RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (part one)

I had a 7 a.m. flight out of Buenos Aires to Rio, which meant waking up at 3:30 to get the shuttle to the airport to be there before 5:00 and so forth so I didn’t get much sleep. Everything went smoothly though and I was on my way. I felt quite nervous about my hotel situation though. I was to be in Brazil for 9 days, but I only had a hotel reservation for the first 4 days because the final 5 days would have to come under a “Carnaval Package” and I hadn’t decided exactly what I would do. I was actually nervous about the first 4 days too though. I had searched hotels in Rio for that period and had found that all private rooms in hostels were full and the remaining available hotels started at $70 per night for the less desirable neighborhoods and went way up from there. A guy I met in Buenos Aires told me how to get the IBM corporate rate at the JW Marriott on Copacabana Beach. I reserved a $280 room for $82 that way at this new 4.5-star hotel in a prime spot on the beach, but the confirmation clearly stated ID REQUIRED UPON CHECK IN in several different places.

That rate seemed too good to be true so I was fairly certain they would actually ask for some kind of corporate identification and I am backpacking so it’s not like I will roll up in a suit. I spent an hour or so while in Argentina recreating my old IBM business card as I actually did work for them for over 3 years, but that was 17 years ago and my division has long since been shuttered. I then took my laptop to a printing store where it took 2 employees almost an hour to help me turn my file into 12 business cards (costing me a total of 4 dollars), or at least they looked similar to my old ones.

The plane touched down at the Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport on time and after going through immigration I got my backpack from baggage claim and made my way to the front. Once again, there was a stressful situation with the taxis. I had heard a lot of stories about crime and even kidnapping in Rio so I was even more nervous than usual. My book said a cab to Copacabana Beach could be gotten for a flat fee of $18 with a voucher purchased near baggage claim. The book was just published about 3 months prior, but the woman at the booth insisted it was $24. I hate getting ripped off so I went upstairs to an ATM to get some Brazilian money, and up there I saw a rogue cab driver working on his own who offered me a ride. I asked how much and he paused for a second then said $35. I laughed and told him I could go for $24 with the companies downstairs, then I went to the ATM. On the way back to the escalator I saw him again, but he had a friend who assured me the guy would actually take me for $24 and as I continued walking the price dropped to $20. My normally reliable book said not to haggle for a cab on your first trip there and I could just imagine getting kidnapped in an unlicensed taxi just like Homer Simpson when he was there.

I think this sort of thing puts many first-time visitors on edge upon arrival, but it seems to happen in every Latin American country in one form or another. I used my Brazilian currency back downstairs at the booth next to the one where I first got the $24 quote and this one was also $24, but with Reals it was only about $23. I got a voucher and walked out front to meet a taxi and soon climbed in the back of a cab. The driver was very nice and actually spoke fluent English, far better than any NYC cab drivers actually. He gave me some travel advice as he sped to my hotel and soon I was standing at the reception desk of this ultra-fancy hotel with my fake business card ready to whip out if needed. The hotel was beautiful and right on Atlantico Avenue across from the beach, but it was gray and cloudy outside so it didn’t seem as amazing as it might otherwise have. I nervously started the check in process and everything was fine until near the end when the girl said she would need to see proof that I worked at IBM. I explained that I didn’t have my badge or anything, but I did have a few business cards. I pulled one out from between some credit cards and tried to look confident as I handed it to her. She glanced at it then asked if she could keep it or should she make a photocopy? I thought for a second and said a copy would be best so off she went to the back. I suppose this is just for their files, but I was still afraid someone would look closely at it. It was quite real looking, but if someone there really knew IBM they might know my ROLM division was long dead. The next thing you know I was in my room and feeling pretty good, although I was still slightly worried that there would be a knock at the door by an employee who discovered I was a fraud.

It was a beautiful, if smallish, room with a small balcony that opened to the 19-story courtyard that was in fact the interior of the entire hotel. I went down to the concierge and asked about city tours. One was leaving fairly soon, but it was cloudy and he recommended I wait for better weather if I could. I had very little sleep so I went back up to my room and crawled into my bed, which was so plush it probably cost about the same as the last 5 or 6 beds I slept in put together. After an hour I woke up and hit the street to figure out my Carnaval housing dilemma. I walked two blocks inland to the main shopping street to look for travel agents who might be able to book a hotel in a nearby city for the second half of my Brazil stay. It wasn’t a surprise, but the people of Rio are very different from the people of Buenos Aires. This was a poorly dressed and disheveled group of people that looked almost identical to people you’d see in a low-income area of Los Angeles. For the first time in South America I was seeing black people and just like in Los Angeles they seemed fatter than their white counterparts. I was only two short blocks from one of the most famous beaches in the world and instead of chic and beautiful it was mismatched clothes on out-of-shape people.

Most travel agents there don’t deal with hotels, but I found one with a friendly, English-speaking Lebanese guy who gave me some options. I had planned on going to a town called Paraty about 100 miles down the coast, but this guy confirmed what others had said, namely that many Rio locals flee Rio during Carnaval which drives hotel prices up throughout the region. I could get a decent room in Paraty for about $110 per night during that time, but it would be a hassle and I had never even heard of Paraty until I was looking for nearby places. The guy found some cheaper hotels near downtown Rio, but Rio is all about the beaches so saving $30 per night but having to take buses for two hours a day to enjoy my stay seemed ridiculous. He found a 3-star hotel nearby in Copacabana for $130 per night and that seemed like the best option. By the way, every single hotel in the country books Carnaval as a 5-day block, so you can’t switch or leave early or anything. They actually give you the full price for the 5 days then leave it up to you to figure out the daily rate.

Moving from my unbelievable $82 room to a disappointing $130 room wasn’t an exciting prospect, but it looked like my best option until this guy remembered an apartment rental service. He called a friend of his who had a place in Copacabana available for $370 for the five days. He said it was basic, but in a far better neighborhood than the $130 per night hotel. The guy on the phone would pick me up at The Marriott in two hours to see the place. Venicio, the apartment broker, showed up 30 minutes early, spoke perfect English and drove me to the apartment. It turned out it wasn’t in the neighborhood I was told, but it was close to the Marriott and the area still seemed pretty nice. We entered the high security building and went up to the 7th floor to see a small, very basic flat with no A/C, but ceiling fans. There was a small kitchen with a dining table, then a hall with a bathroom, which led to the large main room with a full size bed and large dresser and closet unit. The view was of 5 or 6 nearby apartment buildings and not much to look at, but almost all cheaper hotel rooms in cities have views of ventilation shafts so this was a big step up.

I told him I would take it and he said I needed to pay a $200 deposit to the travel agency the next day to seal the deal. That eased my worrying a bit because I still remember a story about a guy in NYC who rented the same apartment to around 20 different people within one week, even though it wasn’t even his to rent. Rio definitely has that feeling to it that says, “trust no one” so I was happy to take my greenbacks to a permanent address and get a receipt. The best part of the deal was probably the fact that the apartment was vacant so for an extra $40 total I could move in two days after that and save about $150 by leaving the Marriott two days early.

The weather was still hot, gray, and humid so I decided to use most of my second day at the Marriott by finishing my writing assignments in the room having to pay about $12 to hook my laptop up to the high-speed connection. The weather cleared a bit the second afternoon so I took a break from work to take a city bus tour, which included the aerial tram up Sugar Loaf Mountain. I paid $30 to the concierge and the bus picked me up right on time. We picked up other passengers in Copacabana and then turned the corner to Ipanema to pick up the last few. This was my first time seeing Ipanema and I was looking forward to it, especially since it was supposedly much nicer than Copacabana and hotels cost around 50% more. It looked exactly the same. There were actually more beachfront hotels in Copacabana so I guess there are more hotels a block or two inland in Ipanema, but the beach itself looked exactly the same as Copacabana, which is to say, it was equally amazing, but no more so. The shops a block inland were a bit nicer and the people seemed a bit less trashy, but there seemed nothing inherently different about Ipanema.

The tour officially began with only about 20 people on board a large bus. We drove around Ipanema and Leblon (which is actually the less famous half of the greater Ipanema beach). Then we drove by the beautiful lake just behind those beaches and past the Jockey Club, which is the huge racetrack there. Through a tunnel and we were downtown and heading to Mercana Stadium, which supposedly holds 200,000 people making it the largest in the world. We stopped there long enough to take boring photos of the outside, but not long enough to go inside. Then we drove into the center of town and quickly passed the Sambódromo, which was being set up for the official parade in a few days time.

Then we stopped at a fairly new catholic cathedral, which was coned-shaped and probably the ugliest church I had ever seen. There was still no hint of a shopping stop so I was getting suspicious. We got back on the bus for a tour of the harbor area then the bay (rather than ocean) facing Botofogo Beach. The bus pulled into the parking lot for the tram up to Sugar Loaf. The cloud cover was lifting, but the highest peak was still completely inside the mist. By this time I had befriended an attractive girl from Pasadena named Marlen and we chatted from time to time as we were ushered into the tram on the lowest level. It holds about 40 people and I was surprised to see nothing really to grab onto, but sure enough the thing lifts off and goes up the cable in a stable way. A few minutes later and we disembarked at the midway mountain and we you walked the 200 or so meters to the next tram station you get absolutely incredible views of the whole city.

I have to admit that Rio de Janeiro is the most breathtaking city I have ever seen. The downtown area has very nice views of the surrounding mountains and every other area faces a beach and/or lake with stunning views of mini-mountains jutting up out of nowhere and decorating every corner. I took quite a few photos, but you really have to see it for yourself to fully appreciate its scope. We loaded into the second tram headed for Sugar Loaf, but the cables disappeared into the clouds just outside of the station. Clouds don’t stop the tram obviously, so off we went right into them and up to the higher peak on the actual Sugar Loaf. From there the clouds were actually intermittent with breaks here and there and it would clear up decently for a minute or so before a new cloud would rush in to take the place of the ones that just left. We had about 45 minutes up at the top where there is a café and souvenir shops, but mostly platforms and viewing areas. I took quite a few photos including one very nice one where you can see Christ The Redeemer peaking out of a nearby cloud.

We got back on the tram, then transferred to the next one and soon we were back on the bus. As we headed back to our hotels for drop off I asked Marlen (who was only in town for one night) if she wanted to join me for dinner and was happy when she agreed. I met her at her hotel a couple hours later and we had a nice dinner at a beachfront restaurant and sat for a few hours comparing notes on our travels before the night was over.

I spent the next morning fighting with my computer trying to get my copy of Microsoft Word working again and after downloading a new “security patch” and finding a working serial number on the internet, then running disk repair on my machine I got it working, better than ever actually. I was still a bit nervous about the renting apartment thing. What guarantee did I have that I would ever get the key and what could I do if they just ripped me off? I called Vinicio late in the morning and he said he’d pick me up at my hotel around 1 p.m. and to go ahead and check out. Leaving that place was sad because it was reasonably priced and also the nicest hotel I’ve stayed at in years. He was late picking me up, but at least he showed up. He drove me less than a mile to the apartment and introduced me to the security guard on duty so I could officially sign in as a tenant for the week.

Venicio actually gave me a short neighborhood tour as we waited for a guy who was already supposed to have dropped off the towels, sheets, and kitchen stuff. The guy finally showed up and I was able to lock the door of my weeklong apartment in Rio. I was also a bit stressed at that point that I would go out on the first day or the last day and return to find my computer and ipod missing, but that never happened. It was a very nice feeling to have one place for a whole week to call my own. It was actually the first time in over two months for that, and even that was a 3-month sublet in the East Village of NYC. I went down the block to the grocery store and bought a 12-pack of beer for about $4 along with some hot dogs and buns, instant coffee, yogurt and so forth to stock the fridge.

It was also very nice having a place to work since at that time I had quite a few of my movie summary writing deadlines coming up. I worked most mornings on my laptop in the apartment, then took my computer to an internet place across the street to hook to upload my work and download new assignments. The weather was still gray, raining off and on, and humid and uncomfortable during the day, but cool enough at night that I didn’t need A/C or even need to turn on the noisy ceiling fans in the bedroom.