Noemia’s Guesthouse – Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro
With the inflated prices for hostels due to carnival, we decided to stay in a guesthouse. A bread and breakfast of sorts. The house was in Santa Teresa: a small, hilly district just west of Lapa. Finding the house was a challenge, the streets were not on our map, nobody knew the street names, it was hot, we had our heavy backpacks on and there was a slight mist. The hills had intense slopes. Nearly vertical on cobblestone streets. It was a test of endurance and nerves, but after numerous conversations in a combination of broken Portuguese, English, and gestures we found Noemia’s Guesthouse. And our spirits were instantly lifted when we met Noemia and her family. Noemia is a single mother renting out the spare rooms in her home as her main means of living. Noemia instantly connected with Leah, and I think she warmed up to me after a little while. Noemia cooked soup, danced, and shared wine and stories with us for hours. It was an amazing experience. She showed us her prized interview video from when she hosted the band “In Living Color” at her house. At night, we walked down to the Sambadrome and watched the fireworks after each Samba school finished dancing. After each school was done, they discarded their costumes in the streets; free for the pillaging. Leah and I tried a couple costumes on for...
Read MoreBusing around Rio
The public transportation system in Rio de Janeiro has been amazing. A well organized system of buses and metros has gotten everywhere we needed to go, and quickly. The Metro was very clean and punctual. I think the metro system is the only punctual thing in Rio =) During the week of Carnaval, the Metro ran 24 hours a day, with 10 minutes between trains. The Metro stations were all well marked, and there were no bums at the stations (unlike my old Garnett station in Atlanta). The bus rides were… well complete mayham. The buses went everywhere, and they were all well marked, however, the drivers were crazy. Maybe like a rollercoaster… no, rollarcoasters don’t stop fast enough. Image giving a 5 year old the wheel, jerking the wheel side to side, -beep -beep slamming on the gas, -beep beep slamming on the brake -beep beep. Either the gas pedal or brake pedal was always to the floor. There should just have two buttons on the steering wheel: full speed ahead, and immediate stop. But that made the bus rides a fun experience. At times the bus rides were challenging. (e.g. When you have 50 pounds on your back) To add to the carnage, when we entered the buses, there was a cashier sitting on a chair that collected the bus fare. Once you paid, you proceeded through a revolving gate, much like the gates at amusement parks, the problem was, you had to push the gate forward to go through it, the same time the bus was blasting off, or screeching to a halt. Which often resulted in a Gringo (me) being shot down the aisle of the bus like a torpedo, into the nearest solid object (person, seat, rail, or piece of luggage). Every moment was always exciting, and always a workout. Every bus ride was definitely worth the $1.50 (USD)...
Read MoreWhat to pack…
After spending countless hours surfing the net, reading forums and blogs, we are finally ready to pack our bags. “Travel light”… we’ve seen that phrase a million times, but what is light? When you plan on living out of a backpack for at least a year. Here is our best attempt at a packing list. We’ll let you know how it pans out! We picked mostly light weight and quick drying materials. The idea being we can wash things in the evening and they will be dry by morning. No jeans (gasp!)… They are heavy, hot, and slow drying. Ben: 2 pairs of quick-dry running pants 1 pair of swim shorts 6 pairs of socks 6 pairs of underwear 1 long sleeve quick-dry shirt 2 short sleeve quick-dry shirts 1 regular tshirt 1 pull over fleece 1 water resistant/windbraking jacket 1 onesie (for cold nights, hostels and hotels in SA are short on blanets) a leatherman a ultraportable laptop (plus power source) iPod (plus power source) kindle (plus power source) camera (plus power source) universal outlet adapter (shared) international cell phone medical kit (antibiotic cream and wipes, painkillers, antibiotics, hand sanitizer, band aids, vitamins, diarrhea blocker, laxatives, cold medicine) personal hygenie items (shared: shampoo, conditioner, cleaner, toothpaste, cotton swabs) quick drying super absorbing towel sleeping bag liner pillow case (to use as a dirty laundry bag, general sack to carry things, or stuffed with clothes to use as a pillow) toilet paper (because you never know) mini flash light (shared) batteries (shared) calculator (to keep track of what we were spending in US Dollars) flip flops – for hostel showers birkenstocks or sandels with hard soles for walking around in tennis shoes for trekking sun block and chap stick (shared) sunglasses bandanas umbrella (shared) travel guides (shared) pad locks for locking up pack travel laundry soap and laundry line (shared) money belt for passport, credit cards, money notebook and pen for keep track thoughts and money spent Ben packed everything into a 40L travel pack Leah: Same as above minus the leatherman and onesie. With the addition of a couple sundresses, basic makeup kit, and some additional feminine necessities and medication. I also brought more underwear since hey there are small and a head scarf. I have a daypack but have yet to use it since I have a money belt and pockets, but it come in handy when we need to go to cafes to use the internet and will need the pack to carry our laptops in. A great website that helped us out a bunch was: http://www.travelindependent.info/whattopack.htm#Essential%20clothing Travel Suggestions: Put all bottles like shampoo, moisturizer, toothpaste into zip lock baggies incase something explodes. Also pills like vitamins and painkillers take up less room in zip lock baggies verses bottles. It is also wise roll up your clothes, do not fold them, so they take up less space in your pack. Leah packed everything in a 85 L pack, room to spare. We also photo-copied important documents and put them on google docs: Copies of our birth certificates, passports, drivers licenses, social security cards, any travel insurance documents, and personal letters, etc. Important before you leave! Get all your vaccinations, visas to countries that require them in advance (like Brazil), and travelers insurance. Since we are traveling indefinitely we only have a general idea of where we want to visit and booked hostels and had places to stay only 3 weeks out. We plan on booking and planning as we go. And remember if you forgot it!!!! Buy it!!!! It’s probably cheaper to get it on the...
Read MoreGetting Ready to Go
Saying goodbyes, condensing everything to a 40L backpack, and making final travel arrangements has been consuming the last of our days in Atlanta. It is sad saying goodbye to a great careers, wonderful friends, and our loft. But new adventures are on the way.
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