My oldest friend Ani (we’ve known each other for 25 years) and I had the dream to go to “Lawaii”. Which is Los Angeles (LA) and Hawaii in one trip (we even wanted to make our own shirts for that). We were born in the same year, she’s a November kid and I’m January. We couldn’t go to the States before we both were 21 (the alcohol laws). When finally, we reached the legal age of drinking in the US, I started working so it was hard to get time off. Ani then headed off to Australia for a gap year and working holiday. Ani returned to study and couldn’t afford to go travelling again so I was decided to head off to NZ.
Last summer I was back home for a couple months. At my farewell party Ani said to me: “You know, Mary, we still haven’t been to Lawaii. I can’t afford that, but I would love to go to Rio. It’s not Lawaii but if we’d go during carnival…”
And so we planned my travels in South America around Brazil and couldn’t wait for carnival.
Arrving in Rio
Ani and I met in Sao Paulo and after a few days there we took a night bus to Rio de Janeiro. The bus was delayed (no surprise for me there, as I’ve been on buses in South America for about 300 hours by then), the A/C was way too cold (felt like -5 degrees and of course we didn’t bring warm clothes – why would we even? It was 35 degrees outside and it was late and we didn’t think) and the bus toilet was pretty much unusable.
We arrived in Rio two hours later than expected. The first thing we did was have a shower and get coffee!
We went to the information booth and arranged a hostel in Copacabana. The lovely (luckily english speaking) arranged everything for us which was great. The bus was super full and we had to stay with our heavy backpacks. It was hot and humid and bumpy and took forever.
We found the way quickly after leaving the bus (thanks to google maps). Unfortunately it was up hill and about 240 steps to the hostel. The room wasn’t ready yet, so we’ve had a quick shower, breakfast and headed to the beach.
4 days party – non stop!
The next 4 days were a mix between sleeping, tanning, drinking, eating, dancing, singing and starting all over again.
We never ended up too far from Copacabana. There were daily events just in front of the door. The next neighborhood, Ipanema, was only 5 minutes by taxi and by train and bus we got to all the other parties. The places were packed so much we couldn’t move. We actually didn’t even make it to the offical carnival street, but then it was pretty far away and tickets have just been out of our budget.
That didn’t bother us with all the “block parties” around us. Everyone was in a good mood and dancing samba and kissing. Apparently the kissing is a very important tradition of carnival.
A blonde girl in South America is very exotic and people whistle and honk after, make compliments and even touch “accidently”. But during carnival, Brazilians (and all the other people) go crazy!
Girls were stopped so many times by guys, at day and nighttime, and they would ask: “Can I kiss you?” and if you’re not quick enough, they kiss you! And it’s not just a kiss on the lips. If you’re lucky, they let you go after that kiss (or maybe they are hotties, than you’re happy to stay) and if not, they try and keep kiss you or dance with you or ask, well, other things. Or it could happen that all the people around you sing together “kissing, kissing, kissing” and then the pressure is just too much and you do as you’re told. (It’s not that people really make you do it, it’s more likely you’re influenced by too much beer or just don’t wanna be a party pooper).
We can’t leave without sightseeing!
With all that action during those 4 days we totally forgot to do some cultural stuff. Like going up to the Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf and other places of interests in Rio.
We stayed an extra day in Rio and found a good (cheap) company who does all the important touristy things in one afternoon.
Rio was an amazing experience and we’ve met crazy people. It was super expensive but toally worth it. It’s one of those situations I consider a “once in a lifetime event“.
Even though this wasn’t “Lawaii” it was an amazing experience and memory we’re sharing. And we have t-shirts 🙂
