The following is not actually a single narrative of one continuous evening, but a composite of many. It’s written as a representative summary of my average night out in Kyoto. Nothing is exaggerated. It’s Saturday […]
Somewhere around six months ago, I was sitting in my apartment talking on the phone with my mom. From just outside my window I could hear Buddhist monks chanting at Ninnaji, an enormous wooden temple […]
KaZantip 2011: Black Sea Paradise
Warning: This post contains a few NSFW photos. View only in good company 🙂 The Republic of KaZantip, the legendary Eastern European Shangri La of parties, lasts for just one month a year in a […]
The Mega Trip Part 9 (The Great Wall)
With the land-based portion of my adventure through China nearly over, I realized that I was still missing a significant piece of what I wanted to see before returning to Japan. Kung Fu. So, after […]
Warning This post contains some graphic images. If blood makes you queasy, you may want to skip it. I’ve mentioned a few times how, although I do travel mostly without plans, I also do so […]
Peder and I left our pousada in Trancoso and started out for our day’s 30 km walk at around 11am. The plan was to follow the coast all the way to Arraial d’Ajuda, a neighboring […]
All-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ’s are awesome. There’s so much delicious food, even trying one small sample of each item would be impossible. They’ve got everything from steak to mango sushi to middle-eastern Hummus. Dinner after Corcovado with Silvia and her family was one hell of a meal.
For both me and my digestive system 😆
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Rain, rain, rain…it’s been raining or completely overcast every single day since I got to Rio. Which really sucks considering virtually everything I want to do here requires nice weather: hang glide, overlook the city from atop Sugar Loaf and Corcovado, and of course, enjoy the sunny beaches of Ipanema. I can’t remember the last time I went to a new country and spent so many days trying to figure out what to do rather than scrambling to do everything as quickly as possible. I REALLY hope this clears up with enough time to at least experience the basics…keep your fingers crossed for me…
A couple days ago David and I took a tour of two of the city’s 750 favelas. Ordinarily I avoid travel-by-tour like the plague, but because of the above mentioned weather limitations we figured one day in a nice, heated bus couldn’t hurt. Especially after we finally caved in and decided to hike up Sugar Loaf, an enormous and magnificent rock/mountain jutting up from the middle of the city, and were treated to a panoramic view with visibility for around eleven inches.
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Many visitors come to Brazil with the impression that Carnival is a nation-wide party which will greet them the instant they step off the plane. Apparently this is not true – you have to seek it out. But if you do, it can be one of the most wild and crazy festivals you’ve ever seen; how else could it have earned the title “the world’s biggest street party?”
There are in fact many different Carnival experiences here for the having; Sambodromo, the highly publicized samba parade, is just one, and in fact not at all a favorite of the locals. Silvia, a lifelong resident of Rio, has never even seen it. Instead, she recommended that we kick off this year’s festivities by attending a Bloco in a colorful old neighborhood called “Santa Teresa.”
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Rio is such a beautiful city. Lush, green canopies shading almost every street, magnificent forest-covered peaks and white-sanded beach backdrops, and a constant ocean breeze filling every breath. The air is thick with the scent of both jungle and civilization. Most city blocks are lined with small bars or stalls selling everything from açai to coconut milk, and although many of the bulidings are old and unkempt they each have a very unique and interesting look – each with its own distinct personality.
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Bom Jia from Rio De Janeiro!
After nearly a month of preparation I’m finally off on my next big adventure: Brazil. I’ve got a backpack full of quick-drying travel gear, an arm full of Yellow Fever vaccine, and a cell phone full of Family Guy episodes for those long cross-country bus rides. From 10,000 feet and below-zero temperatures in the Colorodo Rockies to 100% humidity South American summers. From soft-spoken geisha to ostentatious and wild samba dancers. Now that’s what I call a contrast.
After a short layover in Panama City I arrived in the Marvelous City just after 10pm yesterday, so aside from the inside of a taxicab and a grand tour of my hosts’ home in Copacabana Beach, I’ve yet to see a thing of Brazil. For the next week, until my 3 travel companions arrive from Norway and the US (via Sao Paolo), I’ll be staying with some friends with whom I’ve communicated regularly but haven’t seen in over eight years. Then on the 4th I’ll head up to Salvador for the last few days of Carnival and the beginning of my trek inland. At least that’s the plan. Continue reading »
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