last blog before we drive again - arraial d'ajuda, brazil

i referenced earlier in this blog a quote i read on a guest house bulletin board (on a different trip, through asia) about a town named karimabad; the person had recommended it based on the fact that it was hard to get to, and even harder to leave. i think i am adopting that person's quote towards my own travel tendencies as a whole - that's exactly what i'm looking for when i'm on the road.  rio, buenos aires, lima and santiago, for all you hear about them, aren't nearly as satisfying as a town you've never heard of, with a cute and cheap guest house that invites you to linger around long after checkout time in the common area.  we're in arraial d'ajuda, brazil, which you probably haven't ever heard of, and i certainly never had, and it was hard to get to, well off the main route from rio to salvador (the next large town north), on a potholed road; it's a tiny town with a population of around 13,000.  it's on the coast - or, rather, on a cliff that we have yet to see because we arrived late last night, had dinner, slept, woke up, and haven't been able to leave this gorgeous guest house.  we are heading to the cliffs and beach after i post this, then driving another two days north to salvador.  anyway, our perfect guest house is friendly and adorable, so most of this post is dedicated to pictures of that.  this is certainly the most fantastic lodging we've had so far; cute, colorful, clean, has a fan (which is my key to happiness), a pool, a great sunny spot to lounge next to the pool, FAST WIFI, ample electric plugs, a friendly dog and owners, and a fridge full of beer.  it's almost 3:30pm; we've been here for nearly an entire day, and it's pretty hard to fathom leaving, because i doubt we'll find anywhere this nice for the rest of our trip. it is definitely one of the top five accomodations i've ever had while traveling.  pictures don't do it justice; i'm sorry readers of this blog can't lounge poolside with us.

but first, the lonely road getting here.

 

michael has an uncanny ability to sleep anywhere you put him.

one of the most perfect guest houses ever.

so, farewell, perfect guest house.  i will probably spend the next month about grumbling about how inferior every lodging option will be after you.

more of rio

a meat fest in which i obviously did not partake. 

to burn the calories fromt the meat fest, there are these adult playgrounds (that actually don't burn any calories, since the exercise equipment lacks any resistance)

michael made a small-scale model of his future dream home. i thought it was a bundt cake.

soccer/volleyball competition. no hands allowed.

A Big Day in Rio

Today we toured Rio de Janeiro. We went to the famous beaches Copacabana and Ipanema. Then the big Jesus. Then one of the top nightlife areas, Lapa.

A very advanced sand castle at the Copacabana beach. It takes this guy weeks to construct it. I'm not sure what the visible part is a model of, but there's a copy of the big Jesus (Cristo Renentor) outside of the frame. Below is the artist.

 

This floating crucifix appeared before us. It said "Embrace me, for I am your savior." At that point I considered converting to Christianity. But I wondered which demonination should I choose. I asked it and it said, "Jehovah's Witness." Maybe next statue.

rio de janeiro

a few photos from our first night in rio de janeiro follow.  it's a gorgeous city, spanning a bay and ocean, with insanely steep little mountains that favellas (little roadless ghettos) climb up a little further than practical.  it's also prohibitively expensive for two jobless people!  we stayed in a friendly little dump in a working-class neighborhood, and still paid a fortune.  free breakfast was pretty horrendous, but we made the extra effort to wake up way earlier than usual to take advantage of it anyway. we stayed in rio for four nights total, way longer than we've been spending anywhere else, and tanmoy joined us halfway through; he'll be traveling with us til the 21st, to the amazon.  more pictures on the rest of rio later; at tanmoy's insistence (we're cheap, and touristy things are muchos dineros) we took a train up to the top of the giant jesus who overlooks rio.  i'm still downloading and sorting those pictures, so those will be in the next post.  here's rio at night for now!