From here, it was on to Rio de Janeiro to spend our last week beachside, with a little sightseeing thrown in the mix. It was here we were also to reunite with our Aussie travel buddies Brett and Carrie, though bad weather in the Amazon delayed their arrival by a few days. In their absence, we checked out the local city sights, with Caroline joining some stone faced freinds in a church sermon. When they finally arrived, they were able to join us in a mint 3 bedroom luxury apartment that set us back only a little more than a crappy hostel. Great way to spend the last week, with a well stocked fridge (4 different types of local beer), cable television, stereos and TVs in every room. In fact, the only downer was the neighbours dog Junio that insisted on tearing our legs to shreds as he gave us the red rocket at every opportunity, and the fact that Portugese sounds nothing like it is written (if 'dos' (which means two) is meant to sound like 'Doiiish', spell it 'Doiiiish').
In terms of sights, 'Christ the Redeemer' tops the list. This massive statue of Jebus that looks out over the city of Rio was recently voted as one of the '7 Modern Wonders of the World' in a flawed voting system, and was the third such site we have visited in our travels. Fair to say that there aren't many cities in the world better suited to such an attraction, with Rio set amongst a geographically perfect setting for panoramic views of beautiful beaches and outrageously awesome geology.
We were also able to reverse the view from atop Sugarloaf...
After one evening of beers and Caprinhas in the apartment, we made an appearance at a samba club where the locals got their groove on. Fantastic set up with an area the size of a school hall turned over for samba as an 11 member band cranks out the beats. Not dancing? Grab a seat and watch it all unfold with a crate bottle of the local drop or generous free pour of rum and coke. The Brazilians can certainly 'drop it like its hot', and don't discriminate on age. One cracker old cooze approaching his 80th birthday certainly dominated proceedings, proving that his hips could still 'shake it like a polaroid picture'. No problems with his eyesight either as he set about dragging only the finest of young Brazillain ladies to the D-floor.
We managed to grab our second and third taste of South American football, heading out to the 90,000 seat Macarana stadium for a couple of games. Now while the Argentinean football action was a classic display of controlled football, the Brazilian games were far more fun. Obviously the fun police hadn't visited Brazil yet as booze, fireworks, comical song and thuggery are fully endorsed (and at far more reasonable prices than Argentina). Both games were fantastic, with only one back pass in 180 minutes of action and the coaches gameplan consisting of defending fast breaks before launching fast breaks.
We took an opportunity to check out the poorer side of Rio life, taking a tour of the largest Favela (slum) in South America. We were a little apprehensive about a 'guided tour' of such a place, but were reassured by other travellers that it wasn't too exploitative (though at the end of the day, a tour of a slum is going to be exploitative to a degree). On our first visit however we had to call off the tour as the police launched a raid on the local drug cartel. With helicopters in the air, police sirens all around and fireworks for Africa (the residents let off fireworks to announce the arrival of police in the favela), we departed the scene as a lab producing 500kg of Cocaine a month was busted (street value of US$12,500,000).
Our return visit was far more successful and well worth the effort as our local guide Luiz gave a fantastic insight into how the community of 200,000 operates. While only few in the community are entwined in the drug trade, the control of the cartel is strong and obvious at every corner where 'ADA' is written on walls - 'Amigios dos Amigios' being the local cartel in the Favela we visited. We were also able to see the value of the tourist visits, spending time in a nursery built on the tourist dollar that looks after children of working parents under the age of 5.
Now while the previous was all fun and games, the true reason for our visit was to grab some quality time on the beach before arriving in London where job hunting and an approaching winter await. Unfortunately, the weather didn't really turn it on as we'd hoped, but we still managed a couple of quick dips, and an afternoon session amongst the surf for Mat (on a boogie board unfortunatley - waves and time not justifying investment in a board). Fair to say that the local kids were impressed, seeking an autograph and crack on the board after Mat exited the old briny. 
From Brazil, we headed back to Los Angeles for a couple of days of pure Americana. A bit jaded after 5 months travel, we flagged the planned day in Disneyland in favour of a more sedate schedule. We managed to get some seats in the audience for the filming of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', a Californian version of the Letterman show where Kirk Douglas (actor), Terrel Owens (NFL supersatr and bad boy) and Gogal Bordello (high energy 7 piece gypsy band dominating the US charts of late - think of a group of 7 drunk Irish pirates) made an appearance. Another appearance on TV for us, despite being seated in the cheap seats because we were not cool or attractive enough.
While hanging in Hollywood, we managed to see a 20 police car escort of someone important, but of more interest was an arrest on the 'Walk of Fame'. Those who have travelled to Los Angeles will know of the numerous street performers who dress as movie characters and line the boulevard for tips and photos.
While out, we managed to catch a spiderman being arrested after a fight with a midget Freddy Kruger. Spiderman looked a little worse for wear despite picking on someone literally half his size and having the power to generate spiderwebs. It appeared that the mini Freddy Kruger had landed some good blows with a stick he grabbed off Dumbeldore. Elmo departed the scene on foot at pace for some unknown reason...
Our final meal of our travels was centred around a need for us to watch the Roddick v Federer tennis final. Unfortunately (not!!), the only option in Hollywood was to dine at the Hooters restaurant. A true American experience, with the Budweiser flowing, the chicken wing bones piling up and short shorts and tight tops a plenty. All got a bit too much for Mat, who when ordering a feed from the NFL Supporters Menu, asked for 'Burgers in Training', instead of 'Training Burgers'.
We have now arrived in London where job and flat hunting await. Luckily enough, we've got a place to crash with Caroline's older sister in Clapham, and both have interviews for jobs in the coming days. We will be in touch with a with new contact details once we get settled.
It has been an amazing (and tiring) 5 and a bit months on the road, and we hope you've enjoyed our updates along the way. Keep an eye out for further updates in the coming months as we venture to some European destinations as well as taking in a couple of All Blacks games in the World Cup.
And the answers to 'Togs & Undies' are as follows...
1: Togs
2: Undies
3: Togs
4: Undies
5: Undies
1 comment:
Well done on the Blog guys, it has been great fun reading the stories, and a great resource for stealing stuff for our own blog.....
Does this mean the end of Ask Octogon?
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