The hang gliding thing was basically awesome but it was nearly time to go home (sad!) - still time to have some more fun. We'd made plans to meet up with our Iguassu friends that night in Lapa - meeting in a metro station and walking to a restaurant area that was absolutely crawling with people. We saw some cool stuff:
Val and I had driven by this opera house on our city tour, and now I was just randomly walking by it. This is why you stay in one place for more than a couple days - you don't even begin to get to know a place in only a few hours.
But if that's all you've got - it's better than staying at home and never seeing anything different.
We had fun at dinner:
I think we had been talking about the asian custom of the peace sign in photos (it's a thing!) since we'd been at so many touristy spots - we'd seen a lot of that. I guess they were practicing? Heh.
I just remembered something. While getting ready to go our and meet our friends, Airell had been having trouble deciding what to wear. I was sick of the clothes in my suitcase and was getting laundry done every few days - Airell was weirded out by other people doing his laundry (wtf?) and so was making do with stuff that was still clean. Another thing I need to explain - his clothes have fancy labels, bought on sale, he was quick to point out, but fancy labels nonetheless.
My clothes, while they have labels, are not the fancy type. I happily shop at Target, walmart, dress barn, Kohls. Asking me for advice on what to wear is like... well, I don't know what it's like, I can't think of a good analogy... anyway, it's kinda stupid to ask me, is what I'm saying.
So he holds up that plaid shirt and a pair of striped shorts and asks me if they go together.
I stared at him.
He stared at me, waiting.
I was like, 'are you serious?'
He stared at me, waiting.
I was like, 'really?'
He stared at me, waiting.
I was like, 'Am I being punked?'
He stared at me, waiting.
I was like, 'Really? You? Are asking ME for fashion advice?'
He stared at me, waiting. Then said, 'umm, yeah?'
I was like, 'Umm. No, they don't go together. Stripes. Plaid. Generally a no-no.'
(I can't believe I had to tell him that. I still swear I was being punked by a hidden camera somewhere).
We had a great evening - Jennie and Thomas, our Rio friends (by way of Iguassu and England) took us to Lapa to try out some of the bars that serve any kind of flavoured cachaca you could imagine. I can't begin to tell you which and how many I tried - but I do recall the banana one being pretty good.
That was a great night. We made plans to meet Jennie and Thomas the next day to hike up the smaller Sugarloaf mountain. Sounded good to me - I like climbing mountains. I used an unspeakable toilet in an unspeakable bar. We sat on a curb and drank stuff I can't even recall grabbing a cab back to the hostel in the wee hours. At some point our australian friends turned up again... they were hilarious and still thought I was awesome.
Well, I am. But it sometimes takes people a while to notice - they're just really quick learners.
The next day was pretty slow. We'd told the Australians and some other hostel people (the french guy) about the hike up sugarloaf and some made noises about wanting to meet us at the station we were meeting Thomas and Jennie at. We made our way to the station and none of the others showed up. Either we told them wrong, they weren't really interested or they were hungover.
So we set off (I recall it seeming a very long walk) in the blazing sun towards sugarloaf. At the foot of the mountain, around to the side, is a lovely beach with vendors selling coconut water (I was addicted by now). We all had a coconut and then headed off in the direction of the trail up the mountain. I confess, I wasn't sure how well this was going to go. Airell, Jennie and Thomas were all fit and younger than me. I was recovering from surgery and exhausted from a schedule that should have stopped me in my tracks.
I am nothing if not determined though, and I wasn't going to give up the chance to climb another mountain, especially one like this. The hike started off really easily - a paved path. Rock climbing on sugarloaf is a pretty big thing - you see it in the movie Rio and there were lots of people doing it both times I visited. As we walked along the path we came to an open spot so Airell and Thomas felt a need to climb it.
I did not. But they had fun:
Thomas had to leave at some point, I forget why exactly, but we planned to meet up in a bit to watch the sunset.
The hike really wasn't that bad - the picture above is from the beginning of the hike - such a pretty spot to walk through. I took my time and only made them wait for me 4 or 5 times. Within half an hour we were at the top.
We wandered off the path to catch an incredible view (which was everywhere, really) and came across some German tourists smoking dope. You know those monkeys from the movie Rio? Those monkeys were everywhere and they were fascinating to watch. Taking a coin out of your pocket and showing it to them would draw them right to you. So cool.
Eventually we made our way to the official viewing area. There's a wall of some type of granite there, very shiny:
I love this picture.
It was getting on towards dark and Airell became fascinated with going to the second mountain. I'd already been there so I was pretty ehhh about going again. Jennie wanted to wait until her parents and Thomas were with her so she was going to stay on the first mountain and wait for us. (She's good people!)
I told Airell if he wanted company, I'd go along, but I'd be perfectly happy to stay where I was with Jennie. He left for the ticket office without telling me what he was going to do so I wasn't sure if I was going up or not. Until we walked him over to the tram station and then he looked at me funny for not joining the queue.
Alright, I guess I'm keeping you company. As it turned out, it was worth it.
There's a second airport in Rio, the major international one on the outskirts and a smaller one almost in the center of the city. Airell is getting/has gotten his pilot license so he was obsessed with watching the planes take off - you could get an amazing view from above this from the north side of the mountain - this was the main reason he wanted to go up there.
We spent quite a long time watching the planes take off - it was pretty cool - we were much higher than the planes as they took off and banked. Airell was so excited he went on a bit, bless his heart. That's ok. I want to get a pilot license one of these days myself (assuming I can pass a medical) so it wasn't like it was boring.
Then we joined the crowds looking for a good spot to watch the sun set over Rio.
I grew up and live in Alberta, so I may be biased, but we have amazing sunsets here. Our entire sky lights up into different colours and twilight lasts forever. I've travelled many places and seen many a sunset (Coachella valley ones over the mountains are pretty damn good) but nothing compares to a good old Alberta sunset.
Rio is amazing because it is just so beautiful to start with.
See?
That wrap thing I've got on? Was the only thing keeping me warm - it was winter and Rio and it got cool when the sun went down. Also? Sugarloaf? Was windy. Dang.
Not bad, eh?
Here you can see Jesus to the left.
Now Jesus is lit up.
A blackberry post-sunset photo.
Once the sun was mostly set we went back down to the first mountain and found Jennie. So we'd climbed up in the light, but none of us wanted to hike down in the dark. No lights, lots of roots, and it just seemed a bad idea. If we waited for an hour we could ride down the tram for free.
Sounded good to me - except it was so cold up there. I bought hot chocolate and watched a video in the draftiest movie theatre in the history of drafty movie theatres. Apparently that theatre is a nightclub at other times of the week/year. Enough cachaca and you'd forget you're cold.
Once we were down we met up with Thomas and made plans to meet in Ipanema later for something to eat. It was our last night in Rio. I think we ate at the kilo restaurant just outside the hostel - you know what, that place was pretty good. Then a walk on the beach, talking until late (see the artsy photo of the sidewalk below):
Those sidewalks were cool. I brought a broken piece home with me - can't take the credit, it was Airell's idea and I think he actually picked it up for me.
The next day was pretty laid back. We went to the hippie fair in the morning (I had some souvenirs to buy) and then we went to find a geocache (found it!). Then we met a friend at the beach - she wanted to go see the body builders down where Ipanema meets Copacabana. That was interesting - and since it was a hot day and a Sunday - they beach was absolutely packed. You don't get a lot of space to yourself on a Rio beach, and that's ok. It makes everything so much more entertaining.
Our cab came around 530 in the afternoon. We headed back to the hostel after one last swim and I think that's when I bought myself a couple pairs of Havaina flip flops. That I didn't need, but people said they were comfortable - and they weren't kidding.
I bought cachaca and some stuff for a friend at duty free, had one last brazilian beer and then we got on the plane. I flew business class to Brazil but this was going to be economy. You know what? It totally didn't matter. We got on the plane, it took off, they served dinner - and that was the last thing I remember. It was a 9-10 hour flight and I slept the whole way. I don't remember a thing - I almost never sleep that well on a plane. It was awesome. We arrived in Houston at about 530am.
Customs was pretty easy. We had to put our cachaca into a box at the united counter, that took some time but then we were free, and our flight back didn't leave until mid-afternoon. I don't believe in just staying in the airport so we rented a car. I talked about that here. (Ha! Forgot about that Essex thing).
So that's it! I'm done talking about Brazil. Just in time to wander off to Europe!
Me: Yay!
You: Oh no.
