Rio de Janeiro – It’s all about caipirinha and beaches

After some flight rerouting confusion in Iguazu, we finally arrived in Rio by 6 pm (originally scheduled at midday). Some other couples we met in Iguazu didn’t arrive until 8 pm. The weather in Rio was raining and heavy thunderstorm, but the next days were no longer raining but with lots of clouds. We stayed for 5 days and only starting from the third day that it turned to be sunny and blue sky. As for the temperature goes, Rio de Janeiro is located in the southern hemisphere so it was around 31 degree. Warm enough to be at the beach in January.

Our hotel was located in Ipanema beach, which we like a lot better than the Copacabana. But if you are into partying days and nights then the Copacabana beach is the one you want to go to.

The beach was good in terms of waves and sands. The only problem is that there are too many street sellers in the beach area which I found quite annoying if you just aim to have a nice relaxing nap. Perhaps this is also the reason why you are advised not to bring expensive items to the beach areas and of course, topless sunbathing.

We stayed mostly at the beach. We spent only one day touring the city of Rio, mainly to the two biggest tourist attractions, Corcovado Mountain where the Cristo Redentor is located and the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) where you can take good panoramic picture of Rio. We were not very lucky in the Corcovado Mountain as it is always covered with clouds. Oh well...

The city center of Rio is not really interesting (sorry to say). Perhaps the only two things worth to see is the Sambódromo where they hold the annual Carnival (we were surprised to find out that the size of the Carnival street was only 700m long, it sure looks longer than this in the TV!) and the Favelas, the place where the poor community people live in Brazil. They are located also in the city, just side by side with the skyscrapers and it is strongly advised to the tourists not to go near these areas!


PS: Cristo Redentor is recently named as one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

Pictures from the trip.