Rio de Janeiro

Ipanema beach

Pedro do Arpoador

Christ the Redeemer statue as the clouds are rolling in

Copacabana - tons of fishermen are here with stand up paddleboarders and the city in the background

famous painted tile steps by Selaron

Other side of lake on the gondola

Not much of a view

Finally a small clearing on the way down

view of Pao do Azucar

the ride to the bottom was nice

we arrived at the bottom as it was getting dark

Wow!  Rio is really beautiful.  The city with the green of the trees is so beautiful. Its sad that the crime is so high and that the dramatic difference between the rich and the poor cant somehow help each other to bring the poor to a higher standard of living.

Samba Palace Hostel
In what appears to be a somewhat more residential area but close to the touristy areas.  Nice and quiet and only 25R a night for dorm room with breakfast.   Nice staff and a grocery close by.

My first day here I walked around Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.

I took the night bus from Ouro Preto to Rio for 108R. It left at 10PM and I walked with a group of University students to the bus station who said its safe to walk at night and its only a half mile albeit a bit uphill. I arrived in Rio at 4:30AM so I took a taxi. They had 4 official taxi companies so I went to the most crowded and it cost me 25R to Laranjeiras.  

Day 2
Free walking tour (freewalkertour.com). The tour was good and lasted about 3 hours.  A group of us went to Pao do Azucar after but it wasnt worth it.  It 62R and there was no view at the top.  We stopped to wait but on the way down the clouds parted for a moment and we saw a small view.