Meeting Jesus

Posted from Bakewell, UK by Chris'n'Daryl, 25 Feb 09 at 14:36

Yesterday was the last official carnival day and the samba music continued to beat through the night. We braved Copacabana beach (or Cocoa Banana as Daryl inadvertently called it.) It was wall to wall bodies but we managed to bag a space and go for a swim. This involved leaping bravely into mountainous waves and fighting with the undertow, but for those of us who survived, it was really exhilarating.

Today we went to see Jesus. We caught a funicular up the steep mountain through the beautiful rain forest, arriving at the top just in time for the clouds to clear. Jesus is pretty impressive, being as big as a 13 storey building. You had to prostrate yourself on the ground to take photos. Alternatively you could step back and fall 2000 feet straight back down into Rio. Nearly everyone had to pose with outstretched arms (OK, we did too eventually).The views of Rio were breathtaking as it`s twice as high as Sugar Loaf Mountain

We then caught a hundred year old rickety tram across a disused aqueduct over the city and up through the faded suburbs to Santa Teresa. Urchins from the favellas clambered aboard to hitch a ride and precariously hung off the sides of the tram, whilst eyeing our belongings.