Day of Touring

Pathway on Side of Sugar Loaf Mountain

Plenty of Fresh Fish Vendors

Two Street Blocks of This

Clouds Starting To Lift

I was in the small dining room at 7 AM to get an early start to the day.  The “breakfast” was light to say the least, but the coffee was good and the two rolls were fresh.  A man at the next table spoke a bit of English and confirmed that taxi cab rides to Sugar Loaf Mountain (SLM) and the statue of Christ were practical and cheap.  At 8 AM I walked out of the hotel room, walked a few blocks to a main thoroughfare, then hailed a cab which put me at the cable car station to SLM for only 19 Reals. 

The experience was good and I recommend it highly to all visitors to Rio.  The trip to the top is in two stages.  The first stage puts you on a hilltop with various tourist facilities including a helipad.  The next stage takes you to the top of SLM. 

The views would be stunning on a clear day but unfortunately there was what appeared to be smog preventing good visibility.  I could not see the horizon.  Nevertheless I spent over an hour up there taking my time to soak it all in.  I had a cup of coffee enjoying panoramic views to the north then went for a stroll through the extensive network of paths on the heavily vegetated north and east slopes of the mountain.

Back down on the ground I bypassed the beckoning taxis in order to walk around the streets and try my luck with the buses.  Soon with the help of an English speaking young man I was on the bus to Ipanema.  I got off just past an open market that had caught my eye and walked through the market to the beach.  By then fog, not smog had set in, blocking out the sun and it got chilly enough to force me to put the jacket that had served me so well on the 5 week bus tour of Mexico.  The beach is on the other side of a busy highway, is maybe 200 yards wide and has fine golden sand.  However, there was a mighty surf pounding in and I wondered if this was the usual situation.

To be honest, I was more impressed with the market.  It ran for two blocks of a cordoned off road, and had stall after stall of every fruit and vegetable that I could think of, all very healthy and fresh looking.  To the left as I walked to the beach were truck-based stalls selling all manner of fresh fish and white meats.  I can't recall having seen a better outdoor market. 

Then there was the problem of getting back to the hotel.  The fog had put me off visiting the statue of Christ overlooking the city and I was going to settle with having seen SLM, Copacabana Beach, and walked along the beach at Ipanema.  After 30 minutes of walking around I was a very confused puppy.  Without the sun I had lost my sense of direction and there were buses running in all directions.  I wasn't too worried because I had plenty of time up my sleeve and have learned from past experience that getting lost is a great way to see a place.  It sharpens the mind while the body stumbles onto all sorts of interesting places.  Eventually a bus displaying “Central” rolled by.  “Central” wasn't exactly the description of the Rio downtown area as “Centro”, but it was worth a shot.  I boarded the next Central bus, paid my 2.30 Reals, and off we went.  Soon we were in Central Ipanema, so I figured that I would have to find another way back, but I hung in there figuring that the worst that could happen would be that I would wind up where I had boarded the bus.  But then we went through Central Copacabana so I knew that we were heading east again.  Then we went through a tunnel and emerged along a road skirting Praia de Botafogo, the bay full of boats that I had admired from the top of SLM.  I noted that the fog was lifting.  Soon we were in the CBD of Rio and I got off at the last stop. 

I had a vague idea where the hotel was and worked my way through the busy city until I decided to ask for help from a lady running a magazine stand.  I told her that I speak only English and pointed at the city cathedral on my tourist map with a big question mark on my face.  She pointed, I thanked her, then I did a 90 degree turn to the right.  Twenty minutes later I saw something familiar – what appeared to be a very old 2-level aqueduct.  I walked under the aqueduct and the road split. I took the left fork, knowing that I was very close to the hotel.  At a service station I said the name of the hotel, showed the address, and learned that I had taken the wrong fork. I went to the other road and half a block later I was at the hotel.

My impression of Rio is very, very good.  The CBD was as busy as one would expect but the other parts were quieter.  The roads didn't seem to be crowded, everything was clean and orderly, and there was plenty of open public space.  The public transport system is outstanding.  I haven't tried the subway, but the buses are modern, clean, cheap, well patronized, and seem to run everywhere.  I could live in Rio, and for me that is saying something.  Maybe it's my age talking, but I would see no need for a car.  … And while I'm dreaming … I think that I'll live in Ipanema, about a block from the open market and two blocks from the beach.

I hope to visit the statue of Christ overlooking the city on my way back to Bracui in early November.