Rio de Janeiro

Finally the last leg of the South American Trip. Rio de Janerio! This is where we all went our seperate ways but all had a great time before we did. I spent about 5 days in Rio which was an amazing city. It is full of big hills which have been turned into what are called 'favelas'. Here people live in a world of there own it seems. All of the favelas are linked to gangs and are places where a lot of dodgy stuff happens. I didn't venture into them due to the apparent danger and couldn't really afford to do a tour but you could see a lot from the strees at the bottom. The favelas are under guard by the police with machine guns, I think as more of a way to stop certain people leaving the favelas. You can get all sorts of illegal stuff from the favelas and apparently some of the richer favelas even have anti-air craft missiles for if the police try and fly over. It was amazing how this all existed in such a big city.

While in Rio I ventured to my first ever game of professional soccer at Maracana Stadium where we saw Flamengo play Gremio (two Brazilian teams). We also went to a street party in Lapa which was a pretty awesome experience. The street party occurs every Friday night and 35,000+ people fill the streets of Lapa and party until the morning. You could buy 2 shots of Tequila for 5 reals in the street and beer for 2 reals. Was awesome. Saw the area they hold the Rio Carnival as well. From the set-up they have I could just imagine how amazing the atmosphere would be at Carnival.

Saw a lot of other stuff in Rio as well. Is an amazing city to visit but by far the most expensive of all the places we went to in South America. Even though this was the case it didn't detract from the place and the things to see and do.

Me and Andrew sitting on the path right beside the beach of Copacabana drinking coconut juice straight from the coconut.

Copacabana Beach. One of the many beautiful white sand beaches in Rio.

This building was in the Plaza in the centre of Lapa. It had some really impressive architecture going on with a golden eagle on the roof. Unsure exactly what the building was.

Another of the buildings in the Plaza.

This here is the Catholic Church. Only took a picture because I couldn't believe it is a church. Apparently it took a lot of time before it was accepted by many catholics as being a church and many still don't visit it for mass. Went inside it as well during a mass. It is massive but only has one level. The rest of the space is wasted. It's as bland on the inside as it is on the outside.

These arches are in Lapa. Traffic flows through them and a tram runs across the top of them. Went on the Tram across them as well. Cost us 60cents and was a pretty wild ride hanging off the side of the tram and pulling yourself in as buses came toward you.

Saw some really impressive graffiti in Lapa on some of the buildings at the bottom of the Favelas. Saw this just before we got to the tiled stairs.

These stairs lead up into one of the Favelas and have been tiled all the way up by a guy from Chile. Is an amazing story if you get a chance to have a look into it as to why he has done this. His whole life since he entered Brazil has been dedicated to tiling these stairs. When he finishes one area he destroys all the tiles in another area and restarts the area with a new design. The stairs are covered in tiles from all over the world that have been sent to him by different people. The stairs are quite famous and are in the video clip for 'Beautiful' by Snoop Gogg and Pharell.

Here is just some of the tile work he has created. His work was so impressive it just has to be seen for yourself.

Actually managed to get a picture with the man himself. This wild looking dude is the guy that works every day of his life to create and maintain this amazing stair case. In this picture we are right at the top of the stairs in the Favela.

This is one of the most famous beaches of Rio. Ipanema. This was where most people went to swim, surf and sunbathe. Beautiful beach.

Looking across the city to the statue of Christ. (Christ the Redemer). Unfortunatly while we were in Rio they were cleaning Christ the Redemer and the statue was half covered in scaffolding.

This was as close as we got to Christ the Redemer due to bad weather but even though it was covered in scaffolding it was still pretty cool to see.

Looking across some of Rio. The mound in the distance to the left is sugar loaf mountain which has two cable cars going up to it for tourists to capture a 360 degree view of Rio.

Heres the view from Sugar Loaf mountain back toward Copacabana beach. Wasn't a great day up there but the views were pretty breathtaking. Well worth doing and a great way to capture the layout of Rio with all of its Favelas and high rises spread everywhere along the beach.