Escape from Sugar Loaf Mountain

The past two days we've spent exploring more of Rio. We headed for one of the highest points in Rio, the Sugar Loaf Mountain to get some views of the city. As it had been raining all morning, Corcovado (which has the Christ the Redeemer on top) was closed so Sugar Loaf was kind of our second choice.



Got the bus out but just like Ireland you've no idea what stop to get off, so we ended up getting kicked off the bus at its last stop and being told that 'Sucre' was way back! So we wandered the streets, looking up at the peak for guidance. Stumbled apon a cute little beach so wasn't all bad. Getting lost is fun.




To get to the top of the Sugar Loaf we got on the cable cars. Half way to the top we stopped off at a smaller mountain, Urca Mountain, and took lots of shots of the city below. And even though it was a crap, overcast day the rain had stopped and we actually had great views. Saw a sign with a drawing of a monkey which said not to feed the animals so I got all excited and started looking up in search of the monkeys :) No luck.

Jumped on the second cable car and made our way to the top. The views were absolutely gorgeous. Rio is impressive to look at. Golden beaches, lots of hills and mountains, jungles and trees, skyscrapers and favelas.

Wandered into a jungly part of the Mountain where, after looking for them for so long, I finally found the little monkeys. They were so cute! Their little faces were like little old men and they had gorgeous black and grey stripey tails. Was so happy after finding the monkeys I wasn't ready for the amount of wildlife that popped up after. We spotted gorgeous green humming birds, pure black beas, grey lizards, brown lizards, butterflies, small spiders, tiny ants, bigs ants and two different large birds that were circling the island. I was very impressed!! Not to mention the hundreds of different types of trees, leaves and flowers.

After our little jungle safari we headed back up to where the cable cars were to find a large crowd staring at one of the cable cars stuck on the tracks. They were stuck for two hours. Better them than me! So we got stranded up the top with nothing to do but admire the view. Can't complain. Could be stuck in worse places. And we got a free can of something fizzy and some crisps to boot :) YUM! All in all a good day, even though Brian did freak out when he thought we were going to have to leave the Mountain by way of a little tub that held about six people and ziped down cables just under the cable cars!

And then today we just wandered around Ipamema Beach. Way nicer than Copacobana by far. No annoying people trying to sell me things. Police with their own gazebos, relaxing on the beach. Felt a lot safer than two days ago. Still stood out with my mik bottle skin!! Rambled trough a Hippy market too. Not much to do on Sundays. Loving the nothingness.hehe. Leaving Rio tomorrow. The only thing I think I missed here was going on a tour of the favelas, would have been very interesting (and maybe Christ the Redeemer but he was covered in scafolding!) but other than that I enjoyed my time here. Very, very relaxing.

I'll leave ye with a gorgeous shot of Corcovado and 'O Cristo Redentor' AKA Christ the Redeemer and his temporary suit of scafolding. Enjoy :) x

rain, rain go away. come again another day (preferably next april!)

So it's day two and I woke up at about four in the morning to the sound of serious torential rain. Hurray. We knew it was coming cause we had tried to book a tour of Rio but the company cancelled cause they knew the rain was coming. And sadly, the Christ the Redeemer statue closes when its raining. I think it has something to do with the fact that its covered in scafolding at the moment and is dangerous when it rains or might have to do with the heavy rain that Rio saw last month. Oh well. We're still going to try get out and do some sight seeing today with our rain jackets. Woo hoo :-)

Yesterday we had a lovely day. Roasting with a slight breeze. And even though every one keeps talking about the humidity I'm not feeling it so that's great. As it was our first day we took things really slowly. Had breakfast in the hostel at about half eight and just hung around the area of Botafogo where the hostel is. Just strolled around. There are VW camper vans everywhere. Brian is very excited :-)

After lunch (fresh bread and fruit from the local supermarket) we headed for Copacobana beach. It was packed. But was hard to find the tourists - well hard to find people as pale, pale white as me. Every one is tanned! Every few seconds we had people up to us asking if we wanted to buy stuff, towels, flags, perfume, teddys, jewellery, peanuts etc. Sat at one of the little huts by the prominade and decided to sample some of the local drinks - Caipirinha (Cachaça, limes and ice) for me and coconut water with rum served in its original packaging for Brian. Just did more strolling around.

Got the metro back to Botafogo, got a bit lost for a while, found Botafogo beach, got a bit lost again, asked a very old Brazilian man for directions but he had no english so we just smiled and nodded. Found our way back eventually and did a bit more relaxing for the night.

So think we are off to see the Sugar Loaf mounatin today... it's the one in the background in this photo taken on Botagofo beach. Even though it's raining and overcast, fingers crossed we'll get a few photo opportunities.

Packing for a year away

So a lot of people have asked me what I'm bringing with me and wonder how I'm going to fill it all into one bag on my back. I didn't know a few months ago either. Well I first started doing a lot and a lot and a lot of research. (nerd!) Then being a list person I stared making lists - clothing lists, gear lists, lists about what I'd need in my first aid kit, a list of misc items, a list of expensive bits of equipment I needed to buy, lists of things I might need, lists of things I'd read other travellers couldn't live without... you get the idea.

So I started by buying the backpack, a Berghaus Jalan Womens 55 + 15l and I ended up with...

What I'm packing

Clothing:

• Merrell Siren Sport - my 'sensible' walking shoes
• Merrell Siena - sandals that are kinda cute
• crappy flip flops - for icky showers
• Cons - an extra pair of shoes may seem silly but if I'm heading out for a drink at night in a big city I'd rather not have to wear my lovely Merrells! These are super old so if I'm not using them I'll throw them out.
• 6 tank tops/string tops (ones a dressy one)
• 2 t-shirt
• 1 long-sleeve top
• 3 shorts
• 2 dresses
• 2 bikinis - I plan on buying lots more along the way :)
• sarong
• a pair of jeans - most people/travel forums/blogs say don't pack these but I can't imagine a year without jeans. And after not packing them when I travelled around Europe a few summers ago I regretted not having them. So they are coming, end of!
• light full length pants
• North Face micro fleece
• rain jacket
• crappy shorts and string top for Pjs 
• micro fibre towel
• mini micro fibre towel for hair

Misc stuff

• 1l water bottle
• sunglasses, seeing glasses, 4 month supply of contacts and solution
• Sporkff
• mini LED torch
  
• silk sleeping sheet
• notebook and pens
• tiny 2010 diary
• small atlas of the world
• Lonely Planet 'South America on a shoestring'
• washing line 
• padlock
• first aid kit - painkillers, tiger balm, plasters, motillium, immodium, savlon, rehydration sachets etc.
• mini sewing kit
• toiletry bag - suncream, aftersun, insect repellent, toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant etc. 
• some make-up - mascara, eyeliner, blush
• hairbrush with bobbles around handle
• pack of playing cards - they have a different picture of Ireland on each card 

Electronic stuff

• iPod
• iPhone - unlocked waiting for Oz
• 10.1" Asus Eee PC 1001HA netbook
• Nikon Coolpix camera
• chargers

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside!

8 days to go.
3 left in work!

If you said to me this time last year that I only had one week left to go I think I would have exploded with excitment. But right now I really don't know what I'm feeling. Well I know I'm definitely happy. And I know that I'm definitely looking forward to the next year... but I don't know where the excitement is.

I think it's because I've been planning this for so long I might have used up all my excitement. I was excited when Brian and I decided we would start saving and planning for this trip. And I was unbelievably excited the day we booked our flights! As was I the day I bought my backpack. And my shoes. And all the other things we organised and booked and did over the past few months, but now it just feels surreal. Like I've been planning a fake holiday that I'll never be going on!
It's a bit strange alright.
And, yes, it is only 8 days away!
Why doesn't it feel like there's something major about to happen in my life?
I'm guessing this surreal feeling is at least going to last until I don't have to get up next Monday at 6:40 am for work... but it might last till I'm waking up early for my first flight on the 22nd.

Guess it's just not sinking in.

random thought

Every now and then when I'm doing normal stuff during the day I do something or use something or eat something and I go 'Wow, I'm gonna miss that when I'm gone!' So some of these things include - Barrys tea, black pudding, high heels on a night out, ... but the thing I think I'm going to miss the most, and don't mock me, is nail varnish! Ya, ya, shh... let me explain. I'm not a girly girl and I'm not going to miss make-up (90% of the time), a full wardrobe of clothes, etc. but this nail varnish thing is really gonna get to me. I hate looking at my hands when there's no nail varnish on them. They are just crap! They chip, crack, rip, are dull, boring, uuuhhhhhhhhhhh!

I'll get over it - don't worry, but I'll be sad doing it!

oh and I'll miss the sound of my hair dryer, couldn't care less about styling or actually drying my hair, I'm really gonna miss curling up under my blanket while the hairdryer is on!!

yup!

Lets do shots! but not the fun kind

It’s been a while since I updated this and a lot has happened in the last month. Only two months to go now and actually running out of things to organise. Hurray!! Inca trail 4 day trek to Machu Picchu booked (9th June- if anyone wants to join us, hehe), the decision to bring a laptop or to hang in internet cafés every now and again was made and, thanks to a lovely work bonus, I got myself the yummiest little Asus netbook, shoes sorted, most equipment sorted, first aid kit sorted… just a few bits and pieces left to do.

Soooo….. shots! Yeah, they officially suck. For me anyway. Day one was last week and just after I get one injection into the left arm and two into the right the doctor tells me I’m a bleeder! Great! And then my right arm goes dead straight away which is fun cause I have to sign a form and then have to go pay and enter my pin in the laser machine. Tripping over my own foot didn't help, the receptionist asked if I needed to sit! Oops.

Aching all over the next day felt great too. In bed I could feel the backs of my knees and my ears and my toes all hurting at the same time. My right arm was pretty tender for another few days. Now day two is tomorrow and I’m dreading it.

Uh, I’d love a jagermeister!

2010 is finally here

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!

YYYAAAAAYYY!!!

2010 is finally here. Not long now. It’s the third of January now and I haven’t even thought about new years resolutions, new beginings, what to do with my life… the normal things that run through my head at the start of a new year. It’s a weird feeling! All I’m thinking about is travel insurance (still not organised!), visas, vaccinations and all the bits and bobs I’ve left to get. And the best feeling in the world right now is looking forward to not having anything set to do for a long, long time. Just hanging with Brian, choosing what to do for the day, meeting new people, trying some new food, running for probably the wrong bus, not knowing what that dude is saying to me…..

Even the thought of work tomorrow isn’t bothering me like it usually does. Saying this I know I’ve had a few days off but I can finally see that light at the end of the tunnel. Going to step up the savings now. Start ticking off the checklists in the travel books and on the travel forums and blogs I’ve been reading.

Hurray for 2010