Photos
Cocacabana Backpackers Homepage
South American Experience Homepage
Back to Home
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Rio de Janeiro | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
19th May: After a refreshing 5 hours sleep and the last bountiful hot shower I expected for a while, I, and somewhat more impressively
Michael, made it to the airport by 8am, where I found that 2 1/2 hours was far
too long to have in an airport before an international flight... unless you have
Huw's Qantas Club pass... Ever had a martini for breakfast? Well I didn't
either, but there was a lot of good gear and when the time came to leave I felt
well farewelled.
I reckon that the low pressure in the upper atmosphere must have enlarged our
body mass because shortly after take off I noticed that I couldn't saw at my
ravioli without making the guy next to me nervous. Interestingly, no-one seemed
to know how long the flight would take, including the pilot, but I guess that I
can't talk because I didn't even catch the fact that the plane was stopping at
Auckland on the way.. could've stopped by Massy! I was seated next to a lecturer of epidemiology (studies statistics of disease vs population etc) with whom mum would have had an interesting discussion on more than just the good and bad of butter.. then a couple who spent their annual holidays visiting peoples' houses in different countries - some sort of student exchange for oldies. There were some concerns raised by the Qantas Customer Services Manager on the flight about the lack of maintenance from the destitue British Airways.. which he hastily amended to include the interior of the plane only when we looked out the window meaningfully! Soothingly, the connections went like clockwork, from Qantas in Buenos Aires to Lan Chile for the trip to Santiago (both cold & overcast) then from Santiago to Rio via Sao Paulo. Yes, I realise that this is traversing th
e continent... but its cheaper. I began to notice the relaxed atmosphere in Sth
America when the metal detectors didn't go off for my metallic boots in either
capital, and didn't even register my money clip in Buenos Aires.. rules are made
to be bent here if they exist at all - but it all seems to flow smoothly. I
arrived in Rio. Unlike what I had been told, the airport did not smell like wet concrete, but it was rather dark.. kind of reminded me of my primary school in decor and functionality. Amazing things flights, crossing cultural boundaries without more than a change in the language used to show the emergency brace position. I passed the cursory immigration & customs checks and proceeded into the fresh new world.. to be tackled a little persistently by the people that the guide books
warn you against. Once they lost my scent, and it being 11:30pm, I decided to
explore the airport, finding restaurants, a dozen ATMs, security and a Hotel, finding a phone card, money and a phone... only to find that none of my three 2002 handbooks told me that there was a 2 infront of all Rio telephone numbers.. bugga. Luckily, there was a tourist office open at 1 am and we talked for a while, before deciding that a quick nap on the airport couches would allow me to get a good view of the city in the morning.. out come the locks, pillows and sunglasses, but I really didnīt feel troubled by insecurity.. just jetlag.
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Daily links | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20th May Photos Cocacabana Backpackers Homepage South American Experience Homepage Back to Home | |||||||||||||||||||
| My Info: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Name: | Craig | ||||||||||||||||||
| Email: | |||||||||||||||||||
| [email protected] | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||