First day in Rio

I got here OK, no problems at all apart from the flight being cancelled and since I got put on an earlier one that was no problem there.

I saw the statue of Christ and Sugar Loaf Mountain as we were flying in. In fact I saw about four Sugar Loaf Mountains, maybe I'm just no expert but there doesn't really seem to be a shortage of 'lumpy' mountains around here.

The beaches were impressive from the air, I didn't realise just how bright they would appear. It was as if someone had outlined the coast with strip lights.

The landing at Santos Dumont was quite cool, the airport is on an island in the bay and it looks as though you're going to touch down on the water, then the runway appears under the plane just at the last second. I may have imagined it, but the deceleration on landing seemed sharper than usual, so maybe the runway is fairly short as well.

I asked at the tourist information desk about how to get to the hotel and the woman told me to go speak to the guy in the red shirt 'over there'. On my way over a guy in a yellow shirt tried to supply my taxi requirements, but fortunately my colour vision skills came to the rescue and I brusquely waved him off. The guy in red was indeed able to help me, although it took an impromptu conference of three guys in red before they could come to this conclusion.

Only BRL25 for the cab at each end of the flight, which wasn't too bad at all; I guess this is an advantage of using the smaller, more central airports for this flight.

The hotel is pretty nice, actually a bit too nice by my standards. I prefer cheap and cheerful. (Howeer, as blogged about at length earlier, the cheap and cheerful hotel I wanted to stay in - which is very near the one I'm actually staying in - kept replying to my e-mails by asking for the details I kept supplying in my e-mails, so I had to give up on them.) For probably the first time in my life I had a guy carry the bags to the room, even though I didn't want him to, so obviously I had to tip him, which I did very awkwardly. The room is air-conditioned, which is a plus, but on the downside you are explicitly prohibited from storing your own items in the room fridge (maybe wanting to do that makes me a cheapskate bastard, if so, then so be it) and the free internet access doesn't work, so I am writing this in an internet cafe. Apparently the whole hotel has no internet access, but I suspect it will never work for me due to the nature of the errors I get when I try. However, time will tell.

I think I have the flight out from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams sorted, although I have not determined how to pay for it yet. Ditto for the hotel out there and the return trip on the ferry, except that I know how to pay for the ferry. So that little bit is actually nearly sorted.

I just submited a booking request for the hotel in Easter Island, if that goes through OK I will book the flight on expedia and that's another little bit sorted. The most pressing thing is actually booking a hotel for a week's time when I arrive in Santiago, and deciding what I will do between arriving and going down to Punta Arenas. But I will worry about that in a day or two.

I haven't done much here yet; I was knackered yesterday what with going to bed so late and geting up relatively early, plus the flights. I went out and got something to eat, had a few beers and went to bed about 8pm. That did mean I got up in time for breakfast, although what I most wanted was a cold drink and by the time I got down there most of the cold drinks had gone and the cheapskates hadn't refilled the jugs. There was plenty of cashew juice, which is a surprise - normally that's one of the more popular beverages... I didn't try it, I wanted my thirst quenched, not an adventure.

I had to come down here to the internet cafe today, primarily to update my blog because I'm such a narcissistic individual - I mean, because I had to check on the replies to e-mails I'd sent about the Puerto Williams flight and hotel.

The hotel gave me a leaflet for a local tour company who do a full day tour of Rio which covers all the main sights - primarily the statue of Christ and Sugar Loaf Mountain. So I think I will probably try to do that tomorrow or Saturday, that way I get all that must-do stuff out of the way and can start to enjoy myself. :-) It'll probably also be safer with a tour group, I may even decide to risk taking my camera with me.

Given that I will probably just stay in the area near the hotel today. There are a few museums according to the guide book and a small park, plus I may wander down to the beach near the hotel and at least take a look.