Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:41:22 -0800 (PST)
Subject: A sunset over the Atlantic, and not from Europe or Africa....
Hola,
Today was the "other" hilltop viewpoint of Rio -- Corcovado mountain with the
statue of Christ (arms wide open facing the city)...
In the morning I googled the bus routes in Rio. This is really the best mode of
transportation in this city. There are plenty of taxis you can hail on the
streets, but unless you have 23 million dollars (which I dont), they're not
really a good option. The metro is there but it only has two lines, and if you
want to go anywhere other than the downtown-->Copacabana route, the metro is
not a good option either. But there are tons of buses (almost 1/2 the total
vehicles on the road), and they go everywhere. Some have circular routes (like
#511 yesterday), and others are point-to-point. The bus from my hotel (i.e.
Copacabana beach) to Corcovado mountain is #583 (or #584 -- they both go). I
took #583, which again has a circular route from Copacabana -- my hotel --
Corcovado -- Leblon/Ipanema -- Copacabana. PERFECT! So I knew which one to get
on after coming back down from the mountain too!!
Well, the bus reached the foot of the mountain at a little before 11am, and I
bought my ticket for the train to the top. The train was built before the
statue, and in fact was used to haul parts of the sculpture up the mountain
before being assembled up there. Its a wonderful train ride, at about 30-40
degree upward slope almost all the way up -- with the summit anywhere between
780 to 800 meters high depending on what map you trust. Its a 20-minute ride
up, and since the actual ticket I got was for the 11:40 train, I reached the
top at noon.
Now, my tourbook mentioned that you should sit on the "platform side" of the
train for the better views going up. The trouble with this is that the seats on
the platform side are facing backwards! That doesn't make for a comfortable
journey given the incline all the way up! The seats on the opposite side face
forward and so more comfortable while climbing up... but no view.
So thats what the tourbook said -- sit on the platform side.
WRONG!
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
There are no views! I took the trouble to stand in line a full 1/2 hour before
the departure time, to be "guaranteed" a window seat on the far right -- the
"platform side". All that for NOTHING! There are no views until you reach the
very top. The train is basically going through a rainforest all the way up.
Yes -- its a rainforest, and the largest forested area within the city limits
of any city in the world. Or so the tourbook says. I'm beginning to doubt my
tourbook.
Anyway, after reaching the train station on the top there are two options to
make your way to "Cristo Redentor" -- elevator or stairs up to a certain level,
then stairs or escalator the rest of the way. The line to get on the elevator
was too long, so I took the stairs up -- 200 steps. Then the escalator in the
very end. All along are several scenery-viewing platforms, so there's plenty of
opportunity for a guy like to me to catch his breath.
There are also a couple of restaurants, which on the way up I thought was
tacky. On the way back down I was glad they were there!!
Its a crowded place -- no surprise given it is the most recognizable landmark
of the city! What the tourbook did NOT say was to avoid the morning rush and
come in the afternoon instead. The other advantage of going after 3-4 pm is
that Christ's face does not have a shadow at that time!
I didn't stay until then..
The views from the top of the mountain of the city underneath are FANTASTIC --
almost as good if not better than yesterday's views from Pao de Acucar
(Sugarloaf mountain). But at noon, the sun was above the statue, and so his
face had shadows... not a good time to go, and I didn't bother to stay long
enough for the sun to go lower.
Still, its quite impressive -- 98 feet from head to toe and the same distance
from fingertip to fingertip. And it is giving Rio "the largest hug in the
world" (quoting someone I overheard there).
On way down I took the stairs all the way, stopping at the restaurant for some
lunch (including main course). On the train ride back down I thought I'd sit on
the other end -- just to compare.
It's the same. Just doesn't matter where you sit. Except for one single view at
the very top, both sides of the train are the same. So when you come here,
relax and get on it at your own pace instead of pushing and shoving your way to
the front to get a "good" seat! Oh yeah, and you'll have to be careful of wasps
up there... ;)
Well, after coming down I took the bus back to the hotel, with a stopover at
Ipanema beach for a few seconds. Took a very quick shower (middle of summer
here and it gets muggy in the afternoon), changed into "beach clothes" and
headed back out, walking to Copacabana and spending most of the rest of the
evening there.
Did the obligatory "toes in the sand" thing, got wet in the cold waters of the
Atlantic but that was ok because the sand was baking hot away from the sea... I
pretty much stayed just at the line where the waves came in... Some of those
waves up to 7-8 feet tall before they broke, but the highest the water got
where I was walking was up to the thighs.
mmmm... wonderful beach (and I'm not a beach person -- I think the last one I
went to was in Australia 3 years ago!)
Before the sun went completely down I took the bus to Ipanema beach -- got to
see a TERRIFIC sunset from here!!! I think the pictures have also come out
great, showing the "true color" of bright orange reflected in the water,
although they're still in my camera and I haven't actually seen them on the PC.
Oh yeah, about the camera ... One of the places where I was taking a picture, a
lady asked me to take hers from her camera, so I took hers and asked if she
could take mine... (this whole conversation in portuguese one way and
head-nodding and mumbling "si, si" from my side) After that was done, she asked
me if I spoke "Brazilian" ... by some miracle I actually understood what she
was asking and replied back:
Me: "no... ingles?" ...
Her: "no... umm espanol?"
Me: "Si, un poquito espanol!!"
she told me to put my camera back in my bag and dont walk around with it. Again
by some miracle, I actually understood her spanish!
Well, this is not an area for a foreigner to be walking around after dark with
an expensive camera... I took one final picture, did what she said and made my
way back to the bus stop. Along the way, a pre-packaged sandwich to-go for
dinner. Also a very expensive guava-chocolate ice cream (R$ 12 = USD$ 7).
Tourist trap!
Now I'm back in my hotel... resting my feet (lot of walking and
wading-up-to-the-knees today) wondering where to go tomorrow before my flight
back home in the evening...
There's always downtown.... haven't roamed there yet. hmmmmmm...
Now about the subject line: when you look at my pictures -- after tuesday --
you'll notice the sun setting over the atlantic.. well, just an explanation
beforehand -- I was wondering about that myself and knew I'd get a few
questions about it ;) ... Ipanema beach faces south, so the sunrise and sunset
are at opposite ends of the beach, rather than over the ocean/behind it. The
pictures I took this evening are looking westward, but because of the arched
coastline you can see the sunset over the ocean :)
Chao,
me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Nov 23 | Contents | Nov 25 |