Globetrotter Bente: Rio de Janeiro

After only three days in florianapolis (would have stayed there for weeks if we had the time!) We prepared for a twenty-hours busride by thinking we were really smart and took our sleepingbags and pillows with us on the bus. Of course the first thing we were given were pillows and blankets, so now we were stuck with a lot of stuff that took a lot of our space. Well, we had an okay comfortable ride, and between sao Paulo and rio we travelled over some mountains which had the most amazing nature and views. It is a shame we don't have the time to explore more of Brazil really. There was also a trailer which probably couldn't take the heat and exploded. Luckily for us on the other side of the road. I think the line of cars was about 20 km long. Still, pretty scary to see what was left (or wasn't) of the trailer...

In rio the hostels are expensive. We are always on a budget and didn't want to pay more then 30 reais per night per person. Which meant only the hostels in favelas (=slums) were affordable. We chose one with very good reviews, and it turned out to be a good choice. To get here you have to walk up 15-20 minutes on a steepsteep hill. Then alot of stairs as well. (yes we do get really fit) And if you don't know where it is, or don't shout "PABLO" very loud, you will never find it. The favela is really a real slum, but people here are extremely nice and helpful. The hostel is quite new and paoblo with his little perunian helpers welcome you so well into their little "family". The first night they dragged us out to see the nightlife of rio in Lapa "by the stairs". (Cool story, Google it). The bars are on tables on the street and people are just dancing and socializing in the streets. Every street had its own "type". You have a hiphopstreet, a sambastreet, a rockstreet etc. Rio is known for not being really safe but we were being guarded by 6 people (from the hostel) at all times so we had no worries and enjoyed every bit of it!

The next day we went to meet Jony, and he showed us pedra bonita, knowing we wanted to paraglide and showing us an awesome view of rio. The wind was not good for paragliding so we went for the hike up pedra bonita. A hike through the jungle where we met an angry snake, and where we had the workout of a lifetime thanks to Jony who was running up the hill in his flipflops and had no time for breaks.

The day after we went paragliding!!!! Crazy. Was sure i was gonna die. Not while actually paragliding, but before you take of. You have to run over the edge of the mountain, which really goes against all instincts even though you know you are safe. Fantastic to have done it though, and such an amazing feeling!! We were supposed to watch a soccergame the same day, but didnt have the time or energy to actually do that. Instead we heard the how insane the people get when watching it on TV! People are actually hanging out of their windows and screaming their lungs out just so everybody can hear them. We could hear the entire city with every goal, and if we had not known that it was because of football I would have thought a war had started.

Since that day it has been raining non-stop. We went to see the supposedly amazing view of sugerloaf mountain. A waste of money. We got soaked and the only thing we saw was white and grey. Absolutely no view at all.

Today we visited the museum of modern art. Which was quite fun. An exhbition of Ron Mueck was very very special. Extremely lifelike statues.

We hope the weather gets better tomorrow because we live 10 minutes away from copacabana beach and it would be a shame if we could not enjoy it! Besides we want to visit the christstatue and be able to enjoy the view.