3.5 Days in Rio – To be Hung(a)ry CAn BE fun

6 Feb 2012 – Arrival in South America

Delayed arrival at International Airport in Rio de Janeiro! Free transfer bus left, no buses to the city centre, took a taxi to the hostel! Not the best but cheap and better than sleeping under the bridge, especially in Rio. I got a real Brazilian Caipirinha as welcome drink at the bar. With white sugar – it was great!

7 Feb 2012 – A Hungary Day at Copacabana

In the morning I met some Hungarian Guys in the Hostel. They invited my to join them for the day, but I have to know, that they drink “Schnaps”. “Could be worse”, I thought and went with them to Copacabana Beach. At least 35 °C, beautiful girls in Brazilian bikinis, I felt like in paradise. On the way the Hungarian bought some Rum and Coke. At the beach we drank some Rum-Cola and beers, got sunburn and had great hours. In the evening we went to the Sugar Loaf to see the sunset behind Rio de Janeiro, Could there have been a better start for travelling?!

8 Feb 2012 – In da Citay

With too much sunburn I wouldn’t go to the beach again. So I decided to go to the city centre and walk around. At the metro station I met the Canadian brothers. We walked around the city together, furthermore we went to the Sambadromo and the Maracna stadium, which is a construction site at the moment for the World Cup 2014 in Rio. We had a great tour. In the evening a Brazilian girl invited me to a pre-carnival party. Unfortunately the party was already over when we arrived. I didn’t take any photos in this quarter, I was too scared of getting robbed.

9 Feb 2012 – Two other sides of Rio

At breakfast, Maria, a German girl travelling trough Latin America, told me that she would do the Favela-Tour today. The Favela-Tour was offered by the Hostel and there were places available. I made the tour and it was amazing, I never thought of having a tour like this.

We drove up the hill by motorcycle taxi and walked down a small path in the middle of the favelas. Our guide was great. He told us a lot about the favelas and showed us the most important things. It was the biggest favela in Brazil, where we have been to. Around 69.000 people living there. In total there are 1020 favelas in Rio de Janeiro, counted in 2010. 20 % of the over  6 million inhabitants of Rio live in favelas.

In the afternoon I went to the Botanical Garden of Rio and Ipanema Beach with John and Stan from Belgium.

Next stop Foz do Iguazu…

Warm-up in Lisbon–Nothing but a Stranger

5 Feb 2012 - Saturday morning, 2 am, let’s start the round the world trip. After a two hours drive, Steffen brought me to the airport in Frankfurt. I had to wait some more hours at the airport before leaving to Lisbon.

   

     

The flight was quiet normal and I think I couldn’t sleep, but I´m not sure, because the time ran like on a flight. About 2.5 hours later we arrived in the capital of Portugal. Next stop, hostel. But wait, on the way to the hostel, after I took the bus from the airport to the city, there was a stranger who told me the way. And gave me a lift to my place to stay for the one and only night in Lisboa, like the Portuguese call their city. Arrived at the hostel, he offered me a small city tour with his car. I put my luggage in my room and sat in his car. Ok, I was tired, he was nice and I don’t know if I would do it twice.

Welcome to my very special tour:

The stranger, let’s call him Mr Portugal, because I don’t know his name anymore, invited me for a coffee.

We drove trough the whole city. He showed me many nice spots and told me a lot about the city. Mr Portugal travelled a lot, has been to Germany and lots of different Places like Japan and Canada.

But as he started to tell me something about my wallet and the crime in Lisbon, I became a little bit nervous. Than as we stopped another time for a small photograph at the Atlantic Ocean, he drove away! And with him my nice backpack, my laptop and some other things. “Am I stupid to trust a stranger in Portugal, where a neither can speak the language nor know anyone. There is a police car, should I tell them my story, will they do anything? What a start for the trip. But an experience I will never forget and a warning for Rio. Take care of all things you have.” These were some of the things running through my head before Mr Portugal came back, and told me that he had to turn around as he couldn’t park on the street that long. But than I told him, that it would be nice when he would bring me back to the hostel. He was a little bit pissed because he realised that I don’t trust him anymore but drove me back to the hostel.

In the afternoon I walked around the city by my own and took some more pictures of this amazing city.

After sunset I went back to my hostel, met Petra from Germany, who’s travelling all the time. Two month working, travelling as long as possible – what a live. At the moment she’s doing the Jacobs Path by foot. Time to go to bed and hopefully wake up in the morning for the next flight at 9.40.

Nothing lost, nothing stolen and not kidnapped. I survived Lisbon, had a great day, a free city tour and an amazing sunset at the beach.

Next stop Rio de Janeiro…