The bus from Buenos Aires to Rio takes fully 48 hours. So you’ll be pleased to know that I went by plane instead. (It was my first time flying with Emirates and they have immediately attained Favourite Airline status. Recommended to one and all.)
I’m now staying in a district called Laranjeiras. I got my hair cut shortly after arriving: the barber didn’t speak English or Spanish, and like most tourists here I haven’t bothered to learn a word of Portugese, but fortunately my particular hairdressing needs are very easy to communicate in sign language. In lieu of mid-haircut conversation, the barber plonked an issue of Playboy into my lap for me to read. I’m more of a Spectator man personally, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so while he shaved my head I duly leafed through some interesting examples of the same techniques applied elsewhere.
South America has been a blast, and I don’t just mean watching ‘South Park’ dubbed in Spanish, or the amusing snap-crackle-pop you get every time you plug anything into a socket. I know this blog has sometimes been a bit sour over the past two months, and certainly all along I’ve been missing home and looking forward to seeing everyone again, but there genuinely hasn’t been any time at which I’ve ever felt like I actually wanted to be at home instead. And even the low points – cold places with no heating, hot places with no aircon, dodgy buses, dodgier bus stations, several bedbugs, more than one cockroach, that bloody guinea pig – become amusing and character-forming memories with the benefit of hindsight. I don’t have any regrets, just a list of places I missed this time that I intend to come back and visit within a couple of years, and indeed a list of places I did visit that I'm definitely going to return to one day; and also a resolution that next time I’m bringing a proper camera with me.
In the meantime, tomorrow I'm going for one last stroll down the Copacabana, one last look up at the statue of Christ the Redeemer, and one last ice cream. For the road.
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A sandwich bought in the
departure lounge before flying out of Buenos Aires. £5.50!!!
Epic airport fail.
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The Maracana stadium, in the midst of
being rebuilt.
I actually paid about £7 for the privilege of taking this photo.
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This guy was always in a league of his own, ha ha ha ha. See what I did?
(Maracana football museum).
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Somewhere in this picture there may well
be a show girl, whose name is Lola…
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…whereas this picture definitely contains the girl
from Ipanema.
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Looks like this pigeon pulled in Ku club
last night! (Historical Sunderland joke.)
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| The Rio-Niteroi Bridge in the distance. It's 8 miles long. |
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| Rio at sunset, as seen from across the harbour in Niteroi. The statue of Christ is atop the high peak on the left. |
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| Jesus Christ! |
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| Rio at sunset, from Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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| Rio at night, from Sugar Loaf Mountain. Please just squint and imagine this was taken with a good camera. I did my best. |
