We awoke to a beautiful day, clear blue skies, temperature
of about 24 degrees – perfect conditions! We decided at the start of our Rio
adventure that we would go up the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer (Christo
Redentor in Portuguese) on the first clear day while we are here. We catch the bus to the bottom of the hill
and buy a train ticket that will take us to the top of the hill for R$44 each
(about NZ$30). We had to wait for about
an hour for the train as they went every 20 minutes and the other trains were
full. While we waited we had a look
through the gift shops that were around the place, with expectant ridiculously
high prices for souvenirs that tourists seemed to be snapping up.
Finally it was our turn to get on the train, we decided to
line up early as we had been told to sit on the right hand side of the train
because you get the best views. When we
board the train we are pushed from pillar to post by other people to get on the
train. Had they heard the same thing as
we did? The answer to that question is a definite no. They were pushing to get seats on the other
side of the train as it looked like the other side of the train would have the
better seats and views, and they also
faced the right way while the right side seats faced backwards. We had no problem getting a seat on the right
hand side and were rewarded with far better views than our impatient and rude fellow
passengers. That will teach you to push
us aside. As we ascended up the hill, we were treated to fantastic views with a beautiful clear sky. We then reached the top and wouldn’t you know it, the clouds rolled on in! It was extremely foggy. We thought it was temporary and it would be gone as soon it is came, we were wrong. The fog stayed all day. We did get some glimpses of the city and we did see Christ the Redeemer quite frequently, but the clear skies we had earlier were gone! We waited up the top all afternoon as we didn’t have anything planned for the rest of the day. The advantages of being at the end of the trip and not having a time schedule to stick by. This didn’t change a thing however as the cloud stayed. We decided to leave about 4.30pm. When we got down the cloud had gone, but when we looked up the mountain we saw the mist was still surrounding the top of the mountain where Christ the Redeemer was. When we got back to the hostel we found out that the day had been fantastic at sea level, a picture clear perfect day, however the mist lingered around Christ the Redeemer. This is a common occurrence apparently which made us feel a wee bit better. We did get the views of the city, albeit brief, and we did get to see Christ the Redeemer so all in all it was still a good day. Also apparently you get better views of the city from Sugar Loaf mountain, which we will visit on another clear day (this mountain is nowhere near as high so the mist shouldn’t be a problem). We then cooked dinner, had a bottle of red wine that we bought from Argentina and hung around the hostel area mingling with other guests.
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