We arrived at Rio's GIG airport at 3:30 am and decided to hang out at the airport till dawn because we'd been warned about all the crime in Brazil so we thought it would be better to head to our hotel in daylight. After talking about catching a bus and looking for the bus stop, we negotiated with a cab to take us to our hostel Rio Surf n Stay. It was a pretty long journey and we got lost a bit but finally made it to our hostel in a lovely area less than a minute from Macumba beach and 5 minutes from the famed Prainha beach which is a surfers paradise. The only issue is that it is pretty far from downtown Rio, an hour and a half by bus! But we couldn't do anything about the distance thanks to my booking snafu.
Since we couldn't check in till 2 pm, we left our bags and headed back into town. The bus ride was pretty awesome as we drove right alongside the beaches and they are gorgeous. At one point, a group of about 6 teenage boys entered the bus completely drunk holding bottles of vodka in their hands singing and shouting. It was 8:30 am! But it's Carnival (or Carnaval as it's spelt here) time so I think for these 5 days, the authorities turn a blind eye to most antics. The next bus we were on had a guy passed out with just shorts on and his legs hanging out the window. The bus conductor tried waking him up and then the bus driver actually had to pull over to help. They didn't end up waking him but they pulled his legs back into the bus! Poor guy must've not had a penny left on him. Crazy.
We collected our Sambadrome tickets which I booked online in advance and actually managed to book the right date! Then we decided to head to Copcacabana beach with our Acai frozen juice which is really popular here. Copacabana was packkkked and it was still before 12 pm. We walked along the beach admiring the view and the many hot bodies around us. The best thing about Rio is that every one walks around in their bikinis or tiny Speedos, but not only just on the beach, even in the city center, in supermarkets etc. While there are lots of hotties, there also are many not very fit people but they just don't care and are so confident and happy with themselves. Since it's Carnival, everyone was in 'costumes' which mostly consisted of tiny swimming trunks and a cape for the boys, or boys wearing dresses and wigs. And for the girls, tiny shorts and a bikini top with some sort of ears or hat headgear.
We ate lunch at a random buffet restaurant and then continued walking to Ipanema beach. By this time, the beach was so packed that the main roads next to the beach were shut down and people had spilled over on to the road which was also packed. Everyone was having a great time dancing and singing, it was pretty much a block party before the party. Unfortunately we don't have a single picture as everyone warned us about taking our phones and cameras out. Rio Carnival is the biggest Carnival in the world and they estimate about 2 million people per day on the streets!
Finally at around 5 pm we decided to head back to Recreio and waited for over an hour for our bus. We were so tired but there were so many entertaining mad people to watch that it was okay. The funniest thing about the people here is their reaction to Bernie - it's like they've never seen a Chinese guy before. They come up to him and say "nihao" or do the Gangam Style!
Finally we got fed up of waiting for our bus so we just took the first one that showed up. It stopped at a massive shopping mall where we walked around a bit and finally took the second bus home. Back at the hostel, Bernie immediately fell asleep and me not much later. Day 1 in Rio during Carnival and we're both fast asleep by 8 pm!
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