Backpacking Mamasita: October 2015

15th August 2015, I woke up with so much excitement, a year’s wait is finally over. The day I will see new continent of South America has come. My route was Auckland - Rio de Janeiro via Santiago. Flying over Andes mountain from Chile to Brazil gave me buzz & butterflies! I can only sit there in amazement, looking out from my window seat to the mountains that were emerging between the clouds. We live in such a beautiful world, my friends.

Christ the Redeemer

I stayed 7 days in Rio on my own before I joined Tucan Travel, a company that specialized for touring South America. We were traveling 28 days by truck-converted bus that took us from Rio de Janeiro all the way to La Paz in Bolivia. In between my sightseeing in Rio, my mornings were spent going back and forth to Argentinian Embassy, checking if my visa has been issued or not(Argentina was the country I visited after Brazil). These bureaucracy were such a hassle and time wasting process as it was continuation since I was still in Auckland. In the end, they didn't even issue my visa in Rio, instead it was right on the border city of Foz do Iguasu a day before crossing over to Argentina! Such a nail biting moment!

There was so much to do in Rio, I stayed few days near Copacabana beach so I can just walk there from my hostel. I admit that I like people watching, but not in a creepy way. In Copacabana and other beaches scattered around Rio like Ipanema and Leblon, there were many characters and street vendors that were quite entertaining. Or there’s always beach volley ball match that I can watch. I talked occasionally to locals, trying to pick up few words of Portuguese. Brazilians are very friendly bunch. They always willing to help or strike up conversations. I took city tour for a day that took me to the landmark that is known as the most visited spot in Brazil, Christo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer. Standing tall around 38m on the highest point in Rio, you can see him from miles away at almost all part of this city. When the statue was lighted at night, he really looked like an angel from a distance. I then went to Escadaria Selaron that situated in Lapa. This is a famous staircase that was created by a Chilean Artist as dedication to Brazilian people. The stairs were covered in ceramics from around the world and in such a vibrant colour. Another landmark I visited was Pao de Acucar or Sugar Loaf mountain, situated on a peninsula. Good timing for all of us to arrive there before sunset. We took couple of cable cars to the highest point and secured a spot to watch the last light of Rio. Sunset was breathtaking. Panoramic city view with the orange and yellow color set in the background and peninsula on the other side. Easily decided as my favorite City sunset to date. I also took public transports to go around as Rio has good system for buses and metro. It's the best way to see daily life of local people.

Sugar Loaf Sunset

I moved from my hostel in Copabacana to Lapa district, it’s on the other side of the city. Lapa is famous for ample of Samba bars, Brazilian live music and old colourful buildings. In some area, dark alleys in Lapa can be dodgy and dangerous. There were few occasions of robbery etc. Nevertheless, it should not stop you to go out and have some Samba boogie. You just need to be aware at all times where you are and what’s around you. There was this one place that recommended to me by a girl I met when we were both soaking ourselves under the sun in Copacabana beach. It’s called Rio Scenarium. So I went there one night and just from seeing how the place looked from outside, I was already sold. This bar has three floors with interior like a museum. You can walk around the bars and admire all the craft and arts covering the walls. When the band started playing Samba music, everyone was just melting to the atmosphere, dancing, singing and pulling strangers to dance floor to dance the night away. I thought for once I was in trance and just joined in with the crowd. If you ever find yourself in Rio, don’t miss this place!

Escadaria Selaron(Selaron Steps)

I went to visit Favelas out of curiosity. Favelas itself is a word in Portuguese for slums. The biggest favelas that we visited was called Rocinha, there are about 200,000 people living in this poor neighbourhood. I joined up with “Be A Local” walking tour and with a local guide, we were wandering the very narrow and labyrinth-shaped alley ways from the top of the favelas. Seeing how they live their daily life, their tricks on how to get away from paying their electricity bills, visiting a day care centre, watching local boys performed Samba with just empty water gallons as instruments, watching how they built their shoe-box house on top of each other that can be up to six levels. It was such a mix feelings. Growing up in Indonesia, I’ve seen a lot of poverty myself. However, it’s still fascinating to see how people survive and live their everyday life as struggle yet still find goodness in it. There so many positive things about traveling and one of them is countless opportunities to connect with all human being regardless of who they are and where they live.

"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before" - Dalai Lama