Quito to Rio

Mar 20 Walked around town today to see a few more sights. That evening we went to the cinema which was surprisingly good where we saw `Slumdog millionaire´. Juan Jose (Fiachras freind from his Mattchu Pitchu walk) showed us around the city at night afterwards.

Mar 21 We went down to the Irish bar for the the 12.30pm kickoff between Ireland and Wales. There was about 30 people there making the noise of a hundred. It was a great atmosphere helped on by the nail biting 2nd half. Afterwards Fiachras freind, Juan Jose collected us and brought us to dinner at his familys house where we met his mother, brother and 2 sisters. We sat down to a typical Ecudorian meal consisting of two dishes made with corn (corn on the cob stuff). They were delicious and topped with a home made salsa. Afterwards we went up to the `Virgin de Quito´, a 40 metre religious monument standing on the highest point looking down over the city but before we arrived a thick fog came over us and we saw little.
We ended the evening with a drink of some local stuff in the old town and then out to the new town for a few more drinks to celebrate the Irish Grand slam win.

Mar 22 A quiet day today before our flight to Rio de Janeiro this evening. At the airport we parted with a tearful Caroline as she was off to Bogota in Colombia on her own. We had travelled with her since the 16 Dec and was going to be different not having her around.
Our flight to Rio via Lima gained us a laugh when the cheese and ham sandwiches nightmare (thats all we could get to eat on buses and planes in Argentina) came back to haunt us. The air hostess announce the the catering trolley was on its way around with two options..... cheese and ham sandwich or cheddar and salami. We looked at each other and laughed.

Mar 23 Arrived in Rio at 5.30am this morning. We got the bus to a upmarket suburb of Rio called Ipanema. Frank Sinatra once sang a song about the `Girl from Ipanema´ and there are no shortage of them, with and without dangly bits. Its a beachside neighbourhood and we quickly realised it was very expensive. Everything is over 3 times the price of Equador and 5 times the price of Bolivia at conservative estimates.

In our hostel, the dorm we are in has 9 beds arranged in 3 sets of triple bunks charginging the princely sum of E15 per bed. The only bathroom serves 36 people. In Peru we were getting a private 3 bed hotel room ensuite for E5 each.

That day we walked along Ipanema beach promenade and watched the local playing soccer volleyball (volleyball with no hands allowed). It looked really difficult and were very surprised to see how good the girls were although their bikinis, known locally as dental floss, was most distracting.


Mar 24 Went on a tour of Rio today. Our first stop was the `Sugar Loaf ´, an iconic cone shaped hill at the entrance to Rio harbour. Rio is a beautiful city when viewed from afar but at street level the city is a stark contrast to its lofty beauty. There are fine old buildings and some interesting modern ones but the graffiti and the dereliction off the main street is eye opening and any number of less savoury locals hanging around. We went into a rougher side of town to see the convent stairway of Santa Tersa to a Favella (Brazilian shanty town) which links the city to one of the rougher city neighbourhoods. The stairs were of particular interest as they are completely tiled with tiles from all over the world. The artist, Jorge Seleron, is an ecentric individual but had a laugh with him as he posed for photos on his steps. Bono and U2 had shot part of one of their videos here.

After lunch we went to see the `Christ the Redeemer´ statue, the famous one with the big Jesus with his hands out overlooking Rio. It was 40 metres tall plus the pedestal and was huge. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and we saw little more than his outline and no view of the city. We drove down the hill to a point below the clouds and saw great views from there. Our tour bus was a new Volkswagen minibus van but in Brazil Volkswagen are still building the old 1970s design (with the tyre on front). It felt like we were travelling back in time looking at the old switches and pedals in brand new condition. I remember our old VW Variant that had similar fittings.

That evening we were coming back from the supermarket with 2 frozen pizzas and we were approached by a street kid and an old man on seperate occaisions asking if they could have them. Although we declined, it was striking how tough some people have it there and we were in one of the best places.


Mar 25 We booked to go on the Favela tour this morning but due to a big drugs haul by the police it was cancelled. The rival gangs started shooting each other that morning, suspecting the opposition tipped off the police. We decided to postpone the tour until we returned in a months time. We also booked our flight north to Salvador tomorrow. We intended taking a 27 hour bus there but realised that we could fly there cheaper and only taking 2 hours.

Mar 26 Headed off to the airport this morning and after a 45 min delay finally boarded our plane for Salvador. Even as we flew out of the city those damn clouds denied us of the amazing postcard view of the city, Bay, beaches, Mountains and monuments that makes Rio so impressive.
We arrived in Salvador at 6pm and took the bus to Pelourhino, the suburb where we were staying. As we drove through the city, one could be forgiven for thinking you were in Africa. The citys black population is in stark contrast to Rio (due to its huge slave population built up over the last few hundred years) and the heat is unreal.