Rio again

Feels good to be back ot Hostel 021, and see the staff again, almost feels like coming back home.
Back to the historical center, and this time I take the "bondinho" to climb up to Santa Teresa, which reminds a lot Montmartre.

  

  

Haven't done my homework so far, so I go to the post office in order to buy stamps for the postcards before heading back to the hostel and there, telling one of my roommates what I did during the day, I feel suddenly very old
"Why did you buy stamps?
- Well, to send my postcards.
- You are sending postcards? Seriously? Well, I imagine that it must be nice to receive one"

Yes dude, I send postcards, some of my friends and part of my family don't have Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter or even a computer...
God, in a few years, youngsters won't even know what is a postcard.
If you have some of them, save them, it seems that they will soon become archeological objects.

The weather is getting worse every day, yesterday they handed out blankets at the hostel, and I must admit that I got really cold during the night.

This morning, I go back to the Sugarloaf, but not in order to take the cable car this time. There is a nice little walk to be done at the base of it, going around the mountain, where you can enjoy the wildlife (monkeys, birds...)

  

  

  

  

Time for the last glasses of coconut water (I got really addicted to it) and açai juice, I will give way to the Olympic athletes and their supporters, who will gather here in 2 weeks, may they have lots of fun!

Iguazu Falls

According to the Lonely Planet, you should sit on the left side of the plane when you fly to Iguazu, in order to get a view of the falls when you land.
So I make sure that I check in soon enough to get a window on the left side. Very proud of me, I keep my camera with me during the flight, and refrain from sleeping, in order not to miss the show.
And here is what I saw just before landing....

The fog was so thick that you could hardly view the wing of the plane. Loooooser...

First border crossing (it won't be the last, I am going to spend the next 3 days crossing it again and again), in order to get to the hostel which is in Argentina, because Puerto Iguazu seems to be a lot smaller and nicer than Foz de Iguaçu.
Let's hope that Argentinian border officers save paper, and won't stamp half of the pages of my passport by the end of the week, I would like to keep it for a couple more years.
On Brazilian side, they just don't give a damn, you can enter the country, or get out of it, they don't seem to be worrying about it.

After 10 days trying to force my brain to use the little bit of Portuguese I remember (and don't use Spanish, please), now I have to switch back to Spanish, which should be a lot easier after 18 months spent in Spain, but the stupid brain got accustomed to Portuguese, and doesn't seem to be willing to moe back to Spanish.
In addition to this, as I keep on crossing the border, each time I need to say a word I have to think about where I am, in order to chose the proper language (and same thing for the currency).

Here you can feel that you have moved to the South, the weather is a lot colder now, they even offer to switch on the heating in the hostel. No, thanks.

This place is famous for hosting lots of coatis. I really hoped that I would have the opportunity to see one, because they are so cuuuute :)))
But in fact, the problem is not to get to see them, it is more to avoid walking on them. Wherever you go, you are surrounded by coatis, everywhere.
Watch out, in front of you, behind you, if you move without checking first, you can be sure that you will step on one of them.

Iguazu means "big water" in Guarani language.
Waterfalls and cataracts vary between 60 to 82 meters high.
The number of these smaller waterfalls fluctuates from 150 to 300, depending on the water level.
Approximately half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow U-shaped chasm called the Devil's Throat, with the following dimensions: 82 by 150 by 700 meters

The total amount of water running through the falls is 12,000,000 liters per second.

There is no word to describe this wonder, just check the pictures

  

  

  

  

  

Time to leave Iguazu and fly back to Rio. 10am, still 3°C outside, I will be waiting for the 2 buses for about one hour, let's hope I will avoid pneumonia.

Brasilia

One more day spent in planes and airport, thanks to Azul, 3 more flights to reach Brasilia at 8pm.

Here, the addresses are a bit weird (at least when you are not used to their system): just as an example, the hostel is located on SCLRN 708 Bloco I Loja 20.
It is supposed to make things a lot easier when you understand how it works. Not that obvious, knowing that the taxi driver gets lost twice and has to ask his way each time ;-)

It is the federal capital of Brazil, planned and developed by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer in 1956 in order to move the capital from Rio de Janeiro to a more central location.
The city's design divides it into numbered blocks as well as sectors for specified activities, such as the Hotel Sector, the Banking Sector and the Embassy Sector.

Thousands of km away from Australia, here is another Red center, and for Bastille Day I get blue, white & red shoes.

On the Square of the Three Powers:
- the Executive, represented by the Palácio do Planalto (official workplace of the President of Brazil)
- the Legislative, represented by the National Congress
- and the Judicial branch, represented by the Supreme Federal Court

  

  

  

The columns of the cathedral represent two hands moving upwards to heaven

  

The stay in Brasilia is also the incredible luck to meet Somen Debnath, who left India 12 years ago, and has been riding his bike all around the world for 12 years for HIV / AIDS awareness. Thank you Somen for the love you spread all around you. With the bad news received from France tonight, I really needed that hug. May God protect you for the end of your trip, and bring you back to Kolkata, so that you fulfill your dreams.

Bahia

The first visits are for Salvador, and specially its "Pelourinho", which means "pillory" in Portuguese, named for the whipping post in its central plaza where African slaves received punishment.
Salvador was the first colonial capital of Brazil and the city is one of the oldest in the New World (founded in 1549 by Portuguese settlers).
It was also the first slave market on the continent, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations.

  

  

  

  

  

On the second day, I head to Morro de Sao Paulo, a small island a couple of hours away from the coast.