Incidents of Travel in Central and South America 2010

We are finally in Rio de Janeiro after a crazy long bus ride from Argentina and a small issue regarding time changes...but I get to that in a bit. First of all we had Christmas in Puerto Iguazu which was really fun. The hostal organized a buffet dinner and the food was really good. There were many people there and a huge pool and we celebrated in style! For the next couple of days we totally relaxed and enjoyed the cute little town of Puerto Iguazu...unfortunately nothing was open due to Christmas so there wasn't much to do but try to get out of the heat and enjoy the jungle. Speaking of the heat...it was crazy hot there! The humidity was incredible and when the sun came out it was almost unbearable and our air conditioning only came on at night so we had to endure it during the day. That being said, I was in Argentina and loving every minute of it!

    On Boxing Day we had a ticket to Rio de Janeiro from Foz do Iguassu on the Brazilian side of the falls. The ticket was for 12pm so we thought we had plenty of time to get a taxi across the border and then catch our bus....little did we know that the time goes ahead 1 hour in Brazil so when we arrive at the bus station with 45 minutes to spare, we thought it was all good. Apparently not....Amy looked at the clock in the bus station and it was 12:15pm and she said "did Brazil go forward 1 hour, is that the right time?" It dawned on us at exactly the same moment and we were like "oh no....oops." The guy at the ticket counter was really nice though and he changed our ticket to the bus at 6:45pm...but that meant that we had to spend all day there. We decided to go into the town of Foz do Iguassu and explore a little bit. Most of the shops were closed though, but it was a nice day anyways. We were extra early coming back to the bus station just to be sure and got on the bus at the right time this time. The bus was not what you could consider luxury...it was just a normal bus and we had 23 hours to go. Added to that the air conditioning was going all night and it was freezing because I only had shorts and a t-shirt on...i didn't get any sleep that night. But we arrived safe and sound the next day at 5:30pm in Rio.

    Rio de Janeiro is a cool city. It is so green and there are big granite slabs that rise up out of the ground everywhere. It doesn't seem like a big city at all because it's all hidden by these rocks and its so peaceful and relaxing with the beach and the mountains. The hostel is nothing special but its ok. Our room is right at the front and the bar is literally out the window...i'm not kidding, we can order drinks through the window into our room. The first night we were stuck with top bunks...and not the 2 level variety, the 3 level kind. It was so high up and such an effort if you forgot something and had to come back down. It's a nice atmosphere though and the hostel organizes heaps of things to do during the day and the night. The second day we went down to the beach and relaxed all day. Copacabana beach is incredible....just like what you would imagine about a Brazilian beach. There are so many beautiful people here and is you've seen the movies, yes the women really do wear those swimsuits! I've never seen so much arse on one beach before and to be honest I really don't like it....especially because not all the women have the best figures. It is quite a sure thing that nobody will ever see me in one of those outfits...even though I keep joking that I want to buy on and wear it at home on the beach!!hahaha

    I just have to say that Rio de Janeiro is home to probably 50% of the beautiful people in the world!!! All the men walk around with no shirts on and the tiniest little swimming trunks and they are ripped as! And the girls are the same....any excuse to take your clothes off and they're off in a second! There's beach volleyball and football in sections of the beach and a little outdoor gym for all those who want to show off their muscles. And a constant stream of people walking, running and bike riding along the sidewalk...most wearing next to nothing. It's such a fun atmosphere though and today we are planning another day of nothing on the beach. I'm going to have to be careful not to get burnt here because the sun is hot and I mean hot like Australian sun...instant burn if you're not careful!