It´s crazy to think we have been here for ten days. The time has flown and we decided we´d take a day to take in the amazing beaches the city has to offer. We headed to Ipanema with our towels and sun screen. We picked a good spot, just down from the Gay section of the beach! (Joe picked the spot!)
We laid out our towels and applied the sun screen and lay down to take in the glorious Rio de Janeiro sunshine. Then the sun disappeared!!! Seriously, it started getting cold! People started to get up and leave but we Irish lads are made of harder stuff and we stuck it out. We even ended up going in swimming for a while! We had great craic in the huge waves body surfing all the way into the beach.
After a while we walked the beach and headed back to the hostel for a shower and then some dinner. The dinner was in a Kilo Restaurant. They have to be the best restaurants ever. You are presented with a buffet of salads, meats, currys, pies, everything! You fill your plate and then they weigh it! I ate 500g of food today and it cost me R$20 (E8,38). I had chicken strogonoff, three types of salad, risotto, four meatballs, two slices of chicken breast and some salmon! The Jug could learn a few things from the restaurants out here!!!
We are just in the internet cafe at the moment and we´re going down to the Irish bar for a few last quiet pints before we leave Rio.
We´ll let you know later how quiet they are!!!
Charlie
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Day 9: Christ the Redeemer
Today was another slow start to the day but we didn´t have much planned for today. A quick tour around the city and a visit to Christ the Redeemer statue all for R$55.
Andre was our guide and Animal was our driver. Our first stop was somewhere we have already been, the Maracana stadium. However, the stadium was closed for a private match so we did not get to go inside but we weren´t too bothered because we´d sampled it first hand the previous night!
Second stop on the tour was the Carnival street. This is just a 1.2km stretch of road that the Carnival goes through every year. On the left side are huge stands where the people pay about R$50 to watch the parade. On the right side are the corporate boxes where you get 5 star treatment for 5 days for the hefty price of R$100,000. People spend so much on them that they actually stay the night in the box!
Third stop was the Metropolitan Cathedral!
The final and most impressive stop was O Cristo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer. The statue stands over 38m tall and took nine years to build back in 1922. However, the most impressive feature of the statue is its location. It is situated on top of the Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. The view is about 700m above Rio and you can see all sides of the city from Ipanema to Centro. The weather up there was perfect and the views were amazing. The sun began to set while we were up there and it was the perfect way to end our sight seeing in Rio. We took some pictures and raced down the steps to the bus to head back to the hostel.
The Corcovado mountain is one of the laziest in the world. You can get to the top of the mountain by car and then get an escalator all the way to the statue. Laziness!
We headed back to the hostel, meeting some girls from Westport who got to the top of the mountain for R$25 but didn´t have any money to get back down so they hopped into our bus for the lift! We bought some pizza and beer and chilled in the hostel for the rest of the night.
Charlie
Day 8: Botafogo V Vasco & Favela Funk!
Sunday began slowly after Saturday night but the first thing we had to do was move hostel. (Next door!!) Our plan for today was catch a match in the Maracana stadium and head to the Favela funk. We met our friend Jorge who was being charged R$110 (E45) to go to the match but we decided to go it alone.
We got out to the stadium on the metro and the atmosphere was electric. All-Irelands and Rugby World Cup Final matches could not compare to the atmosphere outside the arena, never mind inside. We got a few beers and soaked up the craic before heading into the stadium and taking our seats in the Botafogo end! Even before the match started the fans were singing, lighting flares, and releasing flags attached to helium balloons!! The match ended 1-1 with Vasco scoring in the last few minutes much to the disappointment of our new Fogo friends. Here is a sample of the craic they were having in the stand above us:
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMJpjSqulU
The match finished and we headed back to the hostel after spending just R$25 (E10) on the match. Somewhere Jorge was pissed off at us! We had a great dinner in a local grill and got ready for the favela funk.
We got a local taxi to a place called Favela Rio Das Pedras. It was a small town about 40mins outside of the city with a huge nightclub, called Castelo Das Pedras, which was holding the Funk. Like Lapa there was street vendors selling beer and crowds of people on the street. Unlike Lapa, most of these people were actually Brazilians and not tourists. Our taxi decided he wanted to go to the Funk too and parked up for the night. He brought us to the club and showed us where we had to go.
Inside the club was absolutely crazy! There was really loud hard favela music, the air was heavy with sweat, all the Brazilian guys were topless, and the place was filled way over capacity. After a while walking around, trying to figure out how to order drinks at the bar, (you have to buy a ticket to buy a drink??), we got into the VIP section where all the tourists were. We were above the dance floor watching the craziness below. There was a dancing competition to see who could shake their ass and tits the most to the beat. We finally had enough dutch courage to hit the dance floor and we pretty much danced and "watched" until we had to go.
Our taxi had organised for us to meet him at four so he could bring us back to Rio and he had met a girl at the funk. We felt we were cramping his style as the two of them got into the front and three big, drunk Irish lads cramped into the back! "Gringos" the taxi man said to her. He brought her home but she said, in the international language of love!, that he could drop us off first!!!
We got home about 6 congratulating our taxi man on his very sucessful night! A good night had by all!!!
Charlie
We got out to the stadium on the metro and the atmosphere was electric. All-Irelands and Rugby World Cup Final matches could not compare to the atmosphere outside the arena, never mind inside. We got a few beers and soaked up the craic before heading into the stadium and taking our seats in the Botafogo end! Even before the match started the fans were singing, lighting flares, and releasing flags attached to helium balloons!! The match ended 1-1 with Vasco scoring in the last few minutes much to the disappointment of our new Fogo friends. Here is a sample of the craic they were having in the stand above us:
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=TjMJpjSqulU
The match finished and we headed back to the hostel after spending just R$25 (E10) on the match. Somewhere Jorge was pissed off at us! We had a great dinner in a local grill and got ready for the favela funk.
We got a local taxi to a place called Favela Rio Das Pedras. It was a small town about 40mins outside of the city with a huge nightclub, called Castelo Das Pedras, which was holding the Funk. Like Lapa there was street vendors selling beer and crowds of people on the street. Unlike Lapa, most of these people were actually Brazilians and not tourists. Our taxi decided he wanted to go to the Funk too and parked up for the night. He brought us to the club and showed us where we had to go.
Inside the club was absolutely crazy! There was really loud hard favela music, the air was heavy with sweat, all the Brazilian guys were topless, and the place was filled way over capacity. After a while walking around, trying to figure out how to order drinks at the bar, (you have to buy a ticket to buy a drink??), we got into the VIP section where all the tourists were. We were above the dance floor watching the craziness below. There was a dancing competition to see who could shake their ass and tits the most to the beat. We finally had enough dutch courage to hit the dance floor and we pretty much danced and "watched" until we had to go.
Our taxi had organised for us to meet him at four so he could bring us back to Rio and he had met a girl at the funk. We felt we were cramping his style as the two of them got into the front and three big, drunk Irish lads cramped into the back! "Gringos" the taxi man said to her. He brought her home but she said, in the international language of love!, that he could drop us off first!!!
We got home about 6 congratulating our taxi man on his very sucessful night! A good night had by all!!!
Charlie
Photos and Video...
We have loads of photos and video but we cannot add them to the blog because the hostel we are in have restricted the computer. Once we move we will add them...
Charlie
Charlie
Day 7: Travelling and Lapa
We arose early on Saturday morning to catch the ferry back to Rio with nothing in our pockets except the sand from Lopez Mendes. Seriously, there are no ATMs on Ilha Grande and we were all down to our last few Reals! We got the ferry to Angra dos Reis and finally we were back on the road to Rio.
We checked into our hostel , the Karisma!, and got ready to hit the town. Lapa is an area in Rio where every Friday and Saturday night the streets become filled with people and street vendors selling beer and food and everyone in Rio heads there to have some fun!
We headed to Lapa not knowing what to expect and we were blown away by what we found. Vendors selling beer and food everywhere, a guy in a shirt and a dicky bow making cocktails on the corner, bars and clubs blasting out samba music. We bought beers and pizza and decided to sample a local night club. There was a live band playing crazy samba music and the crowd were loving it! The whole club was swaying to the sound of the samba drums!!
The night ended at about 5 and we made our way back to Ipanema singing U2 songs with the taxi man the whole way home!!!
We checked into our hostel , the Karisma!, and got ready to hit the town. Lapa is an area in Rio where every Friday and Saturday night the streets become filled with people and street vendors selling beer and food and everyone in Rio heads there to have some fun!
We headed to Lapa not knowing what to expect and we were blown away by what we found. Vendors selling beer and food everywhere, a guy in a shirt and a dicky bow making cocktails on the corner, bars and clubs blasting out samba music. We bought beers and pizza and decided to sample a local night club. There was a live band playing crazy samba music and the crowd were loving it! The whole club was swaying to the sound of the samba drums!!
The night ended at about 5 and we made our way back to Ipanema singing U2 songs with the taxi man the whole way home!!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Day 6: Ilha Grande - Lopez Mendes
We rented a couple of 7´ surf boards off our buddy Rodrigo this morning & got a water taxi around the island to a small pier, from here it was a 15min trek across the base of a mountain to the island´s most famous beach - Lopez Mendes. The beach is beautiful, white powder sand that just goes on forever. LM is known for it´s good surf conditions. Today had perfect 6ft clean waves. 
The weather today was over cast with some rain so a lot of the beach goers headed back to Abraao early & we had the entire beach to ourselves for a couple of hours! We got back to Abraao at 5pm after a great day´s surfing & it rained all the way back; I thought I had seen the last of the rain when we left Ireland!!
We had our last dinner in our beloved Biergarden tonight, best yet! Back to the mainland in the morning, we could have spent the whole year out here!
The weather today was over cast with some rain so a lot of the beach goers headed back to Abraao early & we had the entire beach to ourselves for a couple of hours! We got back to Abraao at 5pm after a great day´s surfing & it rained all the way back; I thought I had seen the last of the rain when we left Ireland!!
We had our last dinner in our beloved Biergarden tonight, best yet! Back to the mainland in the morning, we could have spent the whole year out here!
Magma Dry for all your cleaning needs!
Joe
Day 5: Ilha Grande
Up at 8am this morning for a quick brekie & down to the dive center to pick up our gear for the day. We had a 60mins boat trip to the north side of the island where we saw the famous blue lagoon & they on to the first dive site at a ship wreck. Wreck diving is usually only for PADI certified divers but they brought Ro down as well to even up the number.
There was 9 divers on the boat plus 2 dive masters, a camera diver & a deck hand. 5 of the group were spainish & one of the lads has a mother from Cork! 4 went down on the first dive while the rest of us snorkeled on the surface. Visibility was an amazing 30m so we could see the whole wreck from the surface. After lunch we passed another famous dive spot on the island - a helicopter wreck! They on to a small island where the rest of the group dived. We went off for another snorkel while we were waiting & the waters were full of life. We spotted tonnes of different fish, eels & even a sea turtle which is extremely rare to see. The dive was even better we got to see & pet an octopus which got scared by all the divers & shot it´s ink!
Just as we got back on the boat to head back a small peinguin swam up around our boat, I thought they only existed in the North Pole!
There was 9 divers on the boat plus 2 dive masters, a camera diver & a deck hand. 5 of the group were spainish & one of the lads has a mother from Cork! 4 went down on the first dive while the rest of us snorkeled on the surface. Visibility was an amazing 30m so we could see the whole wreck from the surface. After lunch we passed another famous dive spot on the island - a helicopter wreck! They on to a small island where the rest of the group dived. We went off for another snorkel while we were waiting & the waters were full of life. We spotted tonnes of different fish, eels & even a sea turtle which is extremely rare to see. The dive was even better we got to see & pet an octopus which got scared by all the divers & shot it´s ink!
Just as we got back on the boat to head back a small peinguin swam up around our boat, I thought they only existed in the North Pole!
Joe
Day 4: The Road to Ilha Grande
We made our way to the bus station this morning in a serious dodgy part Rio! From there it´s a 3hrs bus trip to the port town of Angra dos Reis & a 90min ferry trip to our destination. Ilha Grande is Brazil´s largest island & is basically just a paradice of perfect beaches. We arrived in the main tourist village of Abraao. The village is on the beach front & has sand lined streets. The island is seriously remote with no cars or banks therefore you have to bring all the cash you need!
We checked into a small hotel for our 3 night stay. The french lady who owns the hotel plays music & has been to Galway & Clare a few times! We had our own en-suite bedroom which was a welcome change from Rio. We found a bite to eat next door at the ´Biergarden´ which quickly became our local. It was a buffet restaurant that charges per kilo, savage! Calinan would love this place!
All the locals on Ilha Grande are sound, none more than our new best friend Rodrigo - a local surfer dude who gave us great advice for our stay.
Joe
We checked into a small hotel for our 3 night stay. The french lady who owns the hotel plays music & has been to Galway & Clare a few times! We had our own en-suite bedroom which was a welcome change from Rio. We found a bite to eat next door at the ´Biergarden´ which quickly became our local. It was a buffet restaurant that charges per kilo, savage! Calinan would love this place!
All the locals on Ilha Grande are sound, none more than our new best friend Rodrigo - a local surfer dude who gave us great advice for our stay.
Joe
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Day 3: Flying Like a Bird...
Rolled outta bed this morning at 8am feeling the full effects of last night´s Caprihanas. First thing on today´s agenda is Hand Gliding over Rio, sounds handy enough right?! Wrong and not a good idea with a hangover!
We arrived at Petra Bonita (692m) & first things first signed our lives away on an insurance waiver! We drove up to the "launch pad" in 4x4s up some serious hills. Once there we got our brief & reliased exactly what we had gotten ourselves into! We had to be strapped side by side to the pilot & help him take off by running full speed down a 15ft wooden platform! We were well warned not to look down during take-off because we would must likey try and stop running hence pludging to our deaths!
We arrived at Petra Bonita (692m) & first things first signed our lives away on an insurance waiver! We drove up to the "launch pad" in 4x4s up some serious hills. Once there we got our brief & reliased exactly what we had gotten ourselves into! We had to be strapped side by side to the pilot & help him take off by running full speed down a 15ft wooden platform! We were well warned not to look down during take-off because we would must likey try and stop running hence pludging to our deaths!
I was up first, myself & the pilot took our place on the launch pad; my heart was thumbing out of my chest 1...2...3... and we´re off. Once we took off it was unreal, flying like a bird (only strapped to some guy called Paulo & attached to an old kite!)
It was like a photoshoot up there we had to pose for about 15 photos!
After a 20mins flight over the city & Rocinha favela we landed on Praia de Pepino beach. The lads & myself agreed we would never forget sprinting down that launch platform as long as we will live!
After lunch we signed up for the Rocinha favela tour. Like everyone else we all had a lot of mis-conceptions about the favelas before our visit. Most of those based on Ross Kepp on Gangs! How wrong we were!
Rocinha favela is the largest in Rio, over 200,000 residents in a mountain side 1.2km square! The favelas start in the 1930s when the poorest people from all over Brazil came to Rio in search of a living. The people started cutting down trees on government land & building houses with whatever they could find. Unlike what Mr Gavin my Junior Cert Geography teacher told us about the modern favelas of Rio they are actually just poor suberbs & not just "fecking shitholes!". The houses are now built with blocks & concrete with electricty & running water! Rocinha actually has barber shops, corner shops, bakerys, a small hospital, a post office & four schools.
We started the tour on the back of motorbikes up to the top of the favela, brilliant craic! When we reached the top we re-grouped & the guide lead us back to the bottom through the narrow streets. Along the way we were introduced to some of the local kids who just kept calling us "Gringos!"
Something we didn´t anything of was the drugs & gangs. But don´t be fooled it´s all there, this favela is run by the ADA - Rio´s biggest gang. The gang permit these tours because they benefit the locals but lay down conditions. You can not take any photos in most parts of the favelas & I´m sure only certain routes are allowed.
The gangs supply Rio with all of it´s drugs (heroine, cocaine & hash) so they are seriously powerful. The police storm the favelas on average once a month with armoured cars & helicopters but usually only locals are killed in the crossfire. The local kids warn gang members of police entering the favelas by setting off fireworks!
Disease & drug use is rife throughout the Rocinha, but still each family has 5 or 6 kids so the population is only rising.
The favela tour was eye opening & I´d recommend it to anyone coming to Rio.
We had our first night out on the town in Rio tonight, we went to a backpacker club called The House - tiny but good craic. I think the samba locals were disgusted by our drunken CPs style of dance!!
Joe
Day 2: Mellow Yellow
We arrived in Rio airport at 8am this morning, the first thing you notice while landing is how vast the city is; it just goes on forever!
We checked into our hostel - Mellow Yellow in Copacabana beach, nice place with open air hot tub, bar & relaxation room with hammocks!
We just chilled out today & tried to get over our jet lag. We headed down to the famous Copacabana beach for a dip. The beach was amazing - 3km of white sand & green ocean. We quickly learned that the waves are lethal here by geting smashed into the sand nearly straight away, fun though!
We spend the rest to the evening taking advantage of the hostels hot tub.
After dinner we met a few of the other lads from our dorm - Chris & Charlie II legends! After a few pints we signed up for the bar quiz & won the thing!! Oldest existing country´s flag? Denmark! Our prize was a round of Caprihanas, this was our first experience with the native drink which is just basically a glass of liqour with a few slices of lime thrown in for decoration!!
Joe
We checked into our hostel - Mellow Yellow in Copacabana beach, nice place with open air hot tub, bar & relaxation room with hammocks!
We just chilled out today & tried to get over our jet lag. We headed down to the famous Copacabana beach for a dip. The beach was amazing - 3km of white sand & green ocean. We quickly learned that the waves are lethal here by geting smashed into the sand nearly straight away, fun though!
We spend the rest to the evening taking advantage of the hostels hot tub.
After dinner we met a few of the other lads from our dorm - Chris & Charlie II legends! After a few pints we signed up for the bar quiz & won the thing!! Oldest existing country´s flag? Denmark! Our prize was a round of Caprihanas, this was our first experience with the native drink which is just basically a glass of liqour with a few slices of lime thrown in for decoration!!
Joe
Day 1: Trains, Planes & Automobiles
After leaving Dublin we flew to London Heathrow & after getting the train to the wrong terminal we eventually got to our gate & boarded BA247 to Rio de Janeiro. 11 hours later we unexpectely landed at Sao Paulo airport, turns out this was a stop on route to Rio. From here it took just 30 mins to get to our final destination up the beautiful coastline. Hello Rio!
Joe
Joe
Day 1: Bye Bye
After years of careful planning D day has finally come!! We packed our bags & said the last of the goodbyes to head for Dublin Airport. 
Ro even finished Leon´s rocking horse after 9 months in the making!
Ro & myself left from the Galway bus station, where we said our emotional farewells:
Bye Kevin!
We met Charlie with Mary, Pauge, Simon, Eoin, Sarah & uncle Gab at the airport, bye bye!
To everyone we didn´t get to see before we left, we´ll miss ye all loads & keep in touch (tear!)
Ro even finished Leon´s rocking horse after 9 months in the making!
Ro & myself left from the Galway bus station, where we said our emotional farewells:
Bye Kevin!
We met Charlie with Mary, Pauge, Simon, Eoin, Sarah & uncle Gab at the airport, bye bye!
To everyone we didn´t get to see before we left, we´ll miss ye all loads & keep in touch (tear!)
Friday, August 22, 2008
The Trip so far!
Hi everyone!
Well we´re only five days into our trip but already we have so much done! We´ve been handgliding in Rio and scuba diving in Ilha Grande and done plenty of stuff besides! We have loads of pictures and a cool DVD of the scuba diving but we just haven´t had the time to put them all up but we´ll try our best.
We promise there will be more stuff up before the end of the month!
Charlie
Well we´re only five days into our trip but already we have so much done! We´ve been handgliding in Rio and scuba diving in Ilha Grande and done plenty of stuff besides! We have loads of pictures and a cool DVD of the scuba diving but we just haven´t had the time to put them all up but we´ll try our best.
We promise there will be more stuff up before the end of the month!
Charlie
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Again, even more pics!
I'm back with more pics from last Saturday night in the Jug...
Everyone loves Joe!!!!
Alan was asked what he thinks about the state of Mayo football...
Not much you can say about this picture!
Mike and Mary are very thirsty!
Eoin is Mikes Hero!!!
Everyone! Apart from Bernard, Laura, T and Judge!
Charlie
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