Rio de Janeiro

When writing a blog about a long trip, there is always a dilemma when we don't like some place. One the one hand, this is our blog and we want to tell about how we felt at the places we were. On the other hand, we would like to expand the circle of our readers, and hope that these notes might be useful for future travellers. This dilemma becomes strong when the place is Rio de Janeiro.

We didn't like Rio that much, but whatever we thought should not prevent you from going there. You"ll either like it or hate it, but Rio de Janeiro is a city you must taste.

Something didn't work between us and Rio from the first day. We came early in the morning, tired after a night without sleeping and a flight from Salvador. We wanted to sleep, but the check in was only at 2pm, so we went to see the Copacabana beach (The most famous beach in the world), but the weather was cloudy and cold. Cold? In Rio? Well, they will not tell you that in Lonely Planet, but there is no eternal summer in Rio. Winter welcomed us in Rio and stayed there for most of our visit.

It wasn't only the weather that we didn't like. We didn't like our hostel as well. The prices were high (Rio in general is an expansive city), and on the first day we got blankets with warms in them. The common area of the hostel became a pub every night. A pub? More like a cage of drunk peacocks flapping their tails in a grotesque version of a mating dance, while making weird sounds.

Maybe it was all Jesus fault (Jesus being blamed for the suffering of the Jews? That's an historical irony!). The great statue of Jesus was under construction and was mostly covered. Like Paris without the Eiffel tower or Barcelona without Messi, a city cannot live without it's symbol! With Jesus covered with scaffolds, what chance did Rio really had?

We did most of the essentials during our stay in Rio. We went to the beach and saw the surfers. Despite the weather, the view of the famous cliffs with the huge waves was exciting. However, since it was winter, the beautiful ladies of Rio stayed at home instead of catching sunlight in the beach as promised.

We also went to the botanical gardens, which are recommended (if you have the spare time) and did a tour in the Rocinha favela.

A favela is a poor neighborhood built without any order or logic. Every free spot can be used for building a home, even if the free spot is the roof of another house. 20% of Rio population live in favelas. The electricity, the cable TV or the water supply in the favelas are free as well. All you need to do is to dig a small hole in the main pipe or to connect your wires at the right place. In Brazil there are more than 2000 favelas of different sizes. The government doesn't exists in the favelas (they do have the time and money, however, to stick their nose with pleasure into the affairs of the middle east). The favelas are ruled by local gangs, sort of a mafia. Those gangs trade drugs and weapons and make a lot of money (about 40 million a month). Needless to say that this money is not used for the welfare of the favela poor residents. Our guide told us that the leaders of the gangs don't get to live more than 25 years. Just like in the "City of God" movie.

We didn't see any of that. All we saw was plane poverty. It reminded us few of the Arab villages in Israel. We wondered whether the Israeli guys that recommended us this tour have ever visited those places back home.

The money we paid was not wasted, however. Most of it went as a donation to a daycare for kids while their parents are at work, and Oren took some nice pictures. But the most amazing thing happened at the end of the tour. We were about to cross a street where few drug dealers sell their merchandise, so the guide turned around to us and asked us not to buy drugs from them. Then she pointed at Oren and said that she will especially keep her eyes on him (out of all the group of tourists). She said that after few years of working in the favelas, she knows how to spot potential drug consumers. At the beginning we were pretty shocked but eventually Oren was happy that he finally lost the cloud of geekness that surrounding him ever since the fourth grade.

At night we went out to the hottest neighborhood in Rio - Lappa. The whole neighborhood is flooded with people and countless pubs and clubs. The other part of the main street becomes a market with stands that sell food and all the versions of Capirinha you can think of. We wondered around but didn't entered any of the pubs. Maybe we are getting old, or maybe this place is really sleazy, but none of those places appealed to us. As we were about to leave, we found a small parking lot that was converted to a Lambada dance floor. Couples of Brazilians crowded in the small place and danced. It was really fun to watch. Their moves were so sleek and so coordinated with the music that it was a true eye candy. We stayed there for some time before returning to our hostel.

The sun came out on the last day and Rio finally smiled at us. We got up to the Sugar Loaf mountain (Pao de asucar). We went up by foot (it is no more than 25 minutes and it saved us the cost of the first cable car) and took the second cable car to the top. The view from there is absolutely amazing. If you are in Rio, it is very recommended. The small Marmoset monkeys also liked the view (or, more likely, the tourists throwing food at them) and filled the floor in front of the cafeteria. We said goodbye to Rio, and on the next day left to Ilha Garnde.