Day 65 - Rio de Janeiro

Friday, 17 October 2014

I couldn't sleep well again last night because of the irritating yellow phlegm which made me cough throughout the night. It's really bad, when I breathe there is a wheezing sound, almost as if I am breathing through a ventilator or a bagpipe. 

I had breakfast at 8 am, on the balcony where there is a lovely view of the favela. Then I booked a full day tour for tomorrow, where I will do everything there is to do in Rio. I also wanted to go to this place called Buzius which everyone I met on my travels recommended, but that tour is only available on Monday. Which means I have today and Sunday free.

Today I decided to walk to the famous Copacobana and Ipanema beaches. The favela that I am staying in is really about a 10 to 15 minutes walk away from the beaches, but to get out of the favela I had to climb down a thousand stairs and walk downhill. I did not want to think about the effort of coming back up.

First, Copacobana! I walked along the beach until I reached the Copacobana Fort. In 1908 the Brazilian army started to build a modern coastal defense fort on the headland to protect both the beach of Copacabana and the entrance to the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. The fort was completed in 1918. There is a military museum here and although I entered the museum, I didn't understand anything as it was all in Portuguese. 

Walking for about another 15 minutes past the fort, I reached Ipanema beach. If you look at the map, the coastal part of Rio is surrounded by the same sea, but the beaches have different names, from Copacobana to Ipanema to Leblon, most probably named after the area they are situated in. 

There is a place here called Garota de Ipanema, which was the place where the inspiration for the song 'Garota de Ipanema' (The Girl from Ipanema), a well-known Brazilian bossa nova song (I thought I didn't know this song but when I heard it on you tube I knew the song, at least the English version - I had no idea that it was a Brazilian song! - and it was fascinating to find out its history). The song was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and even won a Grammy for Record of the year in 1965. The song was inspired by a real girl, then a 19 year old, who walked past a bar everyday, and the composers who happened to be in that bar saw her walk past and was inspired to write the song. Unfortunately I had no such similar inspiration with the garotos walking past me.  

I had a late lunch in one of the sea side restaurants, with a good view of the beach. Here I had my first caipirinha, THE cocktail in Brazil. The alcohol used is cachaca, which is from sugarcane, but unfortunately it was still not sweet enough for me with the result that I prefer pisco sour. The food was really good, but too much! I don't know whether there was something wrong with me or the alcohol was really strong, but I left feeling really full and a bit high.

Then I walked back to my hotel (uphill and then a thousand steps!) and did some serious thinking and calculating, because I am actually done with my travels, I have done everything I set out to do, and it is so much earlier than scheduled. So I now have to decide whether to change my flight ticket back to Malaysia to an earlier date (I have to pay a penalty) or travel some more. Of course, if I travel some more it will cost more than the penalty but I get to see more places. I am thinking of Bolivia and maybe Cuba, but I will have to return to Rio as my flight back to Malaysia is from Rio. This requires a lot of research, I have to see whether I have enough money for travelling and also enough money to keep me afloat when I get back to Malaysia, at least until January (I hope to find a job and start work in January!).

I hate making decisions like this. I am inclined to travel some more - I quite like the freedom and independence of being far far away from the pressures of society. Here there is no one to judge me, no one to irritate me with silly questions and statements (occasionally I do get these thanks to the infernal wifi, but I can choose to ignore it if I'm not in the mood), and most importantly, I get to be myself. Here I can confidently say, this is who I am. I don't have to pretend to be nice to anyone if I don't want to, I don't have to conform, I don't have to be a sheep and follow the rules that society set. Here I am free. Here I am me. It is nice, and it is good.

I guess I have already decided.