23/12 Happy birthday Chris

Friday 23 December                 Happy Birthday Chris

Commiserating with some of the girls this morning after they had a bag snatched and their bank accounts cleaned out. We also heard how an English couple had a day pack stolen from their ankles at a train station surrounded by people. There are a lot of very skilled thieves here.

We took a bus up to Corcovada to get a close-up of the Christ statue and the unparalleled views of Rio. There was a 2 hour wait for the funicular because the cruise ships had bulk-billed slabs of tickets.

There he is, high in the hill

 The time passed quite quickly and we got up top about 2pm. There was a little haze but a very clear view. The statue is 30m tall and probably unremarkable in itself but its location atop the mountain gives it a position where it dominates the entire city. Rather like Table Mountain, it provides a reference point for navigation.

The views were absolutely stunning. There was a total 360 vista from the rainforest area round to the industrial and commercial areas, the football stadium, the cargo port, city centre, cruise terminal, airport on reclaimed land in the middle of the bay, which is BARELY long enough for the relatively small planes (no Jumbos) that keep it very busy. We watched a lot of planes land or take off, one of which aborted a takeoff and returned to the terminal. There is a huge, sprawling harbour with a very large island (Niteroi) on the far side, reached by a long bridge. The forts either side and in the middle of the channel to the open sea, the Sugarloaf mountain the Atlantic beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, the racecourse and the coast running south.

Sugarloaf & Botofogo Bay

Lagoa (Lake) with Leblon immediate left of hill, then Ipanema to left of xmas tree that is in lake.

Looking over Copacana beach with Sugar Loaf at left of pic

We had driven up on a bus that followed a circular route so we reboarded it and waited to be taken home again. We had no idea of the size of the circle and were taken aback when it included about half of what I have just listed. We kept expecting it to turn round but it just kept on going. It was actually airconditioned, which is the first for us in Rio, and cost 10c extra. We were very happy with that, although we eventually closed the vent because we were getting earache from the cold.

All up, it would have been close to a 2 hour trip and was a less than complete pleasure because there was a lengthy gridlock in Leblon. If you had to reduce a description of a bus trip here to one word, it would have to be Jerky. Rather like a flight in Harry Potter’s Ford Anglia. The drivers have at least one foot flat on the floor at all times and alternate in a random staccato rhythm, so you are constantly having your neck jerking backwards and forwards, including each gear change. They corner wildly at surprising and disconcerting speed and the roads themselves are far from smooth so bus rides here are never restful. We were very happy to finally recognise the familiar surroundings of our own road.

We bought some sandwich steak and some cheap peach liqueur which tastes . . cheap! And a vodka to sustain us over the festive season.