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Thursday, August 9, 2012

It's a wrap - Brasil/U.A.E


Brasil / United Arab Emirates
24 December 2011 - 15 January 2012

43: The Tour of Awesome - WRAP



As has become standard for me when I've ended a trip I've taken to doing a last summary or a 'greatest hits' review whenever I managed to complete the final entry on the 'how, why, when and whatever else may have been alcohol related' blog series of my most recent escapades. Sticking with tradition and therefore adopting the same template that I've used in the past, see also;



I therefore bring you the close out of the Brasil/UAE experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. So without further ado, lets check the high, lows, hits and misses of 43: The Tour of Awesome!


Brasil-UAE - 'The Final'

Favourite places:  
Usually my favourite places is a city based list but as we didn't hop around from city to city this list is going to be a little bit of a mix.

1. Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - What can you say about Copacabana that isn't going to sound amazingly clichéd? Whilst it was rarity for us to have encountered a beautiful bluebird day on Copa, when the sun did hit those golden sands, well, you knew that there wasn't another place quite like it anywhere in the world. A glorious vista, ridiculously good looking people, fantastic vibes, great times. I loved my runs on the beach each day, raining or not. My only issue with Copa is the theme song that accompanies it in my mind! Damn, I can't get rid of that freakin' Barry Manilow song!!!

Copacabana on a sunny day - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

2. Paraty - (Brasil) - This old colonial town was so very laid back, your only way of surving was to bring your own pace WAY back down and take everything as slow as the town allowed for you to move. A beautiful place situated on Ilha Grande Bay, it serves as the launching point for many daily services out into the vast expanse of emerald green waters and lush rainforests. Truly spectacular!

The emerald green waters of Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil

3. Pão de Açúcar - Sugarloaf Mountain - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Rising some 396 mtrs, and quite audaciously at that from the Atlantic Ocean, this peak at the mouth of Guanabara Bay is iconic. Its posturing and cries for attention to the 'casual' passer by is more than earnt by the magnificent views of Rio  that it offers the traveller on any given day. Of course if you come to Rio you just have to make it to the top of Sugarloaf, the view just speaks for itself!


The view out over Guanabara Bay from Sugarloaf - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
4. Cristo Redentor - Corovado - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - So yes, it's full of tourists (me being one of them), and of course it's crowded, but it's tough to go past one of the newly named 7 wonders! No matter what your take on religion I think you need to appreciate that this fella certainly has a mighty view over the joint and does his best to keep things under control!

Cristo Redentor - Corovado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

5. Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - We only spent part of an evening here but the bars and the potential for good times was obvious. It kind of reminded me a little of San Sebastian or Barcelona, and you know that you can't ever go wrong in those places either.

Most Surprising

Prainha and Praia Grande - Paraty - (Brasil) - This little fishing village and it's covert, secluded beach associate were about a 500mtr abseil from the front door of the Resort Croce del Sud. Alright, slight exaggeration on the abseiling distance but the concept of 'vertical' is just a state of mind isn't it? I still kick myself for not having found more time in my stay to have parked my rear end on the deck of the bar in Prainha (or whatever the beach is called). It's the type of beach where I'm sure someone sat back on a lazy December afternoon and just thought to themselves, 'Man, a bar at that end of the beach would make this place perfect' - and hey presto, sometimes when you ask the universe it delivers in spades. God knows we had enough time in Paraty to have done absolutely anything we had wanted,  but again, I think the pace of life just got the better of us!

Epic beach, epic bar!



Coolest place for a night out

Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - I can only go with what we know, and we got to know Copacabana quite well. I'm sure Leblon, Ipanema and Lapa would have battled hard to be taken the top rated position here but it was just one of those things that we somehow didn't make it past first base, primarily due to the fact that the weather didn't really spark the sense of adventure or revelry in us. Still, if you want to drink on Copacabana or get your party on then I can guarantee that you'll be scoring party points as soon as the 'on' switch for that inner party animal is triggered.

Best Accommodation  

1. Resort Croce del Sud - (Paraty) - Brasil - The glorious view, the fantastic atmosphere, the amazing surrounds, it just made it a relaxed, chilled and absolute treat of an experience. I know it wasn't the fancy Kempinski in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai which Frichot nominated as his number one but I have the feeling that sleep deprivation got the better of him and his memory of the Croce del Sud is blighted by the incessant buzzing of errant Brasilian mosquitoes.
 
View from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

2. The Kempinski - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - United Arab Emirates - Without question this is a great place to stay. Great facilities, fantastic rooms, Ski Dubai virtually next door, the largest mall in the Emirates two steps from the front door. I know Frichot had this first on his list, and as you can see below, he's either telling me that it's number one, or, he's telling me that I can't believe I had this ranked at #2...My blog, my rules BIATCH!! ;)

'The Kempinski is #1 fool!' - Jet letting me know his rankings - Kempinski Hotel - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - U.A.E



Best place to get lost

Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - (Brasil) - Without question, you could spend weeks or even months exploring the wonders of Ilha Grande Bay - if only you knew how to sail! ...or could find someone that could sail on your behalf. It's a place of rare beauty and if you wanted to lose yourself to the world without truly caring, then you couldn't do much better than dropping out for a while here.


Ilha Grande Bay - Costa Verde - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil


Best drink


1. Caiparinha - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - The national drink of Brasil, made with sugar cane rum (cachaça), sugar and lime, it's THE drink of the beaches when in Rio. The devil inside this drink is not so much the cachaça itself but the amount utilised by bartenders up and down the coastline. This 'devils blood' will having you begging for sweet mercy the next day and will also have you asking yourself, 'where the hell is it that I left my pants!' - Oh yeah, caiparinha's equal good times!

2. Coconut water - Copacabana/Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - ubiquitous with the healthier clan of Rio, it's as freely available as a good 'ole fashioned caiparinha, a lot less damaging and does the job when quenching your thirst. Also, how cool is it to be drinking out of a coconut huh!?

3. Red wine - Alla Zingara Restaurante - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - Our evening at Alla Zingara was a welcome respite from the caiparinha infused masses on the beaches and our own cocktail infused evenings at Porto Bay. I'm sure the red wine was Chilean but it was just the tonic we needed to rid ourselves of the evil, evil cachaça for a night


Best meals

1. Seafood Bonanza - Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - (Brasil) - There's nothing quite like getting some fresh local seafood, having a few glasses of white wine and cooking up your own feast. The prawns and fish that we obtained from the local fishing village in Prainha was fresh and had a sweetness to it that I'd never experienced anywhere else. It was an absolute treat to cook up a dynamite meal and then afterwards just stroll out onto the balcony, wine in hand and gaze over the amazing view of Ilha Grande Bay from the Croce del Sude

2. Cervantes Bar/restaurante - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - An unpretentious bar and sandwich shop, serving wholesome and basic Brasilian fare between two slices of bread. These guys are the specialists in all things sandwich related, and the construction isn't complicated at all. They'll pile your reward high with tender and ridiculously delicious pork, beef, or chicken, perhaps throw on a slice of cheese and the omnipresent slice of abacaxi! Standing at the bar with a glass of the local brew and a Cervantes product in hand was basic but legendary all at once!


Cervantes bar/restaurant - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Here's the clip that Jetson took from Cervantes of him 'smashing' one
[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Cervantes]
 
3.  Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - (Brasil) - This small bar and restaurant situated directly on Guanabara Bay in the shadows of Sugarloaf is a fantastic place to grab some seafood, a few Brahma's and take in the breezes of the water whilst you soak up the view and the atmosphere. We spent a few hours here after our first failed attempt to make it up Sugarloaf and it was more than a credible alternative.
 
Bar Urca - Urca - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
 
Our guilty pleasure
 
Random cafe on Avenida Prado Junior - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - On most days JJ would head just downstairs to the local cafe and acquire three coffees and rolls filled with cheesy, eggy, meaty goodness. Not the healthiest way to start any day but damn those rolls were tasty and I tend to think that the owner had a little bit of a 'thing' for JJ even though her Portuguese was non-existant and his English skills were non-existant. Still, the 'language of love' is spoken everywhere and I'm sure the two had a 'mutual understanding!'.
 
Best Bars
 
1. Rooftop Bar -Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - By far the best bar of our trip, providing great views of Copacabana from its Level 23 locale, decent bar service, good drinks and laid back vibe. We spent a few nights sinking the sun with our cocktails and had one night in particular where we all drowned our sorrows regarding the weather by somehow inhabiting the rooftop pool, whilst fully clothed. Sometimes it just has to be done!
 
Rooftop bar - Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
 
 
2. Mosaic Chill bar - Kempinski Hotel - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - (UAE) - Dubai is just full of disturbingly amazing bars, full of swank, swagger and outlandish drinks. We discovered none of them other than the one in our hotel, which happily had just the sense of comfort and vibe that we needed for a couple of nights.
 
Mosaic chill bar - Kempinski Hotel - Dubai - UAE

3. Random wine bar - Paraty - (Brasil) - One late afternoon as Frichot was cooling his feet back at the Croce del Sud, JJ and I were working our way through the streets of Paraty when we stumbled on a cool wine bar where somehow a 5 min stayed turned into three hours. With the afternoon sun well out of sight and a couple of bottles to the good we wondered how exactly we had been transported into the future in that 5 min spell - red wine - it'll do it to you every time!
 
Best Video
 
Without question, the video that Jetson put together of our helicopter ride over Rio wins hands down. If you haven't seen it then take 7 mins and 9 seconds out of your day to check it out. Music provided by his band SPEEDBALL.
 
[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Helicopter ride to Cristo Redentor]
 

Best Photo taken by someone that's not me & Best Photo

Usually these two  categories are split but on this occasion JJ takes out honours for best photo with a snap that she took of me whilst we were out dune bashing on our Desert Safari in Dubai. I absolutely love the silhouette and the vibrant colours of the sky in this shot. Nice work on this one JJ!



1. On the dunes - Dubai - UAE (photo by Janelle Jordan)

Best photos - position 2 to 5


2. Copacabana from Porto Bay - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Great views, great sunset, love the colours in this one


3. Jardin Botanico - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

I'm a total sucker for B&W shots and I think this is pretty close to the best one I took on our little excursion


4.View over Botofogo, Sugarloaf and out to the Atlantic - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

You can't beat the natural beauty of Rio and I think this does it justice even though the weather really wasn't assisting in anyway


5. Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil



There's something kind of mystical and magical about this shot. Sometimes the weather doesn't work for you in a photo and occasionally, as per the clouds in this photo, it can add to the weight of atmosphere that conjures up something intriguing.




Coolest moments  
1. Flight around Rio to Cristo Retendor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - It's almost like we had collectively earnt this moment. Rio had us pinned in by rain for days and it was starting to break us. We were all hoping for just the one 'perfect' day which would allow us to get airborne and experience this glorious city from the sky, and then 03 JAN 2012 rolled around, it actually happened! It was an unforgettable experience, and if you happen to check Frichot's video above under the Best Video category it won't take long to figure out why.
 
2. New Year's Eve - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - The damn rain had such an impact on NYE and our expectations that what should have been THE best evening of our ttrip turned into something that was relatively mediocre. Sitting under beach umbrellas on Copa, getting soaked, not being in the best of spirits was not the way to finish a year, but then the New Year erupted in a fierce explosion of colour and splendour. If you ever get the chance to experience an NYE in Rio then do it, and make sure you also do it from a cool rooftop bar somewhere (just a heads up).
 
Check out Jet's video of NYE fireworks here
[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - NYE Fireworks Rio]
 
Welcome to 2012 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

3. Cruising Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil - This was one 'chilled' afternoon, easy drinks, easy day, easy lifestyle...and easy way. The colours of the Costa Verde are unique and spectacular. The emerald greens of the water and the surrounding forests are a treasure and not something that will be quickly forgotten.


Cruising Ilha Grande Bay - Paraty - Brasil
 
4. The view from Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - We had one failed attempt to make the summit, driven away by enormous crowds that had taken advantage of the complete randomness of the emergence of the sun. Our second attempt was early the following day and our gamble to beat the crowd and weather paid off.
 
 
The view to the small Red Beach and Copacabana beyond over Mt.Leme - from Sugaloaf -Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

5. Catching up with one of the New World 7 - Cristo Redentor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - What more can you say about a 33mtr statue of Christ overlooking your hometown other than, 'that's pretty damn cool'

Cristo Redentor - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil



Uncoolest Moment
Getting beaten down by the rain, Lapa - Rio de Janeiro. We had something like a week of rain, it had mortally attacked all of our plans and along with our frayed nerves we collectively encounter moments of depression whilst lunching at some random cafe in Lapa. It only last a few minutes before we snapped out of it but still it was 'uncool'.


Losing our patience and losing our cool - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Best Comeback

1. H.Elisher - morning 1 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - Our first night in Rio involved copious amounts of the national beverage. I mean so much so that our number 1 'most random but still cool event' comes as a result of caiparinha carnage, but I have to say that the best comeback of the tour comes my way the next morning. Somehow escaping what should have been the monster of al hangovers, which JJ and Jetson were experiencing on my behalf, I decided to jump out of bed and get some exercise by running the length of Cobacabana beach, 2.5kms up, and 2.5kms back on soft sand and veins full of alcohol.

2. The appearance of the Golden Orb - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - After being beaten from pillar to post with the weather, the appearance of the sun was one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Obviously I'm a bit biased with naming myself at number one but as I said earlier, my blog, my rules!!

Most random but still cool event

1. J.Jordan - night 1 - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil - We had literally been drinking for hours, having commenced somewhere close to 7pm the day before. Nearing 3am and discussing the benefits of locating our abode on Avenida Prado Junior, one J.Jordan offers up this is an option to myself and Jet, 'Hey, why don't we go to the strip joint near our place, you two boys should just get it out of your system now!' - WTF? lol...I'm not sure what JJ was driving at, it was obviously a completely random option for her to go with but hey, sometimes its the left of field calls that come home with the goods.


Travel breakdown  

Total number of flights - 4  

Total flying hours - 58hrs  

Total time spent in airports - 17hrs  

Total number of bus rides - 3  

Total number of helicopter flights - 1  

Total helicopter flying time - 12 mins - helicopter wait time (3.5hrs)  

Distance travelled in kms - 50,240kms  

The number of times Cristo Retendor hid behind clouds - 372  

There we have it, that's a wrap of '43: The Tour of Awesome'. It was a lot of fun, good times were had and I'm glad that I was able to do some of what I missed on doing in 2010.
 
Now it's back to the drawing board for me, the initiation of plans, destinations and collaborations. So watch this space, I could be taking off whilst you least expect it!
 

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dubai - The 'Durqa Durqa'

Paraty (Brasil) - Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - Sydney (Australia)
09 - 14 January 2012

Dubai is one of those places where the boundaries of absurd and the crazy are constantly reformulated by the key components of imagination and money. When they interact it's done in an environment of high paced frenzied construction, under a blistering Arabian sun which seems to have permanent residence on the Persian Gulf and of course utilising physical labour borrowed from its sub-continental cousins. It's a city that has undergone prodigious transformation over the last 30 years. From what was known as nothing more than a glorified fishing port, what was once just an Arabian backwater has turned into a town that's fuelled by slick oil money. It's a place that has exploited its own resources with a ridiculous degree of success and with even more ridiculous outcomes. To me however I still don't get how you exactly  decide to build a massive palm tree of sand, soil and substance into the Persian Gulf? How do you decide that constructing the tallest building in the world will garner the elements needed so as to be one of the keys to your economic success? So it's 50 degrees outside? No problems we say, Ski Dubai inside in -2 degree temperatures and go year round boarding/skiing. In Dubai the rules don't apply, well, they didn't apply prior to 2009. It's a funny thing how economic karma can truly be a bitch! But I'll get back to that.


Dubai - United Arab Emirates


On the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates (awesome shot JJ!)

We left the laid back Paraty in our travel dust sometime around mid-afternoon and headed back up the coast to Rio. Our late night flight to Dubai (actually it was close to 3am when we left), was still hours away, so too was the bus station. The central bus station in Rio is an inconvenient amount of time from anywhere that you would like to be, which means there's a catch to arriving in that period of indetermination when you can't quite find the sense in travelling to get somewhere else, i.e., Copacabana, only to turn around and come back almost immediately. Our last few hours in Rio involved blank stares, white tiled floors with the pungent smell of ammonia, and an ordinary game of football between Botofogo and some other humdrum local side. Our time at the airport was just as 'extraordinary', so lets roll forwards about 15 hours.....


Rio International Airport - Frichot getting ready for the ride back - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Cruising through an early Dubai evening and gliding along Sheikh Zayed Rd kind of reminded me of Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, in Lost in Translation. Not that I think that I'm past my prime as yet! Just that I remember his character silently moving through the evening as the circus which is Tokyo completely surrounds him with its cacophony of bright lights and human movement. Dubai is like that, constant construction, tunnels of high rise advertisements dedicated to its commercial success, bright lights, constant movement. I've always enjoyed arriving to unfamiliar or relatively unfamiliar surrounds at night. The night wraps you with its own cloak of apprehension and burdens you&nbsp with an uneasy expectation.


Welcome to the Kempinski Mr.Elisher


Sunrise in Dubai - United Arab Emirates


The main run of Ski Dubai, from the OUTSIDE! This is as close as we got!

Our digs for our short stay in Dubai was to be the Kempinski Hotel at the Mall of the Emirates, chosen for two reasons primarily. The first being that Ski Dubai is actually part of the complex and the second being that it had a range of bars that wouldn't involve for than a short transfer between floors and an equally short walk. Really, how can you go past a bar that's named Mosaic Chill? It's got to be worth a visit or several right? Oh, and being a little 'swanky' I really wanted to see what sort of reception Frichot's hairstyle would receive - if it was going to be anything like Vietnam then this guy was going to be the next Rock God in the U.A.E!




Frichot and his new groupies - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Jet lag sometimes catches you unaware. Even when sleep isn't the foremost thing on your mind the lethargy and slowness that inhabits your bones just crushes any sort of drive that you might have to do something moderately adventurous. In those first two days we somehow managed to ditch Ski Dubai on several occasions as our drive just didn't match the grand state of our ideas. It was disappointing that we didn't somehow syphon our collective fortitude and deposit it into a chilled experience that was virtually on our doorstep. We did manage to capture Frichot downing some ridiculously named and constructed burgers in the Mall of the Emirates and also managed to get to the tallest building on the planet, the 829.84mtr tall Burj Khalifa (also known as the 'Durqa Durqa' or 'Durka Durka' in Frichot parlance). Somehow however our mojo had been soaked up by the 14hr interchange between Rio and Dubai, and all those amazing bars that I had in my mind to attack would have to wait until another date of arrival. For an Islamic state, a fairly  liberal one admittedly, there number of 'great' bars in this town is unbelievable. Almost worth the price of entry to Dubai just for that.


The Burj Khalifa, all 829.84mtrs of it - Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Don't get Frichot angry - he takes out buildings!


The Burj Khalifa at night - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Frichot with more mates!


Victory at the Burj!


Our nights were successfully spent inhabiting the Mosaic Chill bar  at the Kempinski in any case. I guess if you don't have it within you to search for glory then you might as well bring it into your house. It's kind of a shame, I did have us locked into the a drinks evening at the Burj Al Arab Skybar for our second night, but those plans also managed to float out into the Persian Gulf somewhere along the line.


Mosaic Bar - Kempinski Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

As is the occurrence on most holidays, the end dawns all too quickly and this was to be no exception. Our last full day was spent on a 4WD safari, 'dune bashing'  in the waves of sand that reside a short ride away from the city centre. None too surprising really, this is the Arabian peninsula and desert country is kind of the norm in these parts. At least we managed to 'get up' for that event, even though it didn't involve us doing too much more than sitting in the seats of vehicle whilst the driver tried to his best to roll his vehicle on the dunes. Of course it didn't happen but man I would have love to have seen it.


Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Dune bashing - Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Sunset over the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates


Dubai - United Arab Emirates

 
A few hours later we were back at Al Maktoum international airport, already reminiscing and dreaming up possibilities for future escapades....'43: The tour of awesome' had come to a close and it had been a blast. As I've already mentioned I'm sure, I feel more than lucky to have been able to finish off part of what I wanted to do/see back in 2010 and to have done it with some great friends...and as for my next escapade? Well watch this space? A friend of mine recently said that I seem to be able to put things out into the universe and oddly enough it appears to listen and respond. So I've put my request in and I've got the sneaking suspicion that I could be away shortly!


...and that's a wrap folks!!!!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Paraty - the pace of life project

Paraty (Brasil)
06 - 08 January 2012

A few years ago I recall reading an experiment that was undertaken by the British Council in which researchers travelled to major cities of the world and measured the average time that it took for people to walk a distance of 60ft (approximately 19 mtrs). The data set applied in each city involved 35 randomly chosen men, and 35 randomly chosen women, with the parameters being that the area chosen to assist in the statistical measurement of the 'pace of life' would need to be a busy street in a major city, free from obstacles and also be sufficiently uncrowded so as to allow individuals to be able to hit their maximum walking speed over the distance set. The hypothesis from the data retrieved was that a pedestrians' measured speed could somehow be a reliable indicator of the pace of life in a city. Additionally the data would also somehow show that in fast moving cities people are far less likely to help others and in one more intruiging quirk, fast paced cities also had higher rates of coronary heart disease.

I often wonder how organisations such as the British Council conjure up experiments that often seem to be quite whimsical and capricious. I sometimes imagine good 'ole chaps such as Winston and his buddies from Carrington Hall, sitting back in their Chesterfields, puffing on their Cohiba Behike's, working their way through a Remy Martin Louis, and coming up with fantastic ideas by which they would be 'officially' allowed to indulge themselves in the realm of exotic world travel for the sake of science and the further understanding of the strange beings which we happen to be. I have the odd suspicsion that a conversation amongst Winston and his dear old chums as to the viability of an experiment might go something like this....

'Rodrick, listen to this idea, we'll put to the council that we travel to say 50 cities around the world,we'll sit in cafes having macchiatos for the afternoon and just time how long it takes say, 70 people to walk past us' ...

'Why Winston, what a wonderfully scrumptuous and mischievious idea. I'll get the heads of the Council for Arbitrary Nonsense together at once, tally ho!'

Still, if you want to know the outcome of that experiment, it goes a little something like this

Top 5 for SPEED
1. Singapore (Singapore)  10.55 secs
2. Copenhagen (Denmark)   10.82 secs
3. Madrid (Spain)                   10.89 secs
4. Guangzhouu (China)         10.94 secs
5. Dublin (Ireland)                   11.03 secs

Bottom 5
5. Damascus (Syria)           14.94 secs
4. Amman (Jordan)             15.95 secs
3. Bern (Switzerland)          17.37 secs
2. Manama (Bahrain)          17.69 secs
1. Blantyre (Malawi)          31.60 secs

Seriously Blantyre, what's going on in your world? When did your entire population 'check out' of life? I recommend that you find something to do, collectively, and spice up your society. I'll write to Winston and Rodrick, I'm sure they have a project that they're just waiting to unleash on you....aside from all of this garble however, what the hell does it have to do with Paraty you're asking yourself? Well to me at least it was quite noticeable that Paraty operated on Island Time, or should I perhaps restate it to, time in accordance to the Blantyre factor. The pace of life on the Costa Verde was S-L-O-W, but the type of slow that embraced you and drew you into its pervasive and all conquering ways. This quaint colonial town located on the Bay of Ilha Grande, had that charming and casual sensibility that somehow infiltrated your own cells and forced you to slow down through the enforced changing of your own internal fabric.

View out onto the Bay of Ilha Grande - Costa Verde - from the Resort Croce del Sud


JJ & Jetson - pace of life at a stand still - Paraty - Brasil


Historic town centre - Paraty - Brasil


Historic town centre - Paraty - Brasil




Paraty - Brasil

Walking around the well worn cobble-stone streets in the historic centre, appreciating the colonial architecture and getting moderately beaten by the humidty and heat, our pace of life was frequently truncated by our need for alcoholic refreshment and inspiration. Not that any of us minded the challenging framework of Brasilian style being that we set ourselves. With increasingly slower movement we managed the purcgase of seafood and wine for an evening fiesta and made our way back to the Southern Cross where we watced the sun fall away over the rainforest covered hills. I think that if someone had taken a measure of my rate of movement in Paraty during those days they would have quickly followed up with a check of my pulse!

07 January

Sunrise from the Croce del Sud
If our previous day didn't quite live up to the all pervasive chilled vibe that we expected from Paraty, well, the next day almost put us into a euphoric coma (is that a contradiction? Probably, but I'm sticking with it). On this day we jumped onto one of the many local boats/yachts that depart on daily adventures of Ilha Grande Bay from Paraty and spent something close to 6hrs gliding across the emerald green waters of the surrounding bays.

Yeah, I'm on a boat! - Paraty - Brasil


'Oh sh*t! Get your towels ready because it's about to go down!'


The colonial town of Paraty - Brasil

Being out on the water of Ilha Grande just made you appreciate the Costa Verde for all that it was worth. I don't recall a place that I have ever been to previously where I've seen rainforest simply cascade from the surrounding hills into the majestically coloured water. Not only was it completely tranquil and peaceful, and not only were we now graciously being served by the weather which had decided to support us in our cause, but the water of the bay was a perfect temperature that allowed you to get your swim on. Additionally, I don't think that I ever recall seeing water equivalent to the brilliant emerald green of the bay of Ilha Grande. It was breathtaking.

Ilha Grande Bay - Brasil


Emerald Green water of Ilha Grande (magnificent) -Brasil





When you're travelling, they're the types of days that are the exception to the rule. Not so much for the fact that other days don't match up, because they do, but more due to the fact that creating a day without expectation and being surprised by what it ends up delivering is always a golden reward. To quote myself, from a line that I wrote in relation to Madrid, 'Sometimes planning things can be the death of enjoyment because what you end up deducting is the very aspect of surprise and chance that you searched for to begin with' -  I think our day out on the water absolutely caught me by surprise in what it offered, and also for the fact that I saw Frichot get out into the water also! What the? Unexpected much!!?


Ilha Grande Bay - Brasil


Splish-splash - Rockin' the emerald waves of the Costa Verde!

Ilha Grande Bay - Costa Verde - Brasil

08 January

Each morning at the Resort Croce del Sud we were delivered an amazing breakfast which consisted of fruit juices, various types of breads, and combinations of sweet and savoury offerings from the Lucas's wife, offerings which the three of us could never get through. On our final full day in Paraty I think it was either the enormity of the breakfast, or perhaps the sleep deprivation that finally got the better of Jetson, but he decided to inhabit the inside of the unit for the day whilst JJ and I cruised on into Paraty for a little souveneir hunting.

Now I always find souvenir hunting a chore. Unless something really jumps out at me I hate having to walk around without a real aim and be driven solely by my moral compass. Somehow you feel that it has to be 'shown' that you were thinking of someone whilst you were away and then proof comes in the degree of gift that you manage to conjure up for your peeps hours after your homeward flight has touched down. I think in future I'm going to make my friends and family sign a contract that mutually binds us to strict terms of not having to purchase gifts unless the gift bought is absolutely 'legendary'. That is the only fair way of getting off the program,saving pain, time and unnecessary funds whilst on holidays for items that really won't ever be utilised again. There's only so many 'I love Uruguay' t-shirts that I can buy! REALLY!!

With the mind numbing task of souvenir harassment out of the way JJ and I got ourselves into the 'primo' mode of lunch, chased down by a few bottles of wine. It was just the the trigger that we needed, as our wanderings after this lead us to an exquisite wine bar where the service was impeccable, if not disarmingly odd. JJ and I sat at the bar for hours, with JJ blabbering to one of the staff in English, the staff member responding to her in Portuguese, and me understanding only the common bits of Spanish that I knew but the both of them somehow getting totally in depth about life,love and all things female. At one point the Brasilian lady took it upon herself to give me a stern talking to for calling JJ 'loco'.....'C'mon lady, you've been talking to her for the last 3 hrs! You KNOW that she is, give this man a break!!!'

Several hours later we slipped out of the bar into what was already early evening. I recall looking around and simply thinking, 'Hey man, where has that sun gone!' and then automatically feeling sorry for Jetson because he was going to have to put up with two drunken upstarts when we got back home who when affected by alcohol love to argue! It's just in our DNA, what can you do!?

Sunset from the Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

Somehow the night turned into an oddity in  that I manged to rip out what I thought was quite a sensational seafood meal with the goods we had acquired in Paraty, JJ and I held of on any drunken one upsmanship in the argument stakes, and for an additional trick we tried to locate the owner of a mobile phone that we had acquired somewhere along the line. I pity those poor Portuguese speaking bandits that had to try and decipher my guerilla Spanish for the several hours that they continually called the phone in order to resolve its whereabouts. Ah Paraty, you're sensationally chilled, attractive, and have a rebellious dash of good old fashioned pirate in you. I would have loved to have stayed longer but the relaxation coma that you would have put me into may have been something from which I would never have returned!



Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Paraty - The Southern Cross

Rio de Janeiro - Paraty (Brasil)
05 January 2012

Sometimes I quite like being the isolationist. I can easily allow myself to contemplate and meander through those real, surreal and errant thoughts in my mind for hours on end. I could gaze both longingly and forlornly out onto mountain ranges, desert plains and nautical miles of ocean. I'm totally OK with being in my own space without the need of company, so much so that if I allowed that line of thought to continue for a period of time I could quite easily become the quintessential hermit. I believe that occasionally social butterflies need to be shot out of the sky for the simple fact that their constant need for recognition and attention irritates the living daylights out of me. This outlook, although perhaps slightly warped, is why I can make sense of a man wanting to spend those crucial years of his life building and then sailing his yacht around the globe. Spending endless days on the timeless ocean, allowing oneself to to break lose from economic or social melodramas, I get how someone could fall for the solitude of the ocean. This in fact was the life of an Italian man (Luca), who was the owner of the resort Croce del Sud - (Cross of the South or Southern Cross), that we were to stay in over the next 5 days, about 20kms outside of the old colonial town of Paraty. I'll get back to Luca and his story in a little while.

Our time in Rio had unfortunately come to an end and whilst the rain had damaged its obvious potential there's nothing that could damage its glorious reputation in my mind. It didn't quite pull me into its web of seduction in the same way that a Buenos Aires can and does,nor did it wrap me up in a cloud of mystery in the manner of a Marrakech, but Rio is attractive, laid back and obviously knows how to get its party on when required. I've ticked you on my future 'to do' list Rio, and I'll be back with reinforcements sometime very soon.

Incidentally, do you know how difficult it is to acquire bus tickets in Brasil from outside of the country? It's a task that nearly drove JJ and I to breaking point before arriving in Rio. Trying to arrange the 4hr transit down to Paraty online was more than a mission, it was a lesson in the mechanics of coping with frustration without unnecessarily fatally damaging your own property. Vexing, annoying and futile! Actually, 'counterintuitive' would be the perfect description. Why Brasil, why do you bossanova bandits make it so difficult for us mere mortals? Still, we found out, as I probably should have realised, that just rocking up to a bus station and acquiring tickets is far less painful.This is what we did for our return leg thankfully. For our straight journey south however we were already locked and loaded, aiming at the once Portuguese colonial town of Paraty which carves out its little niche in this world along the Costa Verde (Green Coast). It's a place that had been recommended to me by my once salsa partner in crime Paula, and had originally been earmarked on my now fatal 2010 tour. This time it was getting taken out!


Overlooking Pararty Bay from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil


Overlooking Pararty Bay from the Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil


As most people who travel with me are aware, put me on anything that moves and I'll inevitably find a way to fall asleep. The four hour run down to Paraty was nothing more than a nap, so much so that when I saw the bus pull up right in front of the driveway to the Resort Croce del Sud I thought I was having quite a vivid daydream. For some reason the bus stopped for a few minutes longer than anticipated and I made what I thought to be the 'obvious' decision, that we should bust out of the bus and forgo the additional 20km run into Paraty because it would only mean having to find our way back. What I was also aware of was that the walk from the start of the driveway (in fact it was a road shared by other estates), to the actual resort was 500mtrs. I knew that. What I didn't know was that the 500mtrs was almost vertical!! It was 2mins into our walk that 'perfect male reasoning' was decimated by the reality of humidity and gravity. We turned up to the actual driveway of the resort in clothes that would not have been fit for Aquaman to wear. When Luca greeted us it was with a glassful of dismay at the fact that these ignorant Australians had decided on attacking the slopes 'freestyle' - 'Oh yeah Luca, we're hard nuts that aren't partial to reading, why would you want to have all the information available when you can find out first hand how much of an idiot you are'. Usually when I make mistakes of this calibre I come out with the line, 'Well, this is how you earn it'. Of course a taxi ride would have sufficed and I would have been happy for the driver to have earned the 40 Riel's which we saved in our 'enterprising' fashion.


The view from the back of the unit - Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil


Resort Croce del Sud - Paraty - Brasil

The units/flats, or whatever you would like to call them were amazing however. Not so much for their facilities but for the fact that they had such a commanding view out over the bay of Paraty. The idea of chilling was not a decision that had to be made, it was something that was virtually going to be forced on us. It's a place where the rolling hills and mountains of rain forest effortlessly cascaded into the bay, and where you could hear the receding echo of fishing boats making their way out for another working day. This place was going to be very easy to get use to.

On our first afternoon we managed to walk back down the hill and into the small fishing village of Prainha and then onto the small secluded beach of Praia Grande. Now this beach to me was absolutely perfect. Emerald green waters, completely surrounded by rain forest, pristine sand and a bar not 20mtrs from the waters edge! How we didn't spend more than one afternoon just lazing around or drinking ourselves into a rain forest inspired drunken coma is beyond my comprehension. It's definitely one of my regrets for the time that we spent there but it also leaves the opportunity of having to make it up to myself at some distant point in the future.


Prainha - Costa Verde - Brasil


Jetson and JJ on the beach in Prainha - Costa Verde - Brasil


Now explain to me how we only spent the ONE afternoon on this beach

That initial evening on our balcony, glasses of wine in hand, gazing out over the bay was just E-A-S-Y. The taste of victory from walking back up the hill from the fishing village was captured perfectly in several glasses of white and also in the food that we managed to retrieve whilst down in Prainha. It's kind of obvious but when you're in a fishing village you go with their local produce right! ....and that decision was NOT a mistake. The fish and prawns that we picked up that afternoon was some of the sweetest and most 'delightful' (yes, I used that word), that I've ever had. Thankfully our flat gave us the opportunity to cook up a storm whenever we felt inspired by our environment and the way that it turned out we ended up dancing to a sweet seafood symphony every night.


Afternoon session over the bay - I think that's JJ hitting her head and expressing her overwhelming disappointment as to the situation she was now in!


Evening on its way - Resort Croce del Sud - Costa Verde - Brasil


A score with the local produce!

So, back to the story of Luca, the owner of the resort. Now apparently his life story took a turn when he entered the bay of Paraty. Somehow the Costa Verde had her way with him and decided on his behalf that his being was going to occupy this space for a while. Now this is the part that amazes me, whilst in Paraty he made his decision to stay, found himself a wife, had a couple of kids and set himself up with a ridiculous resort in a 'ridiculous' location. Of course he sold his yacht, the original Croce del Sud, which the resort was named after but what a freakin' sea change! Luca, you're kind of an oddball but much respect for following your instincts!