#4 Preolympic and Touristic Rio de Janeiro

On 30th of July in the evening I finally arrived at main destination of my trip - to olympic Rio de Janeiro. Plan was to visit all tourist attractions before opening ceremony (before 5th of August). And I can say that I was successful - Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach, Christ the redeemer, Sugarloaf mountain, Lapa arcs, Lagoa lake, Selaron staircases, Cidade de Samba, Rio downtown and renewed Olympic boulevard in Rio port.
But first from beginning - I arrive to Rio renewed International Airport (GIG) and then I had to drive 40km to my apartment in Barra region. Yeah, Rio is so big, that 30-40km are normal distances and with public transport it takes you more than one hour to travel that way, it depends what kind of transport you use. Because of Olympic games situation apparently improved - they built new metro line (Linha 4), all over the city, there is BRT (Bus Rapid Transport), which has its own road, no cars there. At port they built also VLT - tram system.

New metro station at line 4

Rio is also known for security problems with pickpockets and robbing, but now here is a lot of police on every main road, place, attraction, station or stadium, so you feel mostly safe, but still they tell you somewhere to leave your phone in pocket. Personally I did not have any problems so far, so I was enjoying the city as much as possible.

Amazing view from Sugarloaf

If you think about Rio - first two things that comes to your mind are Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer. Christ you can imagine from pictures, how it should be up there - big statue, amazing view of Rio and a lot of people there - and so it is, but Copacabana is something different. You expect a lot of sand and people, but that there are so many beachvolley courts, beachfootball courts or footvolley courts, there is no doubt, why Brazil is so good in football and in volleyball. From the Atlantic avenue to the Atlantic ocean, half of the sand area is for sport and half for pleasure. And Brazilians know how to enjoy the time there.

Christ the Redeemer

View from Christ (710m above sea) to Maracana stadium

Pleasure side of Copacabana

Sport side of Copacabana

But for me Ipanema beach and view from Sugarloaf are better. Ipanema is less crowded and on Sugarloaf you are just 396m directly above the sea, so you can have a good view to the city, beaches and also sea. 

Gondola to Sugarloaf

Other must see things are Selaron staircase, made from tiles - very very artistic and it is an entrance to favela. Other things are also Lapa arcs, new Olympic boulevard and walk at Lagoa lake. 

Seleron staircases

Lapa arcs

Art at Olympic boulevard

New olympic museum at Olympic boulevard

Lagoa lake

Rio also offers some hiking options, botanic garden and a lot of other beautiful but not as known and as crowded beaches (Barra, Sao Condrado). And also magnificent amazing football stadium Maracana - hosting 4 Rio de Janeiro football teams, and olympic ceremonies. 

Yes, I intentionaly wrote this blog just before Olympic opening ceremony - now my dreams will become reality - Olympic games will start and I am here, in Rio Olympic city, working as a volunteer and wondering from stadium to stadium because I simply love sports. Next stories will sure be olympic. 

Olympic games are here, best regards from Rio,
Simon

#2 City on hills

As I told in previous blog, the first impression of Belo Horizonte was nothing special but after 2 nights I moved to another hostel, just 2km away from the first one and I saw another face of the city. City was built in 19th century to be the capital of Minas Gerais state - as the whole state - in the hills.

Main avenue - Avenida das Amazonas

Wherever you want to go in this huge city, you have to beat at least two hills. First day in new hostel I went to the main city attraction to Freedom square (Praca de Liberdade) - and I could see, why it is the main square in Belo Horizonte - many fountains, palm trees, many people just chilling there, some of them singing, dancing samba - everyone relaxing. Seeing that made me more relaxed too.

Panorama of Freedom square

Praca de Lberdade - Freedom Square

On the northern side of the city is also one very nice place to visit - Pampulha lake. It took me and my host here more than 1 hour to get there, but it was worth it. We stepped from bus directly in front of stadium Mineirao - the place where Germany won Brazil 7 to 1 at last world cup in 2014. There was match of Cruzeiro team and fans were gathering like 3h before the match. Next to stadium is smaller stadium Mineirinho - in front of which there was some market (it was Sunday) and where I could taste a lot of Brazilian Sweets. The most impressive was nectar made from sugarcane in front of me - like they were putting wooden sticks into the machine and squeeze the juice out of them. Then we went to the lake - nice lake, a lot of families, first feeling of nature after few days, I also saw lake animals - Capivaras and very strangely build church of Saint Francis of Asiss.

Mineirao stadium

Church of Saint Francis of Asiss

Capivaras - lake animals

For the night drinks and hanging I highly recommend Savassi area of the city, with many bars and relaxed people. 

For me, this was first city in South America so I did not know what to expect. I saw a lot of different perspectives of the city, but at the end I can conclude I felt mostly safe and the city is worth of visiting, maybe for 3 or 4 days. 

Now I am in Foz do Igaussu and blog from this amazing part is coming soon!

Best regards,

Simon

10 doubts before first big trip on your own

As I mentioned in previous blog, I am going to Brazil and to USA and this will be my first big trip, where I organize everything by myself - from airplane tickets to accomodation, food, internal transfers and visiting tourist attractions. It is very different type of travelling than when you are travelling with agencies - there you have nothing to worry about because agency is taking care of everything and you just have to come to meeting point and enjoy the trip.

On the other hand - travelling around the world on your own especially for the first time brings some doubts and fear before start. So here I will talk about my doubts and I believe many of you have the same...
I have to tell, I will be travelling alone.

1. SAFETY -  If you are going to an unknown country, you for sure have some safety concerns. The main goal is to travel safe and healthy, then you can enjoy every other aspect of trip. I googled a lot of things, but until I will be there and see it for myself I cannot be sure. But I am positive, that everything will be perfect. BE POSITIVE!
2. LANGUAGE DIFFERENCIES - I come from Slavic country, so by all means we should be good in foreign languages and I believe we are, but mostly to Slavic country languages or English and German, but for sure not so much to those Latin languages like Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. They are to proud of their language, so they do not want to learn another language, but from my latest experience they are getting better and better especially young people, so if you do not speak the language of the country where you are going then TRY TO SPEAK ENGLISH TO YOUNG PEOPLE - there are great odds, that they will talk to you back. 
3. PROBLEMS ON AIRPORT - A lot of things can happen, but you have to trust airport employees... otherwise is better not to go anywhere! 
4. WHAT TO PACK - Pack everything basic what you need, you can buy something there, unless you are going to wilderness. You can use same things for more purposes. Everywhere they have washing machines and it is not expensive. DO NOT LET YOUR LUGGAGE TO BE ON YOUR WAY TO TOTALLY ENJOY THE TRIP.
5. ACTIVITIES - It looks nice in books and on internet, but will I enjoy it? YOU HAVE TO TRY, otherwise you do not know how is it. 
6. MONEY - Here I want to point out - Is it better to take cash or credit card? If you are not travelling to some 3rd world countries. I think the best is both - so SOME MONEY AND BACKUP ON CARD - sure there will be ATMs because with full wallet you attract to many people.
7. LOCAL PEOPLE - I suppose they are used to tourists, but will they be nice to me? I hope so, ife we catch each other on language, I am the winner.
8. COMMUNICATION WITH HOME - For the first time it is always nervous, because if you are in early twenties, parents still care for you very much. So you have to give them insurance you are okey and they can relax a little. I know, if I AM HAPPY, THEY ARE HAPPY! 
9. HOW TO AVOID BOREDOM - Meet now people, find new friends, read a book, write a blog, enjoy yourself, listen to music... DO NOT LET BOREDOM TO CATCH YOU at any moment.
10. WILL EVERYTHING BE AS I PLANNED - This is the last thing, you plan something but for some reason you cannot do it - that is why you are travelling on your own - to BE FLEXIBLE.

I know, this will be great experience, so I hope I will deny everything I wrote here, just know that, no one is relaxed before project like that.

If you have anything to add or any suggestion how to get rid some of these doubts, feel free to comment and share with us!

Enjoy,
Simon Ranfl