Sunday morning and our last day. We took a taxi to the hippie market in Ipanema. There were no hippies there but there were a lot of interesting handicrafts stalls as well as all the mass-manufactured tourist rubbish. We wandered around and bought a couple of things and ate some very good food from a stall run by ladies from Bahía. We wandered around the town for a while but by this time my batteries were run down. Three days of walking, eating and drinking too much with not enough sleep had caught up with me. We returned to the apartment and spent the rest of the day quietly.

At 22.30 Rafael took us to the bus station and the 23.10 bus departed on time. This time it was a very luxurious affair with fully reclining seats. We managed to sleep reasonably well and arrived at 06.30 Monday morning just in time for Flavia to start work at 07.00 and for me to complete the missing few hours sleep. It is tough not having to go to work but I have learned not to be jealous as Flavia leaves for work every morning at dawn.

When I arrived in Rio I was expecting not to like it; there had been too many tales of crime and violence and i was expecting to spend the whole time looking over my shoulder. Brazilians seem to enjoy scaring the wits out of foreigners with bloodthirsty tales of gruesome crimes committed in Rio.  Even Flavia was telling me about a visit a few years ago when two favelas were having a disagreement. All night they could hear the sound of guns firing and see tracer bullets going in both directions. Apparently it is not unknown for bullets to enter  apartments nearby.

It is hard to tell where the truth lies. I suspect that the crime rate outside of the favelas has dropped considerably over the years. Probably a lot of the violent crime, as in England, is by young black men against other young black men and often drugs and gang related. All I can say is that it felt no more dangerous than any other large city I have been in. Of course we stuck to the most important areas, were not out in the middle of the night and avoided deserted places.

So my verdict on Rio: it is fantastic, a city not to be missed, it has more natural beauty than any other city I ever ever seen – by a long margin. It has rich and vibrant cultural life too. It would be very easy to spend a week there and that is without going to the beach.  The beaches are wonderful, as good as anywhere, but I would not go there from Europe or the USA just for a beach holiday. There are plenty of nearer places which are much easier to get to. So my advice is go there for two weeks and alternate lazy days on the beaches with touring the city. It is very expensive by Brazilian standards (all large cities are more expensive than the smaller towns) but most Europeans will find the prices fairly reasonable.

It is with eager anticipation that I look forward to my next visit. (Rafael, that is a hint!)

Having gone 400km south-west our next trip is 450 km due west to Belo Horizonte the State Capital of Minas Gerais , the third biggest metropolitan area city in Brazil (5m).  We are going to spend a week driving around the first area in Brazil colonised due to its abundance of gold, diamonds and other riches. “Minas Gerais” means “General Mines” in Portuguese.  There are a lot of old towns with a well developed cultural tourism industry.

We may not have much access to the internet but will try to add a couple of reports while on the road.

An early start on Friday and the two of us took a taxi to the Sugar Loaf Mountain The two cable car trips cost around $30 each person which shocked the Brazilians. Being used to European prices I thought that it was reasonable value as the ride and view are spectacular. It is not as high as the Statue of Christ the Redeemer but its location is so good that the view is even better. You can see most of the city, especially beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema which are close. Again we had wonderful weather which makes a big difference. We spent three hours here just marveling at the landscape.

At the bottom we went for a long walk along the Pista Cláudio Coutinho which is a small peninsula which doubles as a military base and a nature reserve. It appeared to be a circular route but the path stopped at the halfway point and we retraced our footsteps. It was very quiet and peaceful but with excelent security so we felt quite safe.

Rafael picked us up  in the afternoon and we explored some of the hills. We wandered around and he showed us all sorts of interesting places. On one of the hills we came across a lake surrounded by tropical jungle. A lot of these areas are protected as part of a National Park. Travelling around the city is not nearly as difficult as you would think as a lot of the hills have tunnels going through them more or less at sea level.

In the Santa Teresa area are a number of simple but very interesting restaurants offering food from the Bahía area. We had a very good lunch there. At first sight the prices looked a bit high but on enquiry the waiter agreed that a single portion might be enough for three. In fact the three of us could not eat it all and Flavia and I did not eat again that day. These portion sizes are fairly typical so do not be shy about ordering a single dish between several people. You can always order more if it is not enough.The problem is finding a dish that all of you want to eat.

We spent a quiet evening and had an early night.

Wow, that was quite a trip!  We left Wednesday afternoon by bus and arrived in Rio 8 hours later and took a 15 minute taxi ride to Flavia’s Uncle Rafael who has an apartment in the middle of the city.

The road was a dual carriage way for the first hour and then became two single lanes. There was often a third lane for overtaking, especially up hills. The last hour was dual, then triple carriageway.  The roads were all in pretty good condition. The modern comfortable bus was limited to 80 or 90 kph for the whole journey and mostly managed to keep to those speeds. It did help arriving in Rio in the evening after the peak traffic.

In the morning Rafael took us on a tour of Rio. It is a real advantage having a car, driver and guide with a detailed knowledge of the city.  First we went to Corcovado mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer which is 700 metres above Rio. We stopped at a couple of brilliant viewing points on the way up.  We drove almost to the top of the hill, parked and got

into small buses for the last climb of a hundred metres of hairpin bends. From there was a short walk, a couple of escalators and we were at the foot of the statue without even getting out of breath. There is also a funicular railway which is very useful if you do not have a car.

The views are breathtaking.  It was a hot sunny day and the city inland was covered in a light haze. This trip alone is worth a visit to Brazil.   Rio is full of very steep hills and so there are thousands of locations with fabulous views, soon you become a little blasé about what would be a traffic-stopping elsewhere. Rafael’s lounge faces the statue and a nearby favela an interesting combination of two of Rio’s signature sights.
Around 4 o’clock we had a self-service meal followed by a well-earned siesta.  In the evening we took a 20 minute taxi ride to the old city area full of bars and restaurants. We went to the Scenarium whch the Guardian rates as one of the best ten bars in the world.  It is a very strange place. It is not really a pub or bar or a restaurant or a nightclub or a disco or an antiques shop but a mixture of all of them. It looks like an ancient converted warehouse with two rooms the size of tennis courts on each of the three floors. In fact it used to be housing and each floor used to contain 12 apartments. A girl singer accompanied by keyboards and guitar was singing sambas and the sound was piped to the more remote areas; there was no dancing that I noticed.

It was fairly busy. Plenty of customers were eating large meals or snacks but there was no expectation that the customers should eat. The thing which I like about most live music I have heard here is that the volume is reasonable, not the ear-splitting high volume that is everywhere in Europe.  Some listened attentively while other groups chatted without raising their voices. The musicians accept that they are not giving a concert and that all the customers are not expected to applaud every song. It makes the whole evening very pleasant and relaxing.

So, I hear you ask, what was that bit about the antiques shop?  Well the decor is something that Salvador Dalí or Federico Fellini might have come up with.  The walls were full of religious icons, pictures, statues and other paraphernalia; at least the staff were not dressed as monks and nuns.  During the day the tables and chairs are moved and the premises open as an antiques shop with all the decorations for sale.  I did find it a little disconcerting being so decadent under a life-sized portrait of a nun!  Sadly I did not bring my camera but the next article will have some pictures of its similar sister establishments in the same street.

PS
Pics will appear within 24 hours, I promise!
PPS
They are in place and I have also added pics to the two previous articles.