Rio de Janeiro

Friday was our last ever day on Amber, although I accidentally woke up at the wrong hostel the other side of town getting woken up by the tour guide of Gus which was embarrassing. This meant I got ripped to shreds by my group when arriving back at my hostel with about 5 minutes to spare in the morning. With a relatively short drive we headed along the stunning coastline before getting into the built up outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. We arrived by lunchtime and were greeted by dragoman crew, and I fulfilled my duty of back locker for the last time. There were a few goodbyes here as well as some people were either flying home or doing carnival independently which was emotional after being together so long.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most beautifully situated cities in the world. The stunning Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf) Mountain rises up out of Guanabara Bay and the sandy beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana cut beautiful curves in the shoreline, all under the watchful gaze of the iconic Art Deco statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The afternoon was free to relax in the hotel and I took advantage of the very good air con and equally good wifi, sorting out a few things which needed doing. 

Come evening we had a meeting where we were briefed about the options for carnival, as well as meeting a few new people. The carnival package offered by dragoman is effectively a separate trip, although there were 12 of us from Amber doing it as well as a few members of Gus and Cameron, and also some people travelling with dragoman out of Rio. We were split into 4 groups with my group basically being Amber people, and after our brief we went out for dinner at this buffet place which was nice. After dinner we caught the metro to the Lapa district where I got my first experience of a Bloco, basically a street party, which was set beneath the imposing Lapa arches. With about 3000 people it was quite a good atmosphere and I stayed until about 11 before heading back to bed.

Saturday was when carnival really got started, heading out in the morning to the biggest bloco of the week. After a brilliant breakfast which included sausage, chicken nuggets, and bacon as part of a buffet, I caught the metro with a couple of others which was an absolute experience. Literally the whole train was rocking with people singing and drinking and it was only half 9 in the  morning. The train even had a power cut en route which meant we were evacuated and had to get on an even busier train behind. I've never been on such a crowded train before.

When arriving at the bloco set on Copacabana beach it was relatively quiet, although I disembarked the train early which meant instead of following the parade from behind, the parade was effectively coming towards me. It didn't take long to be swallowed up in a crowd of people, and with an estimated 1000000 people who attended it's hard to describe the sheer size of it. Copacabana beach has 6 lanes of traffic and the beach is pretty wide. Within 10 minutes of being swallowed into the parade the whole width was solid to the point you couldn't move. It was a great party however although when leaving it was very hard work getting through the crowds. 

It took me about 3 blocks in from the beach before I could actually breath again, and I went for a late lunch at a local restaurant with the person I was with. We then headed back to Copacabana which had eased down a bit but was still very busy, heading onto the actual beach for a few more beers. We stayed here until dark at which point there was considerably less people but still a great atmosphere. After leaving we headed back to the hotel and had a relatively early night as it was quite an intense days partying!

Sunday was a big day being EFL Cup Final day. Having contacted a Saints fan prior I was informed the best place to watch the game was an English pub in the Ipanema district. After breakfast I caught the metro there, taking a walk round the lagoon and along the beach to tie it in with the football. After a few beers down the beach I headed to the pub where there were 6 Southampton fans, as well as 3 members of my truck who came down to support us too. With it being the England Rugby match before too the majority of the pub were behind Southampton. It was a great atmosphere although the final result wasn't so good, but it was a good afternoon with some proper Saints fans.

After the game I headed to a bloco which was happening in the Ipanema district with a couple of the Saints fans and danced with the locals for a few hours which was a laugh. I didn't arrive back at the hotel until late, literally getting back just in time for our evenings visit at the sambadrome. The sambadrome is a highlight of the carnival, where local samba schools dress up in colourful outfits accompanied by impressive floats, dancing and singing along to local music. We were set at the end of the runway in sector 13 which is known for being popular with locals and having a good atmosphere. It was a great evening with lots and singing and dancing, and a very late night leaving in daylight! 

Monday in the context of carnival was a far more chilled out day, sleeping in until lunchtime after not getting to bed until 8am the night before! When getting up I went for lunch at this buffet place with my roommate and we then went for a walk along this walk Rio route to see the Maracana. En route we saw the Selaron steps which are there famous colourful mosaic steps. There was however a bloco on the steps which meant it was busy. We also passed the jazz event near the Rio Scenarium as well as getting views of the Lapa arches and sambadrome in daylight. When arriving at the Maracana there was a bloco outfit although it was full of gay people. It was a solid walk in the end though arriving back at the hotel in dark, where I literally passed out with tiredness.

Tuesday was another free day, so I took a day to myself and walked to Botofogo Beach near the hotel which presented brilliant views of the sugarloaf. I then decided to continue walking round to Copacabana beach and then Ipanema Beach which made a solid walk, finishing with lunch at burger king! There were some great views en route including more views of the statue and beaches. I then decided to head back on myself and go up sugarloaf mountain which was near Botofogo. To get up top required two cable car journeys up to the 400m peak, which is literally like a massive rock sticking out the ground! The views up top were stunning, with the many hills, islands, and beaches round Rio visible, as well as a great view of the statue. Just breathtaking.

When heading down I caught a taxi back to the hotel and relaxed for a couple hours before my trip to the gay ball in the evening. There are various balls during carnival and dragoman offers this option as it's basically the last party of carnival. My outfit for the gay ball however was a tutu and unicorn horns! Me and my roommate prior headed back to the Rio Scenarium area which had the jazz event and we sat here and had a burger for dinner while listening to the music. We then found a bloco in the Lapa area and had a few beers here before meeting some of the others from dragoman who were attending, effectively our last night together. The gay ball is basically what it says with quite a few gays and trannies inside, although it had quite a lot of tourists like us too. With alcohol included in the ticket price too it was an interesting night although quite a laugh! We didn't end up leaving until quite late!

Wednesday was when I finally said goodbye to dragoman and many of the people who I've been travelling with, although it was exciting in terms of starting my next stage of travel alone. I also had a further two nights in Copacabana before flying out too, and after leaving the dragoman hotel in the Flamengo district, arrived at my next hotel by lunchtime. Come afternoon I met one of my old friends who was on Gus at one stage and we went out for lunch and sat on the beach all afternoon which was a nice and relaxing afternoon. I then spent the evening at the hotel before getting some much needed sleep after the night before! 

Thursday was my last full day in Rio, and the one thing I still kind of needed to do was the Christ the Redeemer statue. Dragoman offered this as an option for $90 which I thought was ridiculous and I managed to do it self guided including transport for less than $30. Catching the local bus after breakfast, I got to the train station and caught the train up to the top. It was a very hot day however with some of the signs saying it was 38 degrees! When getting to the top it was a matter of climbing these steps before the statue finally came into view and was stunning, my 3rd modern wonder of the world I've now visited. The views surrounding it were as equally stunning with 360 views including that of the sugarloaf and the beaches!

After leaving the statue I headed back to the hotel, although my bus took ages as it went via the like Gavea and Leblon districts before actually arriving at Copacabana. I spent the afternoon relaxing in my hotel, before experiencing almighty thunderstorm in the evening. I then met one of my old friends once again for dinner at a local restaurant which was nice, passing out at my hotel when returning ready for my long flight to Auckland the next day.