25.12.2012. The second day in Ouro Preto dawned. Although our room in the hostel is very basic we got a good nights sleep. There had been a bit of noise the previous evening but everyone seemed to respect the 10pm quiet curfew. Even the local dog stopped barking pretty much on queue. The hostel has a well equipped kitchen which is exposed to the outside world with a straw roof. Next to it is a dining area and TV lounge with lovely views of the mountains. Breakf...

Yesterday we had a fair bit of time to kill in Rio as our bus wasn't due out until 22.15. We had brekkie and then went to Ipanema for the morning. It was much quieter than the previous visit and quite pleasant. Around lunch time we returned to the hotel to finish packing and check out.With the cases stored in the luggage room we headed out to visit the Santa Teresa district. There are lots of ways to get around Rio. You can walk, taxi, take a bus, take a mini b...

21st feb 2012. Last full day in Rio. The crowds have died down and although most of it looks like a bomb site I'm beginning to settle. It's a shame because a lot of the city has some large colonial style buildings but unfortunately they are in a very poor state. Couple that with the street rubbish and it's not a pretty sight. Anyway after brekkie we headed off to the metro. This time to Botafogo. Still quite a few sad looking people in fancy dress around but no...

20th Feb 2012. We will get to Sugar Loaf mountain....promise. However today was a necessary evil. On Wednesday we are leaving Rio to take the bus to Ouro Preto.We did try to book this on line but the Brazil bus web site is only in Portugese and will only accept payment with a Brazilian bank credit card. So we had to go to the bus station to buy the tickets. As it's carnival time we figured we should do it a couple of days in advance......oh how right we were !! ...

19th Feb 2012. After a good nights sleep we decided to head out. A slight change of plan as we were headed to the Christo Redentor statue which is the iconic symbol of Rio. Seasoned sight seers will know that some things are easy and some aren't. At the metro we bought an 'interface express' ticket. This allows you on the bus and tube. So on to the tube for a few stops, then on to the bus to the base of the mountain.....easy. We spotted the cable train station ...