Brazil - Rio De Janeiro

Why is Imran visitng Rio De Janeiro?


I wanted my world tour to end on a good note and go to a place which will make my trip super memorable since my trip was going to end in South America I had to decide between going to Peru or Brazil.  Routing your itinerary for a RTW trip can be challenging and to save money on flight segments you should always travel in a straight line not going back and forth so it only made sense for me to go to Brazil and leave Peru up for another trip.

This was my seventh stop in my first Round The World trip in 39 days. After visiting Rio I took a bus to Sao Paulo where I spent a day before catching a flight to Bombay, as flying out of Sao Paulo is considerably cheaper than flying from Rio.


What I did?


Things to do in Rio De Janeiro


Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)


Cristo Redentor is the most symbolic icon for Rio De Janeiro, it is what the statue of liberty is to New York.  The statue is located on the Corcovado mountain.  You can either take a cab to the base of the mountain or a bus, the statue is located on top of the Corcovado mountain. In order to get to the top of the mountain you need to buy a train ticket to the top.  There is only one track so don't get scared when you see an oncoming train, the schedules are coordinated.  The train ride to the top of the mountain is very scenic with views of the city and passage through the tree foliage where you get to see different fruits hanging from the trees.  Once at the top you get a great view of the city which is well worth the train ride.  The statue was also inducted in the seven wonders of the world list in 2007 after the Pyramids of Giza were kicked out from the list.

Statue  in the distance as viewed from the cab.

Alien Fruit.

The most scenic restroom I have used.

Doing some dips.

Horse Racing track.

Everyone takes a picture in this pose.

It suddenly started raining.

There is also a small chapel in the back.

Close up.

Maracana stadium the venue for the 2014 Football World Cup Final Holler!!!

View from the train ride to the bottom.

Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain)


I wanted to visit the Sugarloaf Mountains but didn't know what it was called in Portuguese so I was having a tough time describing it to the cab driver.  I asked one cab driver for a quote to get to Sugarloaf and he gave me a quote which sounded pretty excessive (150 Reals), I am sure it was for a place other than Sugarloaf.  Fortunately I met some cab driver who spoke little English and told me that Sugarloaf is called Pao de Acucar in Portuguese and took me there.  The Sugarloaf Mountains are a series of two peaks connected by cable cars protruding out of the Atlantic Ocean.  The cable car rides last less than 5 minutes each, with the first cable car taking you to the peak of the first mountain after which you can catch the second cable car to the top of the second mountain.  The scenery from both peaks is different with the second peak obviously providing the better view.  If you are willing to take some risks, you can also get to the top of the peaks by actually climbing the peak.

Funny cab guy not sure what he was saying in Portuguese but I am sure it involved a lot of cussing.

Cable car.

View from the first peak.

I was not actually going to jump, I like the look of the guys in the back.

The second peak in the back.

Panoramic view from the first peak.

Trying out my photography skills.

Trick shot.

View from the second peak.

Some dudes head spoiled the shot.

So I took another one.

View of the beaches.

There is actually a forest on top of the second peak.

Don't feed the monkeys.

I wanted this to be an action shot with the chopper in the back and me running towards the camera kind of like Die Hard.

The beach at the bottom of the Sugarloaf mountains.

Copagabana


Rio is famous for its beaches and the two most famous beaches are Copagabana and Ipanema which are located next to each other and are within walking distance from each other.  The Copagabana beach is 4 miles long. I went to Copa when it wasn't very crowded, I have heard during peak seasons it is hard to find a spot on the beach between all the beautiful Brazilian shawties.  I know I should have planned better.  TT: Before hitting up the beaches make sure you get into great shape as you might feel a little conscious between the cast of 300.  TT: There are also shared cabs available to the beaches from many hotels which are way cheaper than a regular cab costing approximately 2-3 reals depending on where you end up going.  The cabs are perfectly safe.

Empty Copagabana beach.

Where did all the shawties go?

Drinking fresh coconut water before my nap.

Standing in a shared cab going to the hotel from Ipanema Beach.

Chilling at Ipanema Beach.

Samba


When you think Rio you instantly envision the carnival and the beaches.  The carnival which is pretty much the biggest party on earth is held in February with preparations going on all year long.  Unfortunately I was in Rio in January and the carnival wasn't going to be held till February.  I was very keen on seeing the Samba show and heard about La Platforma which has Samba shows all year long.  There wasn't much to think about, I bought the tickets and went on to enjoy the show.

This was a private tour.

Crazy Capoeira display at La Platforma.

Arpoador (Beautiful Sunset location)


Arpoador is a little hidden sunset point on the beaches of Rio.  It is at the very end of Copagabana beach and is famous for its picturesque sunsets.  Everyday hundreds of people flock to Arpoador to view the sunset in peace.  It is pretty much packed everytime when the sky is clear.  The sunset viewed from Arpoador was spectacular, gorgeous, amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, romantic, picturesque, I honestly can't find enough adjectives to describe the sunset.  The pictures or videos don't do justice to how beautiful the sunset at Arpoador is.  It is a must see if you happen to be in Rio.  The sunset made me very sad, as it was my last day in Rio and it was also the last day of my RTW trip.  But the sun only sets so it can rise again  brighter the next day which was exactly my attitude towards this trip.

The sun was hiding in the clouds.

People were waiting for the sun to come out of the cloud cover.

Cristo Redentor as viewed from Arpoador.

Sugarloaf mountains as viewed from Arpoador.

180 view.

360 view.

Be careful when you go to this spot for a photo, I am a trained professional.

This lookout is only for photo taking people usually can't sit here much.

I found another lookout which reminded me of Lion King and Simba.

Hakuna Matata the sun is going to come out from the cloud cover yo.

And it did in magnificent fashion.

The sunset was so romantic I fell in love with myself.

I didn't want the sun to set.

After the gorgeous sunset.

Miscellaneous Stuff


Jummah in Rio De Janeiro


I had the opportunity to pray Jummah (Friday prayers) in Rio where the Khutbah (sermon) was in Portuguese.

What I ate?


You can't visit Brazil and not eat at a Brazilian steakhouse, although in Brazil they are just called steakhouse or churrascaria in Portuguese.  Now I didn't google for any specific famous churrascaria I just went to one I was took by my tour.  The dinner was included in my La Platforma Samba show ticket so I just went to the churrascaria I was taken to by the tour.  I was so busy eating that I never really got the time to take pictures of all the cuts of meat I ate.  They had all kinds of steak, chicken and even tender tender lamb mmmm.  TT: Don't fill yourself up on salads or the appetizer buffet your main objective should be to fill up on meats till you get meat sweats which is exactly what I did.

Busy Churrascaria - La Platforma Dinner.

Brazilian meat just tastes way better.

While going to Cristo Redentor I got hungry and there wasn't a whole lot of places close by.  So I just ate two chicken empanadas from a cafe at the bottom of the hill.  The empanadas were aite.

Empanadas yo!!

Rio being a coastal city obviously has to have good seafood.  I went to an expensive seafood restaurant at the very end of copagabana the name of which I can't remember.  It is a very famous restaurant and people will be able to tell you all about it.  The restaurant is also a churascarria but also has very good seafood.  The seafood flavoring has all kinds of exotic spices and it kind of remotely tastes like Indian curry seafood, at least the shrimps I had.  They were a very basil curry flavored shrimps.  

Shrimp with umbrella.

Sweet nuts served with a hefty food bill.

At the top of the first peak of Sugarloaf mountain is a Brazilian style ice cream parlor serving fresh fruit ice cream made with Brazilian fruits.  I wasn't in the mood for some ice cream but seeing the satisfaction of all the people holding the ice cream bowls made me curious and tempted.  It is a pretty simple concept where you choose your fruit flavored ice cream, add the fresh fruit toppings and then any other sweet sauces you like.  I ordered the fresh coconut ice cream with strawberries, bananas topped with condensed milk and a side of mmmm.  The ice cream was super fresh where you could actually taste the pieces of coconut in the ice cream - definitely a must eat when you are on top of the first peak of Sugarloaf mountain.

Brazilian Ice Cream-mmmmmmm.

Looks like I wasn't satisfied with my Brazilian ice cream and as soon as I got down from the cable car and started walking towards the beach I saw a crowded churros stand which once again peaked my interest.  The churros were super fresh and were offered in an assortment of 3 fillings, I had mine with dulce de leche which is basically a milk jam or literally translated as sweet of milk.  The dude also had the traditional chocolate and vanilla flavor but the dulce de leche filling was the perfect companion to my warm freshly fried churro.  I could probably eat 20 of those churros were I not concerned about my ankles and hips fattening up haha.

Filling up my churro with Dulce de leche.

Sweet, fried cream filled goodness.

There are all sorts of vendors scattered throughout the beaches of Rio and most of the vendors sell healthy stuff , which is not surprising as pretty much everyone on the beaches of Rio had a 6 pack of beer and abs.  I was really happy to find a cart which sold junk food especially pizza.  This particular dude was functioning like a machine feeding the voracious appetites of his customers at lightening fast speeds.  He would bake his pizza in a small but efficient oven in the back of his cart and slice the pizza in multiple bite sized pieces, throw a bunch of tooth picks on top of the pieces before handing the pizza over.  Each slice would be as big as a coin.  This guy was located pretty close to Arpoador.

Pizza machine dude.

Beef is more popular than chicken in South America and is found in almost every restaurant, even the KFC serves beef in Brazil.  One day I randomly walked into a restaurant which was crowded and didn't know what to order as the menu was in Portuguese and not even the servers spoke English.  I told the guy get me whatever you will and I will eat it.  To my surprise he brought me a meal that hit the spot.  Beef Flank Steak with fries, rice and black beans.  I know rice and steak seem like a weird combination but the rice is to be eaten with the beans and the steak with the fries.  Lets say after eating this you will get your 4 days worth of carbs consumed in one meal.  The steak was amazing and cooked well throughout.  The rice grains were all separate and was super fresh with all the grains cooked to the same consistency and texture, not at all sticky.  Not sure what the Portuguese term for the meal is but it is definitely a good meal to have on an empty stomach, preferably before going to a place you know you will be walking a lot.

Conclusion:


Rio is a place abundant in natural beauty and booties.  Like all beach towns it has a very laid back approach and pace to life.  There is a lot of things to do and see in Rio from the wild clubs to the serene beaches Rio has something to offer to all kinds of travelers, whether you are a party animal or just a sight seeing type of person, you will surely be able to enjoy your time in Rio.