February 2-6, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

February 2, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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I woke up early and finished breakfast by 8:45 AM. I spoke to the Day manager (who spoke excellent English and was quite personable) about the non-arrival of my Carnival tickets. He told me that nothing had been delivered thus far and explained that there are delays at times and that they would eventually be delivered. Comforting words but I would prefer to have the tickets in my possession! One of the assistants at the front desk told me that there was a soccer game that afternoon at the Maracana. He also told me that given that the Carnival had commenced, there may not be much of a crowd at the game.

I walked to the Laundromat which was 2 blocks from my hotel. IPANEMA seems like Palm Beach! Stores like H.Stern, Tiffany and Mont Blanc abounded and here I was looking for a cheap Laundromat. The lady at the Laundromat spoke no English or Spanish. Fortunately a customer (who had come to pick up his laundered clothes) did speak Spanish and he told me that clothes given today (Saturday) will be ready for pickup on Wednesday (Feb 6th) evening as most stores are closed the next 3 days for the Carnival! I rushed back to the hotel and back to the Laundromat to hand over my clothes. The charge for 3.2 Kilos was R$22 (US$12 - a tad expensive).

I walked to the beach at Ipanema (3 blocks away). It was 9:30 and it was hot and humid. I was wilting. I popped into an internet cafe for 30-minutes. I found an e-mail there from RIO CARNIVAL SERVICES stating that the carnival tickets would be delivered today (Saturday) evening. I think they are cutting it a bit too fine (as tomorrow is Sunday and my Carnival program is on Monday Evening). At least, there had not been a missed delivery (Where they came to the Hotel and there was no one at the front desk to sign for it and accept the tickets on my behalf).

They had sent a link containing a whole set of documents pertaining to the Carnival. The traditions, sequence of events for each of the 2 days (Sunday and Monday), how to get to the Sambadromo (where the samba schools parade) and so on. I printed the entire lot. I headed back to the hotel and dumped all these documents in my room.

Ipanema does not have a metro station. There is a bus service that will transfer passengers to the nearest metro station. I wanted to head to the city centre to see the Teatro Municipal and other historic buildings. Two Brazilian girls (who spoke no English) literally guided me all the way (Choosing the right bus, getting off at the train station and taking the train going the right direction and getting off at the right station) to the Teatro Municipal.

The bus was excellent. Well air-conditioned with classical music being piped all the way (20-min ride). The Trains were also air-conditioned, with detailed announcements in Portuguese with the Station names alone being repeated in English ("Next Stop - BOTAFAGO"). After getting off at CINELANDIA Station, it took us close to 6-8 minutes just to get out of the underground station.

Carnival was in full swing and the area around Teatro Municipal and the Bibliotheca was taken over by the Carnival crowds. The crowd was packed so tight that I had difficulty squeezing by. I wandered for a bit around the side streets which were relatively empty. I was thirsty and had a drink at a McDonald's like cafe.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the plunge. I took out my fancy camera and the 24-70/2.8 lens. I attached the equally fancy flash on top of this. I hung the camera around my neck and started to edge my way into the crowd. And it was like Gopal's parting of the Bay of Guanabara! People assumed that I was a professional Photographer and posed for me. There were shouts from different corners from people asking me to take their pictures. They may be a tad disappointed when they do not find their faces in tomorrow's papers!

People are indeed quite uninhibited here. Your colour, body size or shape does not matter. People of all walks dress up and party. There were numerous food stalls set up. Needless to say they were all heavy on meat.

I spent over an hour 'posing' as a 'Photographer'. After having my fill of the street carnival celebrations, I walked along a quieter nearby street and saw old churches and the former parliament building (when RIO was the Capital of Brasil). I stumbled onto the Centro Cultural after about 20 minutes of walking. I had a late lunch of Pasta at the cafe there.

I continued my walk along Presidents Vargas. I saw people preparing floats for the parades. I took pictures of the floats and the people. Stores near Uruguayana station were selling all kinds of costumes.

I headed into the Uruguayana station and took the train to Maracana. I purchased a ticket on the upper deck (R$15). BOTAFAGO was playing VASCO. I walked into the second half of the first game (they were playing 2 games against each other today). I walked (purely by accident) into the BOTAFAGO stand. As I walked in, BOTAFAGO scored on a penalty kick (1-0). The stand erupted. Samba drums, sparklers, huge flags being unfurled and the BOTAFAGO fans jumping up and down. The Huge banners can and do cover an entire stand (of 10,000 folks).

Maracana (which has been given a big facelift in recent years) is a magnificent stadium. Here was yet another dream come true as I have always wanted to watch a game at the Maracana. The renovations to the stadium have been done as Brazil prepares to host the World Cup in 2014. A ticket to the finals (of the 2014 cup) with Brazil as a finalist would be something to dream for!

I digress. The word 'Passion' should ONLY be used to describe a Brazilian Soccer fan. The moment a player gets the ball, there are 10,000 coaches directing the player on what he needs to do next. Disappointment reigns if the player chooses an alternative play to the one that was proposed.

The first game ended and Botafago won (1-0). The second game started at 6:15 PM. A long trail of tourists (predominantly white) shepherded by a guide arrived at the Botafago stands and meekly sat down. One of the hotels in Ipanema was charging R$90 (US$55) for this game (transport was included both ways). The Metro tickets are R$2.40 each way and the ticket cost me R$15. For R$20, I was doing the same thing as these tourists. Then again, I am on an extended trip and watch what I spend. As long as I do not open my mouth (or am asked something), I am a Brazilian for all intents and purposes. As I do not dress flashily or do not stand out by wearing flowery shorts or a T-Shirt that says "ENGLAND" or "NY YANKEES", I am able to mingle easily. Getting sunburnt does indeed help.

In the Second game, Ze Carlos (of Botafago) scored a Magnificent goal. Hopefully it is on You Tube (BOTAFAGO vs. VASCO - Feb 2, 2008). BOTAFAGO was leading 2-0 well into the second half before Vasco scored (2-1). Ze Carlos then committed a dumb penalty and was promptly red carded. He was roundly cursed by the fans. Cursing and Passion are not limited to the men folk at these games. The women can unleash a verbal barrage as well and they do.

VASCO equalized shortly thereafter. Botafago fans were crestfallen. A little after the second half had commenced, I had started to walked around the stadium to take pictures from the different stands and by now, I had returned to my Original Botafago stand. As I settled into a seat (there is no numbered seating here), a Botafago player was bought down in the Vasco goal area and Botafago was awarded a Penalty kick and the offending Vasco Player was red-carded.

Botafago scored on the Penalty kick and regained the lead (3-2). The stand erupted. I was high fiving and hand shaking with complete strangers and rejoicing. This is Sport. Pure and Passionate. Botafago also has a beautifully rhyming song that is sun at frequent intervals during the game. The Samba drummers go on almost non-stop for the entire game. Botafago went on to win the second game as well (3-2) and the players (to a man) come before the Botafago stand and salute the fans.

A Singularly great experience. I cannot think of another to top this. As the game ended, VASCO fans were let out of the stadium through one exit. Botafago fans (including Moi) were shepherded to another exit (180 degrees away). To avoid any ugly altercations, Riot police are deployed in force. They patrol the stands during the game and are on hand shepherding the opposing fans to diametrically opposite exit gates.

It is an excellent experience and quite safe to walk around the stadium area and to take the train at night after the game. I would unreservedly recommend this to any soccer fan as long as you can let go and be passionate about one or the other team playing.

I took the train from Maracana to the last stop and then transferred to a Bus to get back to my hotel. I am getting good at this. I stop by to have a nice Yoghurt shake at a natural food place at 10 PM. I check with the front desk and the Carnival tickets have still not been delivered. I am really worried now as tomorrow is Sunday and Monday is our Carnival day.

I do a late e-mail check at the hotel and find out that RIO CARNIVAL SERVICES has refunded the money to my PayPal account! There were no explanations given for this. I write to them asking the reasons for refunding my money and telling them that my trip to RIO (at this time) was made exclusively for the Carnival.

I am not sure if we can even get tickets for Monday's Parade.

February 3, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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After breakfast, I talked to Philippe (the front desk manager who speaks excellent English) about my Carnival fiasco with RIO CARNIVAL Services (RCS). There was a German girl at the desk who experienced a similar fiasco (RCS refunded her money as well without explanations). Highly dubious company as there is no one to answer the phones at the number given in our e-mails.

Philippe called a few local travel agents to inquire about tickets for tomorrow. They had tickets for R$425 (US$ 250) - which was half the price of what RCS had charged us! I told Philippe that I would talk to my friend who was expected to arrive later this morning before confirming.

It had started raining and the steady drizzle showed no sign of stopping. Dark clouds were all over. I headed to an Internet cafe with USB 2.0 ports and backed up my memory cards containing the pictures from Iguacu and the soccer game from yesterday.

I got back to the hotel by 1 PM and found that my friend had checked-in. We chatted about the ticket issues and RCS and decided to buy the tickets from the local travel agents. After all we were saving US$250 per ticket even after spending R$425 per ticket. Since the travel agents (who were selling the tickets) would only accept CASH, I headed to a nearby ATM to withdraw some money. After giving the money to Philippe and asking him to hold the tickets for us, we headed out to Lunch.

We went to NATRAJ (the Indian restaurant I visited on Friday) and had an extended lunch with a nice Brazilian red wine. To digest all that food, we took a leisurely walk along the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema. We saw quite a few street parties (block carnivals as they are called) on the way back and also waded into the waters for a bit.

After a short pit stop at the hotel (where we picked up our Carnival tickets), we started walking towards Copacabana beach. Leblon is to the West of Ipanema, while Copacabana is to the East of Ipanema. A leisurely 40 minute walk bought us to Copacabana beach. The rain had stopped.

We stopped to watch people playing beach soccer-volleyball! (Cannot think of an appropriate name to describe it). The "field"is a beach volleyball court. The server starts by placing the ball on a mound (just outside his side of the court) and kicking it. The ball sails over the net to the other side. The opposing team (composing of 2 players) use their head and feet and have to send the ball back to the other side in 3 tries. These folks are extremely skilled and it was quite fascinating to watch them play this.

Having had a heavy and late lunch, I settle for an Ice-cream sundae at a restaurant on the Copacabana beach front. We walked to the Marriott hotel to see the Super bowl and found that it was quite crowded. Copacabana palace hotel was not showing it. We headed back to the hotel in the hopes of seeing it there. The Hotel TV channels were not showing it!

I wrote my diary and watched the Samba Parade being shown live on one of the channels. Of the 12 Samba Schools that compete, 6 schools march today and the remaining 6 march tomorrow. The 6 top place finishers will have a winners parade on Saturday (Feb 9).

The weather has definitely rained on our parade today. All we can hope for is that tomorrow and the rest of our days in RIO are rain-free.

February 4, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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Murphy's law. It started raining early and continued. We wandered aimlessly from 10 AM - Noon around Ipanema. Being Carnival, most shops are closed and the few that intend to open do so after 12 Pm or sometime even after 3 PM. We visited a nice bookshop in Ipanema and then took a train to the city centre to visit a historic confiteria. It was CLOSED. The Poncho purchased at Iguassu was a life saver for me. We took a train back to Copacabana and headed to the Copacabana beach hotel to exchange Traveller's checks. American Express (surprisingly) does not operate in Brasil.

The Copacabana palace hotel (a very high class hotel - far better than the Marriotts' of the world) has an arrangement with Amex, wherein they exchange AMEX Traveller's checks for a nominal fee (0.38% of check value - So for $100 exchanged, they will deduct a fee of 38 cents) which was much better than paying the exorbitant ATM Service fees levied by the Brazilian banks.

We wanted to have lunch and decided to check out the Copacabana palace hotel lunch room. We were NOT dressed properly to be SEATED at the Restaurant but could eat the buffet lunch instead. I walked around and spotted 4-dishes out of about 50, that I could eat. The buffet was R$240 (US$ 140) per person! Now you know why I called it too classy and WAY above the Marriott! We made some excuse about my friend having a bad stomach and walked out. We settled on a nearby restaurant and I ordered Pizza for Lunch. It was Singularly the most disgusting thing, I have ever tasted in my life. Since the Carnival was scheduled to start at 9 PM and go on through the night into early Tuesday Morning, I had to eat something.

We walked back to Ipanema. The rain had more or less stopped. We stopped at a nearby grocery store and bought some cookies and water for the evening.

We left the hotel at 6:30 PM and took a bus to the nearest train station and then the train to Central Station. We had a 20-25 minute walk from here to the Sambadromo - where the schools march. The walk took 25 minutes as the crowds had started pouring in to the Sambadromo. All our tickets had Magnetic strips on the back. (Even the soccer game tickets had magnetic strips) Many of the stadiums and the sambadromo have installed card readers. We swiped and entered the Sambadromo.

We were at the Upper level of Section 7. Seats were unreserved. I glorify the situation by calling them seats. It was a long concrete slab! The slabs were all wet and some even had small puddles of water. Talk about a business opportunity. Vendors were selling cushions (encased in Plastic) for R$10 per cushion. We bought 2.

The parade commenced around 9:30 PM. The first school put up a terrific performance. Their music and song (that accompanies their dance routines) were excellent. The school took about an hour and 15 minutes to walk the length of the sambadromo. There are 3 sets of Judges situated on sections 7, 9 and 11 and the schools usually stop and perform for these folks. Being in Section 7 had its advantages.

When one entered the stadium, one was provided with a small packet. The packet had information on the Sambadromo, its facilities, the sequence of schools parading that evening, the songs being performed by each school as well as the School's presentation theme and so on. All of our packets had male and female contraceptive devices including pictorial instructions on how to use them along with a warning on how we ought to protect ourselves from diseases including Aids. Give them full credit for this. They know fully well that people here come to party and have a good time and they acknowledge it while ensuring that fun can be disease free. Knowing the American prudishness, I would be shocked if they did something similar at New Orleans.

There was a 10-15 minute break while the cleaners cleaned up the parade route that is usually strewn with streamers and other paper stuff. The next school started marching after this cleaning operation.

When each school commences their parade, there is a 10-minute fireworks display. My friend and I were spoilt by the American fireworks and were not impressed by the fireworks put up by any of the schools. The performances alone were fireworks enough for us.

The scantily clad women (that adorn most newspapers or magazine pages whenever they decide to report on Carnival!) dance in front of the drummers to motivate them. Each school has a large group of drummers and percussionists, singers, a dozen floats that depict the theme chosen by the school (could be slavery, global warming etc.) and dozens of folks who ensure that the entire school performs its choreographed routine to a T.

I used my SLIK AMT (Aluminium-Magnesium-Titanium) tripod along with my 24-70 /2.8 lens for most of the shoot. Since the performers were constantly moving, I needed a shutter speed of 1/100th of second to stop the action. Needless to say, I had to increase the ASA (Film speed - yes, it exists in Digital Cameras as well) to 800! I even shot some pictures at an ASA of 1600. Will see how they turn out. It is in situations like these that one missed the SWEETEST lens of all - the 70-200/2.8 with Image Stabilisation! If I get a decent tax refund for 2007, I can keep that dream alive :)

We watched all the 6 Schools parade. Each school takes anywhere from 60-75 minutes to complete their parade across the length of the sambadromo. Some folks (mostly tourists) leave after 1 AM or 2 AM as it is well past their bedtime. The winner from the last year's parade marches last and my friend and I were determined to stay until the end. For 2 folks who had been awake since 8 AM Monday morning, we did pretty well. By the time Beija Flor (Hummingbird in Portuguese) finished its spectacularly costumed and choreographed parade, it was close to 5:30 AM.

We got back to the hotel (trains run all through the night during these days) at 6:30 AM. I wrote my diary for a bit so I could stay awake until 7 AM. At 7 AM, I headed down for Breakfast! After a quick breakfast, I got back to my room and hit the sack by 7:30 AM.

Wonder of wonders: The weather was good throughout the parade - Starting from 8 PM until I hit the sack at 7:30 AM it did not rain at all!

February 5, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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I woke up around 1 PM, showered and headed out at 2 PM. My friend was still sleeping. We had agreed during our ride back (early this morning) that we would meet for dinner tonight! It was quite dull and grey to do any sightseeing. I sincerely hope and pray that tomorrow's weather is better as it would be my last full day in Rio before I head out to the Amazon on the 7th morning.

I headed to a local internet cafe and backed up all my Carnival pictures. I had shot over 500 pictures. I hope at least 50 are GOOD! My hotel manager had told me that Banda Ipanema was performing at Ipanema centre. After the excellent and grandiose performances at the Carnival, these performances were quite lame.

I visited a local bookstore / cafe for some tea and cake before heading back to the hotel by 6:30 PM.

We headed to a well recommended Italian restaurant nearby. For the food we had it was WAY overpriced.

My friend had decided to see another Carnival Ball nearby. The show was to start at 11 PM and go on until the wee hours of the morning. The tickets were R$200 (US$120). I wanted to spend tomorrow seeing as much of RIO as possible and that cannot happen if I go to this Carnival ball tonight. I passed.

I obtained my friend's laptop and transcribed my hand written blog to an electronic document. Sometimes I wish I had carried a small laptop. Then again, carry too many expensive items was not too appealing.

February 6, 2008 - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
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I woke up early but by the time I got out of the hotel, it was 10:30 AM. I took a bus (511) to Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain). The mountain has a cable car to the top from where one can get excellent views of RIO. The cable car fee was R$35 (US$20). The cable car operates in 2 stages. Stage 1 takes you to a certain altitude where one gets off and can walk around. If one intends to go higher (which everyone wants to), you walk about 200 metres and take a second cable car to the upper most level.

The first viewpoint was quite good. It was not raining and one was able to see a lot of things around. Corcovado (which is famous for the "Cristo Redentor" statue) was being gradually obscured by the clouds. I met a Brooklyn chap (John) at the first viewpoint. We chatted and took the second cable car to the uppermost viewpoint.

By the time we got there, there was a thick cloud cover BELOW US. We literally felt like we were on CLOUD 2! It had started drizzling as well. Curse the weather gods! We tried to wait it out by having a coffee and chatting for 45 minutes to no avail. We gave up and headed back down. John was taking an early evening flight back to the US. He had spent close to 2 weeks in Brasil - 1 week in Salvador and 1 week in RIO). He had seen Corcovado already and even though that was next on my agenda, I decided to forgo it as the drizzle and the cloud cover meant that I would not be able to see anything from the top.

We decided to visit Santa Teresa and travel in an ancient Tram that would take us to an back from Santa Teresa. It was considered a Bohemian neighbourhood with lots of artists and cafes. It may even be a good place for Lunch. I still wanted to visit the famous confiteria shop and have a dessert there. We took a bus from Pao de Acucar to the city centre. Buses here are cheap and excellent to travel around. The journey took around 25 minutes and took us across Botafago, Flamengo etc. before dropping us close to the city centre.

We asked around a few time about the Cable car to Santa Teresa before finally finding it. During our search, we came across a Praha Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi Plaza) and we both took turns taking our pictures there! The tram (single car) can take only 40 people at a time. We waited closed to 40 minutes before we could board a tram. The charge was R$0.60 (60 Centavos - 35 cents). The tram goes over an ancient aqueduct before climbing to the Santa Teresa neighbourhood. One can get a good view of parts of Rio from here. I took a few pictures.

My guidebook had also warned that I needed to keep all my belongings close to me as folks can snatch things and disappear into the alleyways. I kept my camera safe inside and had an iron grip on my backpack. During our ride we observed that most restaurants were full. On reaching the final stop, we decided to stay on and return back to the centre. We paid the return fare and got back 10 minutes later. A decent experience but definitely NOT a must do. I could have tried my luck at Corcovado instead!

We decided to head to the famous Confiteria for a bite to eat. I had an excellent waffle with Ice-cream and hot chocolate at Confiteria Columbo which has been in operation for the past 108 years! John explained in detail, about his nut allergy symptoms and remedies. Was quite interesting to hear it from someone firsthand. He repeatedly asked the waiter whether there were nuts in my hot chocolate before ordering it (there were none). I could not tell whether there were nuts or not, as I am all nuts and no veggies! He carried a Syringe with him all the time, in case he gets an attack. (it contains an adrenalin shot to ease the constriction experienced during these attacks)

We asked for the bill and left the money in the billfold provided by the restaurant. Like true Americans, we assumed that that was that (i.e: The waiter would pick up the billfold, take the money, post it against the bill and all would be well). While we were chatting and getting ready to leave, a waitress came to clean our table. After we got up, John checked the billfold and the money was not there. We assumed that the waitress cleaning the table had picked it up and we drifted out.

We noticed that there was an additional section of Confiteria columbo that was selling cookies and pastries prepared by the confiteria. We were both taken in by the fancy ceiling of this area and I took my camera out and took a few pictures. We each bought a souvenir from the restaurant as well. As we were getting ready to leave, a waiter asked us to follow him. He showed the billfold to us and asked us about the money. We told him that we had left the money in the billfold and walked and that we assumed that the waitress who cleaned our table took the money to give it to the cashier.

We even pointed our the waitress who cleaned our table. The head waiter asked her and she denied taking the money. The head waiter believed us and told us to carry on. John wanted to settle this at a higher level. We walked to the other side and explained this to the restaurant manager / owner. He spoke a bit of English. He asked me if I spoke Portuguese and I said no. He called and head waiter and there was a 5-minute discussion between them in Portuguese. At the end of it, the owner looked at us and said: "You can go. I want you to come back next time". John thought that was an oblique way of saying "don't come back"! I thought the opposite: He did not want us telling folks back home about how we were cheated at this famous restaurant! Bad publicity and he knows it.

We both think the waitress who cleaned our table took the money. John shared a few of his horror stories (that he had experienced in the last 2 weeks in Salvador and in Rio) during our train ride back to Copacabana. This was definitely a wake up call for me to be VERY Careful during the rest of my Brazilian trip. Most of the times, I pay by Credit card. There cannot be any sleight of hand there, as I need to sign a receipt - when I can ensure that the correct amount has been charged to my card. I should probably continue to do more credit card charges in the future.

On reaching Copacabana, we bid adieu and promised to catch up when I returned to the US in April. I took a bus back to Ipanema. As my friend was headed back to the US and had space in the suitcase, I packed up a few souvenirs, unneeded clothes, brochures etc. (about 4 Kilograms) and gave it to my friend to carry back home.

We headed to a different Indian restaurant for dinner as I want to have my fill of spicy food for the next month! We had dinner at RAJMAHAL at Botafago. The restaurant had a nice ambience. The food was so-so. The Vegetable Biriyani had way too much turmeric in it. Quite expensive for the quality of food we had. I would most certainly recommend NATRAJ (In Leblon) over RAJMAHAL, any day. The BEST Indian food so far was at the Indian restaurant in Santiago, Chile. Will have to see if I can find better Indian restaurants in Sao Paolo or Buenos Aires.

We took a taxi back to the hotel. I bid adieu to my friend as I would leaving very early tomorrow morning for my 7:20 AM flight. I packed and went to bed around 11 PM.

I had spoken to a taxi driver (many of whom hang around our hotel entrance) about a ride to the airport tomorrow morning. He will hopefully be there at 5:30 AM as I requested.

My Impressions of RIO, Carnival and more:
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Carnival is a terrific experience. Avoid RCS (RIO Carnival Services) like the plague. One can always come to RIO and buy tickets that are significantly cheaper than those offered by RCS. In a way the cancellation of our tickets and the refunding of our money was a blessing.

Most folks (including us) stayed at Copacabana and Ipanema. See if you can find a place farther down and stay there. DO NOT BOOK a 5-day hotel package like we were forced to do. Pay more per day but STAY for 2 NIGHTS ONLY. Since most places are closed for the carnival, leave RIO after your Carnival watching and head out someplace quiet. Come back a week after the Carnival when stores and museums open for business and hotels start charging NORMAL prices. San Marco Hotel (where we stayed) is not worth more than US$40 per night of stay. We paid close to US$200 per night!

As I said earlier. They know the desperation of the tourist (or more precisely the first time visitor to the Carnival) and they squeeze you dry.

If you even remotely follow soccer, a game at the Maracana is a MUST. Sit among the locals and experience the passion. Don't sit next to some blokes (or shielas) from back home and reminisce about traffic back home, or some local sporting team back home and other inane bullshit. You are at the Maracana. Experience it. [Yes, I met a fellow New Yorker today. We spent no more than 3-4 minutes exchanging information about ourselves. The rest of our time was spent experiencing RIO and exchanging information and advice on travel / places in Brazil. Not africa, Connecticut or Thailand! Here and NOW]

The beaches in my Opinion are OVERRATED. You need to be well out of RIO to experience GOOD beaches. So if beaches are your thing, there are FAR better places than RIO.

Carnival parties: Avoid the parties in Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana etc. They are filled with stuck up tourists (I include myself here) who know not how to party. Go to the city centre or other places where the locals party. THEY KNOW HOW! Even if you are stuck-up, the process of Osmosis can do wonders to your partying mood!

Outside of the Carnival and a game at the Maracana, I cannot see ANY REDEEMING qualities to visit and spend more than 3-days in RIO.

As I am travelling to at least 5 other places before the end of my Brazilian odyssey, I shall hopefully recommend better places to visit in Brazil to spend time (and money) in.