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Brazil/ Rio
Woke up mid afternoon to a racket outside the hotel, went down with the guys to investigate, it was a float. Carnival had well and truly begun!
Downstairs was great, we went out on to the streets and everyone was dancing, singing, drinking and partying. Lots of fun. We ambled along the closed off streets along copacabana, had a few beers and went for some food. The atmosphere was vibrant and fun, Rio was out for a party.
The meal was eaten in a churrascaria restaurant. On one side of the restaurant is a salad bar where you load up your plate with an assortment of salads and potatoes etc, then you sit down and men, no women doing this job, walk through the restaurant with long skewers of meat and slice the meat from the skewer on to your plate. This happens for as long as you want, the choices included fillet steak, sirloin steak, roast beef, sausages, chicken, chicken livers, the meat was perfectly cooked and the meal became a banquet. Totally stuffed we went to a few bars and then bed. Tomorrow we were going to the spectacular Samadrome.
The Samabadrome is the stadium where the different Samba schools parade through with hordes of people watching from the stands either side. There are twelve samba schools parading over two nights, and it is an affair taken with the upmost seriousness by the schools and crowd alike. People in the crowds had there own favourites and many were wearing t-shirts proclaiming their allegiance. It was like a football match. A well behaved football match.
But it was long, through the night the schools danced in front of us. There were six groups, taking ninety minutes each, then a bit of a clean up, we got to the place at eight, and were still there at seven the next morning.
The parade itself was a thing of eye catching beauty, the performers were decked out in their costumes and looked incredible, there were people dressed up as lobsters, kangaroos, pirates, one of the floats was a massive head of Darwin. Truly awesome and truly bizarre. It was great but long, and halfway through a torrential downpour soaked us all trough to the skin, apart from Lisa who had her mac.
Halfway through the last act we left and got in a taxi. The taxi driver stung us for £28, b******, it was only a £10 journey. Apparently it was a fixed rate, it was daylight robbery of the type we were becoming used to in Rio.
Then a few days partying and watching the festivities. The place was party central, we had a day by the pool, an evening in some of Rio's clubs. It was a great time. We had some casualties, Saskia spent an evening feeling poorly and bizarrely ordered banana on her pizza, Elliot had a breakdown in a nightclub. By and all, though, every one came through unscathed and all too soon we got to the last day.
Over the week we had extended the hotel room, initially we had only needed it for four nights, we had been planning to go to somewhere else after the carnival, but as the week went on we thought it would probably be best to not waste time travelling, we also hadn't seen all of the sights. So we had extended our stay, unfortunately they only had one room for the last night. We let Sas and El have it as we were going to set off to Sao Paulo the day they went home. We packed in the morning of the last full day, ditched the bags in El's room and went out to see the sights.
We started off at Christ the Redeemer, but as with our whole Brazilian stay it was cloudy so the views weren't very good and it was a bit cold, we could barely see the top of the statue while we were at it's feet. But it was pretty impressive all the same.
Then in the afternoon we visited a favella, shanty town. Which was interesting. The favellas are areas of the city that have had houses built there with any available material, such as corrugated steel for the roofs, and they are areas of immense poverty. The favellas are also the domain of the drug lords and it was with some trepidation that we got off the bus at the first of the stops. The favellas though have changed, although some of the houses were a wreck they had running water and electricity in them, everyone was talking into mobile phones, there were some of the biggest satellite dishes I've seen on the outside of many houses. The people there are poor but much better off than I had imagined they would be. It was quite eye opening and very different from what I had learnt in geography lessons.
We got out alive, apparently it is the safest place in the city to be, the drug lords are scared that if a tourist was killed the police would come crashing down on them and that would be an issue, so tourists are safe. And what might seem incredibly voyeuristic is in actuality quite life affirming, they don't need our pity. They're living their lives, they have jobs.
Back at the hotel we got showered and were off out for our last night together. It all started gently enough, a few beers, a meal back in the meat restaurant, and a relaxing evening watching the people along Copacabana beach. Evening turned into night and we decided to go to a burlesque club. I have never been to a 'burlesque club' before but from what I now know they are just posh strip bars. It was hilarious, the transgender compare, the dancers and me and Elliot. It all started off gently enough and ended with me and Elliot sliding across the stage on our knees and dancing with yet another manwoman in brazil. I blame the caipirinhs. Those things are lethal. I don't really remember the dancers, apart from the MJ tribute (I still remember), but I do remember El and I screaming 'living on a prayer' down a microphone. Poor Lisa and Saskia watching on. The night became early morning and the club closed. We paid our bar bill, another extortionate amount. And on we went, because we still couldn't get the bus and had nowhere to stay. We sat at a beach bar, and watched the sun rise. This lovely view only ruined by my best man standing on the beach throwing up. 'what did you do, did you just leave it?'. 'no I covered it like a dog would.'
El then brought two last drinks, two whiskeys to celebrate the end of their trip and carnival. That cost him £25. But it was now morning they had to sleep and we had to go to Sao Paulo. We left them and somehow got to the bus station, and somehow brought two bus tickets, and somehow got on the bus, and somehow were allowed to stay on the bus. We were a sight, we must have smelt to high heaven and could no longer speak English never mind Portuguese. But we managed to get to Sao Paulo (sleeping the entire journey.)
We were in Sao Paulo Saturday night, Sunday and Monday morning. It was rubbish. It smelt and there was no beach. Give me Rio any day.
Monday afternoon we board a flight to Bolivia, after eating a £6 extremly small portion of chips, I thought I had ordered a meal (see pictures). Bolivia would be the surprise of the trip.
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