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!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - King XXL Burger]

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - The Mega Mac]

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!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Burj Khalifa & fountain show]

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.

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Desert Safari]

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!!!!

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!

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!

Rio de Janeiro - Delta blues and the perfect day

Rio de Janeiro (Brasil)
01 January - 04 Janaury 2012

New Years Day for me didn't automatically conjure up images of places, events and spaces that I inhabited for that portion of the day. In fact I had to default to the diary of Jetson, the master of all things discretely personal in a chronological sense for him to be able to advise me that we spent the evening at the rooftop bar at Porto Bay (huge surprise huh). I have the feeling however that this was the night that we ALL ended up in the pool fully clothed and staggered through the lobby dripping wet, with our dignité somewhat tarnished but with our reputations as the 'funky cool crew' fully well earnt amongst the staff. The question that I put to myself now, on reflection, is why the hell do I end up in hotel pools fully clothed on New Years Day? It's turning into quite a common event! Please see [Skybar dive - Kuala Lumpur - New Year's morning].

Rio pop art: My photo + iSkills = PopCristo!

02 January

Rain, again. Continuous, relentless, soul destroying, crushingly disappointing rain. We had lived with it since our arrival on the 26th of December, and it had continued, virtually unabated and without the slightest bit of remorse until this morning. We had attempted to outplay and outwit the earth mother and her sullen mood by recruiting the universe to act as a pawn in our feeble attempt to bluff our way out of the pertaining weather pattern. Our 'idea' was NOT to go to one of the myriad of umbrella selling bandits lining the streets who were anticipatin a riel  bonanza with the onset of the rain, in the hope, in the pathetic hope actually, that by not buying an umbrella we were not caving into the demands of the weather. We were still anticipating and in our own way aspiring to obtain a perfect Rio Summer day or several prior to our departure on the 5th and so this way of holding out was keeping those oddball hopes alive.....yeah, well the idea kind of lasted 10 mins until we all crumbled and parted with some riel in order to target severak good ole fashioned Rio umbrellas. Damn you Rio, damn you for forcing our hand on that call!

Sandwich makers of extreme meat 'epicness' - Cervantes - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro

The pain of rain - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

The moment in time where we all lost it!

After the obligatory morning breakfast from our local cafe downstairs and some connection time on the 'internets' we hit Cervantes for a dose of meaty pork goodness and then headed into Lapa with the intention of checking out Santa Teresa and perhaps a few other sites. I'm not sure when the collective depression struck or whether we just hadn't noticed it but I recall we were in a bar/restaurant on the outskirts of Lapa, looking out onto another bleak Rio day, the rain starting to really bucket down and I think we all collectively 'lost it'. It was one of those rare moments when all three of us came to a crushing halt. For 15 minutes there we all were thinking 'F**k this and F**k you Rio! You've played us hard!'. It was nothing that a few beers couldn't fix though. We rallied, got up and got back into the game soon after, attacking the nearby Escadaria Selaron.

Escadaria Selaron - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Escadaria Selarón is a set of world-famous steps designed by the Chilean born artist Jorge  Selarón who got sick of the dilapidated nature of the stairs that ran outside of his home and commenced work on designing, brightening and offering his tribute to the Brasilian people through is tiled artistry. The first time I ever saw these stairs was in a video film clip, and you've probably guessed it, it was in [Snoop Dogg's - Beautiful], and yes, Mr Dogg spells his surname with a double g! It's a g-thang! Then MY BOYS delivered these stairs to me in [Walk On - U2], after which it was always going to make my 'to do' list.

...And it's a pretty cool spot. Knowing the reason for its existence now and how/why Jorge originally scavenged for the tiles from various construction sites, it makes you think that even an oddball Chilean man can have his impact on the world in his own unique way. The stairs themselves split the neighbourhoods of Lapa & Santa Teresa, and the work, just like the harbour bridge, is constantly in progress. Jorge is always at it, finishing off a section and then commencing another section, redoing, recreating. On the day that we were there JJ actually pointed Jorge out to me, as he's known to be working on the stairs constantly. It took me a little while to either believe or register the fact that this was the case but our little JJ, she was right on the money with Jorge and is locale!

We climbed the stairs and up into Santa Teresa as the rain started to back off. As the light of the dat faded and the street lighting began to take hold we climbed a little further into Santa Teresa, probably a little unsafely considering Rio's penchant for petty crime. Somewhere on those streets we encountered a Paolo Coehlo look alike who asked us we were were from and then added, 'You know, this is not Sydney, this is Rio, you have to be careful'...and with those kind words of warning we descended back into one of the bars in Lapa for a few glasses of the local brew before jumping a ride back to Copacabana.

Bleak streets - Santa Theresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

03 January - the perfect day

If the second day of the year was a lesson in what Rio shouldn't be and what we didn't want from the weather then the 3rd day was EPIC! It was THE perfect Rio day. Sun kissed, warm, inviting and perfect for us to reason that if ever we were going to jump a helicopter in order to take a ride of this aesthetically stunning city then today was going to be the day!

The group decision to take to the air was inspired. I think there was the briefest moment when we considered to postpone for a day or so but we came to our senses quickly and realised that even though the rain had been scared off for the day a return serve was already on its way in.

I don't need to put into words what this aerial escapade actually gave to us and what it did for our mood because Jetson has been kind enough to deliver it to you via YouTube with his band Speedball playing as musical support to the visuals! Enjoy the clip, it's FANTASTIC. I've included a couple of screenshots below.

Helicopter flight around Rio de Janeiro!!!

[The Adventures of Jet Frichot - Helicopter ride to Christ the Redeemer]

Backing track by Jet's band - SPEEDBALL!!

Leblon - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Corocovado - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

It's not hard to tell as to why this city ranks in the top couple of cities to be considered the most beautiful on earth. For me, grabbing a pair of wings and soaring above this town was always going to be a highlight, but, nothing quite prepared me for what we all witnessed as we swung behind Cristo and the city unfurled it's dramatic beauty before us. There's a stream of images that I'm going to be taking with me for years to come, and whilst the photos and video don't do it justice at all maybe you can get just a little bit of an idea of what we experienced.

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

Cristo redentor - Rio de Janeiro -Brasil

You can imagine that once we hit terra firma all of us were on an enormous high. It's not every day you cut such a dramatic circuit of the city. Needless to say, it wasn't at all difficult to pinpoint what our next stop would be. It was a glorious day, the sun was just starting to drop out of sight and the sun was gracefully dancing its playful retreat over the mountains. We knew the perfect spot to witness that would be from the rooftop bar of Porto Bay, and again I have to say, it was the perfect choice for what ended up being the perfect day.

Looking east from Porto Bay - Copacabana beach - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Copacabana beach from Porto Bay - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Sunset from Porto Bay - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

The final round - 04 Jan

Our last day in Rio rolled around quite quickly, which often seems to be the norm when you're travelling. Whilst you're in the moment time moves slower than anticipated and then on reflection you figure it was actually a lot faster.

We had a few ideas for our last day but the general concensus was that it was going to be cruisy, or rather that it should be. I had it in my head that we would head down into Lapa and jump the famous Santa Teresa tram line up to this bohemian style neighbourhood. The only issue with that thought, and what I didn't know at the time was that all tram services had been suspended due to the fact that in the preceding August a tram had derailed, killing 5 people and injuring 27. Observing the line and noting that NO trams were operational we took to walking up to Santa Teresa via Escadaria Selaron which we had taken out on a rainy day a few days earlier. Much more pleasant in glorious sunshine I must say.

Tram line to Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

A tile on the Escadaria Selaron - Lapa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Our stop in Santa Teresa was only brief and later into the afternoon we headed back to Porto Bay for final night drinks...but of course, where the hell else would we have gone.

View from Santa Teresa - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Rio is a fantastic place, it's got that carioca laid back style, it's gorgeous beyond belief, full of colour and full of life. It's a place that bounces along to it's inherrent samba rhythym.  I would imagine that the  'the well to do' locals  of Rio  can't help but feel to be just a little blessed by the city they find themselves living in. We spent 10 days in this place and I think the circumstances of weather more than anything prevented us from obtaining the full amount of what it had to offer. Still, with the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 you just know that this place is going to be THE epicentre of all things 'party related'  during those days. Thankfully Rio has already mailed me an invite and I've replied back in kind. Be sure to get yours otherwise you'll be kicking yourself whilst watching the action from home, in the dark, and wishing that you had taken a snippet of Helisher advice!