Reisverhaal «Sao Paulo and Rio, a warm welcome to South-America»

1 jaar op weg, in Azië en Zuid-Amerika | Brazilië | 0 Reacties 18 Maart 2012 - Laatste Aanpassing 18 Maart 2012

After a trip of 26 hours we arrived in the Ibis Hotel close to the airport of Sao Paulo. A good room for two days to rest from a very long flight and a jetlag of ten hours difference. Sao Paulo was the cheapest connection in South-America from Asia, but not a very interesting city to visit. One of the biggest cities in the world (about 20 million people), a stone jungle, difficult to find your way. Time to go to Rio.

In Rio de Janeiro everything was ready for carnival, which started a few days after our arrival. Nice to feel the vibes on a bloco street party, just the way you think about Brazil. Unfortunately carnival itself was beyond my budget with for example a bed in a dormitory for about 80 euro a night, minimum stay 5 nights. In general Brazil is an expensive country, especially after the cheap months in China and South-East Asia. Same prices as in Europe.

Rio is of course also famous for its massive Christo the Redemptor statue, who looks on the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. A big contrast to the beautiful beaches are the favelas. Now the day you can visit the favela on a guided tour and (at least a part of) your money goes to projects to develop life in the favelas. A visit to a favela is a knock in the face, incredible that people can live in such quarters. Strangely enough some people stay living in their favelas even if they have a middleclass job and life. Maybe because of the high renting prices in Rio.

Rio will be in the picture the coming years with the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. Therefor the government conquers the favelas from the drug lords, what leads to real wars between police and drug gangs. And Brazil still has a lot of work for the World Cup. As a football fan I liked to visit the legendary Maracana Stadium, but I should have known that they are rebuilding the stadium to host opening game, final and other games on the tournament they have to win, no excuse. Lionel Messi is present in the nightmares of a lot of Brazilians, the fear that the Argentinian enemies will win ‘their’ cup is great. We’ll see in 2014.