Touristin' in Rio!
I met Leonie in my hostel room, a 32 year old Irish gal living in New Zealand who is traveling for a year in South America. We met up with an American named Heather from South Carolina and her college roomie Kara from Virginia. We went to the Sunday market, walked along Copacabana beach, and ate a tapioca crepe with chocolate and banana.
We booked the big dude tour for 150 reals. I originally had sticker shock about the price. I wanted to do the two hour hike through the forest up to Christ, but the girl at the hostel said that a group of five people did the hike and were robbed at knifepoint. Ugh! So tour it is. Our guide was fantastic and worth the price. He explained that the government has tried to step in to assist with the robbery problems in Rio, but the jungle is so vast that the police can't provide enough protection.
Next we saw the Selaron steps, which were my favorite part of the day. The artist used to live in an apartment on the steps and would switch out the tiles with new ones, meaning the project was constantly evolving. He said the steps would be finished when he died. He committed suicide by lighting himself on fire on the steps at 6:30am. Such an artist move.
We saw the sunset over Rio while on Sugar Loaf and I took 9,000 photos. Once Christ lit up, I headed down and went back to the hostel to pack.
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