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Ten night romp in Rio de Janeiro – Part 1 - Logistics
Welcome to Rio de Janeiro, the land of Caipirinhas, great beaches, and passionate chicas! Because this trip report is quite long, I will split the TR in two parts; one for logistics and the other for venues.
History:
I traveled to Rio in 2004 and 2006 for Carnival. Yes, those were the years of Help disco and other venues, but like in most other countries, things change. I returned in 2017 and had a great time; not sure why I waited so long to return.
Logistics & other stuff:
Tourist Visa:
I applied for the tourist Visa through eVisa, VFS. GLOBEL. The cost was $80.90. After I applied, I received the Visa within two days via e-mail. It is valid for 10 years.
Flight:
I flew United Airlines round trip. From San Diego to Houston to Rio (GIG). The total flying time was around 13 hours.
Money:
The currency in Brazil is real. When I left, the rate was 1 US dollar to 5. 10 reals. Thus, I basically just divided by five. 100 reals: 20 bucks. I exchanged some money at the airport and the shitty exchange rate 4. 61 to 1 US.
After I arrived in Copacabana, there were several exchange places and the rate was 4. 90 to 1 US. No ID required. Also, I used my Charles Schwab Visa debit card all over Rio; no issues whatsoever.
References:
I used two references: ISG members and Google search. Thank you ISG members!
Travel Insurance:
The SquareMouth web-site gave me over 50 quotes from over 50 different companies. I chose Seven Corners. It was for 11-days and cost $352.35.
Communication:
I have the T-Mobile Go5 GPlus55 plan. I had a few glitches with service providers. Sometimes the service was provided by Claro and other times by Vivo. When they switch services, at times I lost both providers.
Transportation:
My plan was to take an Uber from the airport to my apartment; that went to shit quickly! According to the airport guide, "Uber pickups are located on the departures floor for Terminals 1 and 2 (following designated signs or color-coded sections outside the terminal). ".
After flying all night, I was very tired. After immigration, I walked out in the pick-up area. I could not find those damn designated signs or color-coded sections outside the terminal. So, I had my first, 'Fuck it!" moment and took a taxi to Copacabana. The cost was 120 reals. I returned using Uber and I paid $18.
I used Uber all over the city. If I was in a hurry, I just jumped in a metered cab. Taxis were cheap, Ubers were cheaper.
I went to a very good restaurant called Gino Pizza. This was one of the times I did not have a signal on my phone, so I was using the restaurant's Wi-Fi. I looked over and saw a minivan taxi. I made a deal with the driver and off we went to Perola Negra.
The dude was kind of retarded. On the way he was very excited because he had a small flyer for Perola Negra and he was proud of that. He started kissing and licking the flyer! Lucky for me, I made it to the club without being kissed or licked!
Logging:
I rented a 2-bedroom apartment in a great location, in Copacabana, from Vrbo, less than a block from the beach. It was quite pricy, but I enjoyed the place.
Before I left, I contacted many hotels, checked many properties from Airbnd and Vrbo, and all of them replied; no unregistered guests allowed.
But, I always had a strategy when it comes to doormen and security guards; I butter them up. I always buy them a soda and a bag of chips for the day and night personal. There drink of choice was Gaurana Antarctica and they loved Doritos. I brought in three different chicas in my apartment; no issues.
Voltage: 220.
Food:
For the most part, the food was pretty damn good! I ate and drank at a butt-load of restaurants:
Academia de Cachaca very good.
Cervantes (2) - excellent.
Parada de Copa. Excellent.
Caleto's Sats (2) - excellent.
Maria Eobio. Outstanding.
Aconchego Carioca. Very good.
Gino Pizza very good.
Bar do Minerio. Excellent.
Bar do Zeca Pagodinho Flamengo very good.
Terra Brasilis. Excellent.
English:
I heard very little to none English during my romp. That included stores, restaurants, and clubs. I used Google translate when I had a signal, otherwise I was fucked.
Brazilian Portuguese:
I feel comfortable speaking Spanish. But, I had a new challenge, Brazilian Portuguese! There was a language barrier and I never really overcame that fact. Three months before I left, I took several online classes on the site iTalki. I told my teacher I was interested in learning the difference between Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, as well as learning many useful phrases.
I really put in a lot of effort, but I still felt I came up extremely short. I forgot almost every phrase I learned. Google translate helped when I was lost for words. I thought I would remember what we talked about. I tried, but failed miserably. Even if the word was spelled the same way in Spanish, the pronunciation sounded different. At one point, I had a, "Fuck that" moment and I just gave up!
Next: Part 2 - The Venues.