I had set myself an internal checkpoint of completing my ´hippie trip´to Cabo Polonio and then penning the others.. but the first night stay at Rio makes me break that and write about day1 of this trip today from the hostel I am staying at. Rio was on one of my must visit cities when I landed in LATAM.Earlier had planned to be in this portugese city during the colorful carnaval gala.. but due to constraints at work couldnt make it...Here I am (along with two of my friends from work, Sri and MC) after 2 months of that in the city of Rio De Janeiro, playing host to one of the wonders of the world - Christ the Redeemer...
DAy1: Travel from Montevideo to Rio took us around 02:45 hours and was pretty smooth except for the airport tax fee, you use the airport you pay a fee and that is never included on your ticket when you purchase em.Always add the airport fee for knowing your right expense. Had done some research on rio on the web and 99% of the travel blogs deemed it very unsafe ..so travelled lite - no expensive goodies on me...
Arrived at the Galeão airport on time, thanks to Pluna air.We moved out to the transportation area and MC wanted to avoid taxis not just to avoid the extra$$ (he is our official trip accountant) but to also check the local flavor of the place.We waited for an hour or so for the local bus to arrive. The bus left us at our destination Copacabana..smooth ride and most of the sights on the sides resembled me of a mixed mumbai the old and the new..The place and the people,atleast the males have an Indian touch..are our greatgrandparents to be questioned ;-) ?
Searched the map and took a walk through the streets of Rio to reach our destination , the cool hostel named mellow yellow.I loved the the definitie soothing theme and also the compact arrangements they have put up - a bamboo bar, a spa , a recreation room and a very friendly crowd to help you. We got our room (Named Futebol - you know the brazilians) and beds named as players .. I got a good one Ronaldinho. We are sharing our dorm with a friendly couple from Canada...
After a mini siesta, local exploration brought us to the copacabana beach .. beautiful with the sea and a mountain overlooking it..the sides were dotted with many restaurtans including an arabic one - plan to shell some reals there..The beach walk resembled me of the Chennai Marina beach walks..We had our first tender coconut in latin america on the beach and also tried out the a Brazilian drink called Kaipirinha (cane rum, lemon, sugar and icecubes, think the Brazilian version of Mojito); Rain added a little excitement to the walk midway , managed to reach our hostel little dry..
While travelling ,one of my aims (many dont go with it..) is to taste as much local cuisine as possible.. and here I am in Brazil how can I miss their speciality steakhouses , the Churrascaria. Sri is a born veggie but self brought up as a chickiterian (in every sense of the word chick). He was kind enough to spread his options to all cuts of meat at the churrascaria. Though I used to frequent Fogo De Chao in Minneapolis, some cuts were unique here like the chicken heart, didnt like it much as it had a rubbery feel to it all muscles ...
Friday night ,the most happening place in south america,a good dinner, age & marital status at our side ;-), what else can we three think of ? We headed to our cute receptionist and got one-way tickets to a local ´lapa street party´ which starts at 0030 hours...
To spend some time headed to the bamboo bar and had a couple of drinks - tasted the mellow yellow special one - condensed milk, passion fruit juice and liquer. It was not bad but on a personal front like my alcoholic beverages to be light..Our pickup cab came in by 0040 and we were packed like sardines in the van..most of them were drunk and also carrying to-go packages of their beverages.. the atmosphere inside the cab was crazier when there was a brawl between a couple of guys when somebody made fun of the Irish and it happened one of the ladies was from there.. It got a bit physical but the President of ´society of the drunkards van´ resolved it ;-)
We reached our destination - it was nothing but a street dotted with lots of clubs n pubs n police patrol cars !!! There was lot of activity happening around and we just weaved our way thru the mixed crowd who were enjoying their nite out..all drunk ,doing the samba , the grind and above all the kisses. MC was stunned to find and note that all the grids got filled out when it comes to kissing the normal M-F, the other abnormal ones that too to the extremities..
We walked through some crowded streets and when the alley became narrower and we became aware of the premises ;-) decided to call it a day .. waved a taxi and landed in our own dorm by 0300 .. time to hit da bed..
The first nite at Rio was positively eventful.. planning for the city tour today... Relaxing me in every way as there were many things mostly personal troubling me off late but my mind always says to me - this is the only chance u got...
DAy1: Travel from Montevideo to Rio took us around 02:45 hours and was pretty smooth except for the airport tax fee, you use the airport you pay a fee and that is never included on your ticket when you purchase em.Always add the airport fee for knowing your right expense. Had done some research on rio on the web and 99% of the travel blogs deemed it very unsafe ..so travelled lite - no expensive goodies on me...
Arrived at the Galeão airport on time, thanks to Pluna air.We moved out to the transportation area and MC wanted to avoid taxis not just to avoid the extra$$ (he is our official trip accountant) but to also check the local flavor of the place.We waited for an hour or so for the local bus to arrive. The bus left us at our destination Copacabana..smooth ride and most of the sights on the sides resembled me of a mixed mumbai the old and the new..The place and the people,atleast the males have an Indian touch..are our greatgrandparents to be questioned ;-) ?
Searched the map and took a walk through the streets of Rio to reach our destination , the cool hostel named mellow yellow.I loved the the definitie soothing theme and also the compact arrangements they have put up - a bamboo bar, a spa , a recreation room and a very friendly crowd to help you. We got our room (Named Futebol - you know the brazilians) and beds named as players .. I got a good one Ronaldinho. We are sharing our dorm with a friendly couple from Canada...
After a mini siesta, local exploration brought us to the copacabana beach .. beautiful with the sea and a mountain overlooking it..the sides were dotted with many restaurtans including an arabic one - plan to shell some reals there..The beach walk resembled me of the Chennai Marina beach walks..We had our first tender coconut in latin america on the beach and also tried out the a Brazilian drink called Kaipirinha (cane rum, lemon, sugar and icecubes, think the Brazilian version of Mojito); Rain added a little excitement to the walk midway , managed to reach our hostel little dry..
While travelling ,one of my aims (many dont go with it..) is to taste as much local cuisine as possible.. and here I am in Brazil how can I miss their speciality steakhouses , the Churrascaria. Sri is a born veggie but self brought up as a chickiterian (in every sense of the word chick). He was kind enough to spread his options to all cuts of meat at the churrascaria. Though I used to frequent Fogo De Chao in Minneapolis, some cuts were unique here like the chicken heart, didnt like it much as it had a rubbery feel to it all muscles ...
Friday night ,the most happening place in south america,a good dinner, age & marital status at our side ;-), what else can we three think of ? We headed to our cute receptionist and got one-way tickets to a local ´lapa street party´ which starts at 0030 hours...
To spend some time headed to the bamboo bar and had a couple of drinks - tasted the mellow yellow special one - condensed milk, passion fruit juice and liquer. It was not bad but on a personal front like my alcoholic beverages to be light..Our pickup cab came in by 0040 and we were packed like sardines in the van..most of them were drunk and also carrying to-go packages of their beverages.. the atmosphere inside the cab was crazier when there was a brawl between a couple of guys when somebody made fun of the Irish and it happened one of the ladies was from there.. It got a bit physical but the President of ´society of the drunkards van´ resolved it ;-)
We reached our destination - it was nothing but a street dotted with lots of clubs n pubs n police patrol cars !!! There was lot of activity happening around and we just weaved our way thru the mixed crowd who were enjoying their nite out..all drunk ,doing the samba , the grind and above all the kisses. MC was stunned to find and note that all the grids got filled out when it comes to kissing the normal M-F, the other abnormal ones that too to the extremities..
We walked through some crowded streets and when the alley became narrower and we became aware of the premises ;-) decided to call it a day .. waved a taxi and landed in our own dorm by 0300 .. time to hit da bed..
The first nite at Rio was positively eventful.. planning for the city tour today... Relaxing me in every way as there were many things mostly personal troubling me off late but my mind always says to me - this is the only chance u got...
No comments:
Post a Comment