had still held off from the night before and it had actually cleared up and was sunny out. the one good things about our hostel was the location so we walked down to Impanema beach. We walked along for a while and then found a good little spot to sit and enjoy the *site*s. Rio is really beautiful as it's so green everywhere, there are huge mountains/hills all over the city and coming out of the water are islands which no one lives on as they are basically giant rocks but that are completely overgrown with green. And naturally on the beach . . . there were a few sights to see. The rumors are true about this place, that's all I am going to say. We were there early so we watch people arrive and then splash around in the water, which is a beautiful blue/green color. While we were sitting there, I guess the locals started to trust us as this girl came up, said a bunch of stuff in portugese and then handed me her purse. I help onto it while she went into the water to swim. Then, this other guy came up holding a plastic cup with clear liquid, and asked me to hold his cup for him while he swam. When he came back, he introduced himself, offered us some of his drink and then walked off drinking it. We decided to walk over to Copacabana then and on the way we stopped at one of the many freshly squeezed fruit juice stands. By this point we had figured out what most of the fruits were in portugese since they have there are tons of freshly squeezed places and they are amazing! We walked over to Copacaba which was packed! Way more hopping then Impanema. When you go to the beach in Brazil, there are people who will rent you chairs and umbrellas for the day, which most people do so all you can see is a sea of people, umbrellas and chairs! We took some pictures, grabbed some lunch and then headed back to our hostel to grab our stuff to head to the airport. Our flight to Salvador was an hour and a half with a one hour time change. The airport in Salvador is far from the main city and further for us since we were staying in Barra, but we grabbed a cab since it was already so late . . . local buses it was though for the rest of our stay in Salvador.

Rio de Janeiro - December 31

So we woke up on the 31st and what . . . its raining . . . in Rio? How strange! The cloud cover was pretty bad but we couldnt stay in our hostel (as nice as it was) so we headed to a mall for a few hours. The mall really wasnt that interesting but it was air conditioned! After a few hours there we went to a Churrasaco which was amazing! It had amazing sushi as well as crazy crazy amounts and varities of meat that they brought around on spears and gave to you! We were there for a few hours, mostly just seeing what went by, but it was soooo good! It started to clear up a bit after that so 4 of us decided to brave it and go back (for some of us) to Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) to see if we could go up. Sugar Loaf isnt as high as Corcovado and so it was really beautiful! Its so high up we could see all of Copacobana, the islands off Rio and the National Airport and all the mountain around it. We were really glad we went, it was really worth it! You have to take 2 cable cars to go up which I found a little frightening. When you stepped off them there was a gap that undoubtedly a small child could go through, but I figured how many tourists have gone up here before and not died . . . After Sugar Loaf we tried to jump in a cab to go back to our hostel but because it was about 6pm, New Years and our hostel was at the corner of Ipanema and Copacabana, the main roads had been closed and a cab just to the top of the strip was about all we could afford, we got dropped at the top of Copacabana and walked down. Now, if you have ever seen a map of the place and imagine its about 40C with the sun hitting you, there are hords of people everywhere coming out for New Years, we have been walking all day, well it was about the longest walk of our lives . . . We finally made it back at about 8pm and for lack of a better word we were exhausted and so overheated I thought my ears were going to start whistling! We lied down for a few and then at 11, the girls headed over to the beach to meet the 2 boys who had gone over earlier. We walked down to the beach with the other million and a half people that had to have been there. They had 2 stages setup on different parts of the beach but we stayed further down and just stayed for the countdown and then some amazing fireworks that followed! It was really beautiful! 2 cruiseships also sat in the harbour although after the fireworks going off we couldnt see them anymore! Everyone in Rio dresses in white for New Years and the beach curves and slants (if that makes sense) so you could see the masses on the beach all dressed in white! It was really amazing and great to be there! Also, at midnight everyone comes armed with at least one bottle of champagne so at one point my mother had champagne running down here back and legs. I used her for protection so I was pretty clean (thanks mom!) After the fireworks we headed back to the hostel (home sweet home by this point). The next day the boys flew to Ouro Preto, the happy couple went to Sao Paolo and mom and I headed for Salvador!

Rio de Janeiro

Our hostel was almost too horrible to explain. If I had to describe it, it was like an old apartment building that was originally 300-feet apartments that had been converted into rooms with 4-6 beds in them. We actually booked a 6 bed room with an ensuite but apparently in Rio you have to email them to clarify that you want all 6 beds to be in the same room . . . and the first room that 4 out of 6 were given, the AC wasnt working, there was no window and already 2 people sleeping in there! After much negotiation we were given a 4 person room with AC that worked and a 2 person room with AC for the night and the next night we were to get a 6 person room, ensuite with working AC. Since we were there over New Years, the hostel was already extremely expensive and we really didnt have any other options so after coming to terms with our new *home* for the next few days we set out to see the city. When we woke up on the 30th it was raining . . . but we hadnt come this far to be scared of room AND our hostel was so bad AND there was no common area we could hang out so we headed out to Corcovado. We jumped into 2 cabs, 3 in one and 3 obviously in the other. The first cab, which had myself in it, went to the base of Corcovado, where you catch the train to go up the mountain, and jumped out to wait for the others . . . and we waited . . . and we waited . . . 40 minutes later and with every possible scenario of them being dead or robbed somewhere, one of the vendors told us that you could actually take a cab halfway up the mountain where you catch a the bus and elevator the rest of the way to the top, so hoping the other 3 were there we headed up. Rio use to be a rainforest and the only rainforest that is really left are on these crazy mountain-like-rocks they have all over the city, which actually makes Rio even more beautiful! So going to the top was like taking a jungle tour through the rainforest. They took you first to a mountain that was attached to Corcovado where you could take pictures of the city and of course, Christo standing uptop of Corcovado! We got out and took a bunch of pictures, hoping we would find the other 3 but they were no where, so we got back in and headed for the top. When you get near the top, there is a parking lot with cabs and cars where people have brought their own cars up and from there you have to jump in these vans that take you up pin-hair sharp turns to almost the top where you take another elevator up a few more stories and then when you get out and think you must be there, you take 2 escalators the rest of the way. It wasnt raining at the top but it was very wet and Christo was covered almost completely by the clouds. The clouds would clear for a few seconds though and you could see around you! We looked for the others there and when it started to rain got some shelter and waited a bit but they werent there . . . so we did the whole process in reverse . . . got to the bottom and jumped in a cab back for our hostel. So even though there could be 6 people sleeping in a room, they only give ou one key and since the person with our key was in the other taxi, we were locked out. We knocked on both room doors though but they werent there. We asked the guys working at the front desk whether they had seen them, but it wasnt the same guy from the night before so he had no idea who we were talking about. It was raining pretty hard by then and we were starving so looking like wet poodles we started to roam the streets looking for food. After lunch we felt a bit better and we had to grab our laundry so we headed back to the hostel . . . hoping the others would be there, all in one piece with no holes in them! When we got back they were there! Apparently, although they had the guide book with the book, they had been confused and got dropped at Sugar Loaf, they waited for us there, then realized they werent in the wrong spot, had rushed over to Corcovado but by that time we were up the mountain! Everyone was okay though. We spent the rest of the afternoon staying dry in the hostel and by the evening we found all of us together in one room in our hostel!