Brazil and Argentina are two of the largest countries in South America.
Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh largest by
population, with over 203 million people, the most Portuguese speakers in the
world and is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is an official
language. Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world with about
45 million people, 3rd most populous country in South America (after Brazil and
Colombia). Brazil has the largest national economy in Latin
America, albeit with a high unemployment rate of 14.4% as of 2021.
Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world in early 1900's.
High inflation is a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades; in 2023
the inflation reached 102.5% among the highest inflation rates in the world.
The Argentinian culture has significant European influences, while the Brazilian
is more diverse having influences from Europe, Asia, Native Americans, Africa
and the Middle East.
Getting there ...
It's a long journey from our home to our first destination, Argentine Patagonia. We had a 7-hour red-eye flight from San Francisco (SFO @
12:50AM on 3/8) to Panama City (PTY @ 10:45AM on 3/8) with about 4.5-hour
layover in PTY, and another 7.5-hour from PTY (3:34PM on 3/8) to Buenos Aires
(EZE @ 1:15AM on 3/9), and a one-hour car transfer from EZE to another Buenos
Aires airport (AEP) to catch a flight from Buenos Aires (AEP @ 5:15AM on 3/19)
to El Calafate (FTE @ 8:30AM on 3/19), and got a rental car to drive 2.5 hours to El
Chaltén at about noon on 3/19. The total travel time was about
34 hours.
Our trip this time has 5 major destinations: 1) starting from the
Patagonia area in the southern Argentina, 2)
Buenos Aires in Argentina, 3)
Iguazu Falls on both Argentina and Brazil sides, 4) Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil, and finally 5) Panama City when we
had a long layover in Panama.
Day 2 (3/9) ...
Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South
America, shared by Argentina and Chile.
The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains as well as the
deserts, pampas and grasslands east of this southern portion of the Andes.
- El Chaltén, Los Glaciares National Park (Parque Nacional Los Glaciares)
Los Glaciares National Park is in the Austral Andes of southwest Argentina,
near the Chilean border. Its many glaciers include Perito Moreno, best known
for the dramatic icefalls from its front wall, into Lake Argentino. In the
north, Mount Fitz Roy’s jagged peak rises above the mountain town of El
Chaltén and Lake Viedma.
When we drove toward El Chaltén, the cloud
covered the distant mountains that we could not even see Fitz Roy at all.
- Chorrillo del Salto
After a quick lunch in El Chaltén, we drove to Chorrillo del Salto
for a short hike to see a beautiful waterfall of more than 20 meters drop.
After being on the road for more than 36 hours, we were so eager to check in
our hotel in El
Chaltén.
Day 3 (3/10) ...
- Sunrise
I went to a viewpoint just outside the town of El Chaltén for
sunrise. But it was still too cloudy to have a good color in the early
morning.
-
Laguna Torre Trail
Laguna Torre Trail is 11.8 miles (19 km)
round-trip with ~
800 ft elevation gain. Although it was a long full-day hike, it was
not very difficult at all. A valley trek that will take you to
an overwhelming site of mountains and glaciers. You will have stunning
scenery all the way, and you can see floating icebergs at the Laguna Torre
with the towering peaks in the background. The weather in
Patagonia was changing fast: it started with a cold windy morning, and it
actually snowed a little when we were climbing on the trail, and then it
cleared up as a perfect sunny day.
- Laguna Torre
We reached the lake at about 12:30PM after ~ 3 hours of
hiking. We found a "shelter" (some wooden fence) to hide from the
strong wind and had our delicious
instant rice bowl (Onishi
Onigiri) for lunch. The views here were so good that you could just sit
here for the whole day...
Day 4 (3/11) ...
- Mirador del Fitz Roy
My plan was to see the sunrise (at 7:38AM) at
the Mirador del Fitz Roy, so we started our hike at 5:40AM in the dark.
It's a gentle uphill hike for ~ 2.4 miles (about 1100 ft elevation gain)
to reach the mirador (viewpoint). Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day
that no magic happened today. We went down from the mirador to a small
lake (or pond) where you could see the perfect reflection of Fitz Roy.
It would be really perfect if we had a nice sunrise :-(
- Hike to Laguna Capri and back to El Chaltén
Since we had a long day
hike yesterday, we decided not to push ourselves (we were on the popular
trail to Laguna de Los Tres) too much, so we only hiked a little more to
Laguna Capri and looped back to El Chaltén.
- After some break and a pizza lunch, we went to the viewpoint (Mirador al
Chaltén) to take a few classic pictures of Fitz Roy, and retired to our room
for the rest of the afternoon (our legs and feet were still very sore...).
Day 5 (3/12) ...
- Sunrise
Finally I got a nice sunrise at the Mirador al Chaltén.
- After checked out at about 10AM, we started our drive from El Chaltén to
El Calafate.
- Glaciarium Patagonian Ice Museum
After checked in the hotel in El Calafate, we went to the Glaciarium Patagonian
Ice Museum, which is a small modern museum focusing on the information about
Patagonian ice and its glaciers, and has a Glaciobar (ice bar) that serves
some drinks in ice glasses. We learned quite a few interesting things
and facts about glaciers around the Patagonia area including the Perito
Moreno Glacier.
Day 6 (3/13) ...
- Perito Moreno Glacier
The 250 km2 (97 sq mi) ice formation, 30 km (19
mi) in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice
Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. The terminus of
the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide, with an average height of
74 m (240 ft) above the surface of the water of Argentino Lake, in
Argentina. It has a total ice depth of 170 meters (558 ft). We
entered the park at about 9:30AM, and started our exploration at the Perito
Moreno Glacier Walkways before 10AM before most tour buses arrived.
It was so impressive when you stood on the walkways with only a few hundred
feet from the Perito Moreno Glacier.
-
Minitrekking Perito Moreno
I booked a Minitrekking tour started at
12:45PM from the Port Bajo las Sombras with a boat ride along the south wall
of the glacier. We walked through the forest and along the shore of the
lake in front of the glacier, and then put on crampons and started trekking on
the ice for about an hour. On the ice, we could see crevasses,
sinkholes, lagoons and deep blue ice formations. Finally we
enjoyed a
toast with whisky and ice from the Perito Moreno Glacier!
Day 7 (3/14) ...
We had a morning flight from El Calafate (FTE @ 8:56AM) to Buenos Aires (AEP
@ 11:56AM). It was easy to take a Uber from the AEP airport to our hotel in
Buenos Aires downtown area.
Buenos Aires is Argentina’s big, cosmopolitan
capital city. It is known for its preserved eclectic European
architecture and rich cultural life. Since the 19th century, the city, and
the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of immigrants
from all over the world, making it a melting pot where several ethnic groups
live together. Thus, Buenos Aires is considered one of the most diverse cities
of the Americas.
- El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires
Since
our room was not ready to check in yet, we dropped off our luggage at the
hotel and headed to a
famous bookstore El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires. The
building opened as a theater in 1919, when Buenos Aires was booming as a major
port and center of commerce. The venue was converted into a
bookstore in the year 2000, beautifully preserving the original decoration,
including the dome, which was painted with frescoes by Italian Nazareno
Orlandi.
It is claimed as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.
- La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery contains the graves of
notable people, including Eva Peron, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize
winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and military commanders, etc.
It is an eerily beautiful place, with shadowed walkways and towering marble
mausoleums rich in Art Deco, Art Nouveau, baroque and neo-gothic
architectural styles. In 2011, the BBC hailed it as one of the
world's best cemeteries, and in 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most
beautiful cemeteries in the world.
- Floralis Generica
Floralis Generica is a sculpture made of steel and
aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta,
Buenos Aires, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo
Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower "is a synthesis of all the
flowers and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening." It was
created in 2002. The sculpture was designed to move, closing its petals in
the evening and opening them in the morning. However, parts of
the sculpture (including two main petals) fell due to a strong storm in Dec
2023.
- National Museum of Fine Arts (Museo
Nacional de Bellas Artes)
The National Museum of Fine Arts was
inaugurated in December 1896 in the Bon March store building on Florida
Street. In 1911, the second home for Fine Arts was inaugurated:
the Argentine Pavilion, a monumental structure the country had used in the
Paris World's Fair of 1889 and which was later moved from France and set up
in Buenos Aires on Plaza San Martin. The institution was moved
again in 1933, to its current location: the former Pump House in Recoleta,
remodeled by the architect Alejandro Bustillo.
Day 8 (3/15) ...
- Cafe Tortoni
The oldest
cafe in Buenos Aires (founded in 1858), Cafe Tortoni became a hub of
intellectuals and artists, with many meeting there as part of the Peña del
Tortoni period from 1926 to 1943. Nowadays, the cafe is one of the
best-preserved cafes in Argentina from the 19th century. When visiting you
will get thrown back in time to the atmosphere of 1880: the marble tables,
dark oak wood against the walls, the old-style toilets, and more.
We
walked to the cafe from our hotel and got there after 8AM without too many
people. A simple 3-piece toast bread and 2 churros breakfast with
coffee and orange juice cost about US$18.
- Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
Facing the Plaza de Mayo, the
Metropolitan Cathedral is the Catholic Church's main site in Argentina, and
is where Pope Francis, as Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, used to perform mass
before assuming office in the Vatican in 2013. The Cathedral’s history
is a long and turbulent one. Since the first chapel on the same site was
constructed in 1593 under the orders of the city’s founder Juan de Garay,
the building has been redesigned and rebuilt seven times. The last
construction, the one that we see today, was started in 1752 but not
completed until the mid-nineteenth century. In 1880, the remains of
General Jose de San Martin were brought from France and placed in a
mausoleum, reachable from the right aisle of the church. The black
sarcophagus is guarded by three life-size female figures that represent
Argentina, Chile and Peru, three of the regions freed by the General.
- Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo is the oldest plaza in Buenos Aires and
the scene of many of the most important political events in Argentine
history. Its current name commemorates the May Revolution of 1810,
which started the process towards the country's independence from Spain in
1816.
- Cabildo of Buenos
Aires
The Cabildo de Buenos Aires was the site of Spain's colonial
administration in the city. Originally constructed from adobe and thatch in
1580, the current building was constructed over the second half of the 18th
century, witnessed the Argentine Revolution in 1810, and served as an
important administrative building during the first century of Argentine
independence. The building now houses the National Museum of the
Cabildo and the May Revolution, and displays original artifacts and
documents as well as interactive exhibits on the Spanish colonial era, the
British invasions of 1806 and 1807, and the early days of independence.
-
Casa Rosada Museum
The Casa Rosada Museum was created in 1957 and is
an institution dedicated to the memory of presidents and their
administrations 30 years after the end of their terms. The museum,
behind the Casa Rosada palace itself, stands on the spot occupied by the
original colonial fort of Buenos Aires. It explores the history of
Argentina, from colonial times to the present, and houses the remains of the
original walls of the former customs house.
- We walked from the Casa Rosada Museum to the Puente de la Mujer (Women's
Bridge), one of the icons of the Puerto Madero neighborhood, and had a lunch
in the relaxed waterfront.
- Mafalda Statue (The Estatua de Mafalda)
Mafalda, created by the
renowned cartoonist Quino, embodies the spirit of the 1960s and 1970s with
her witty observations on society and politics. Mafalda has been
translated into around twenty languages including the Chinese version
(娃娃看天下) by a Taiwanese writer 三毛. In fact, I did not read (and did not
know) Mafalda when I was a child....
- Palacio Barolo
The Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building in the neighborhood of
Monserrat, Buenos Aires. It stood as Buenos Aires' tallest building for more
than a decade until 1936. Italian architect Mario Palanti was
commissioned to design the building by entrepreneur Luis Barolo, an Italian
immigrant who had arrived in Argentina in 1890 and had made a fortune in
knitted fabrics. The Barolo Palace is inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine
Comedy. There are 22 floors, divided into three "sections". The
basement and ground floor represent hell, floors 1-14 are purgatory, and
15-22 represent heaven. I booked a guided tour at 6PM so we could see
the sunset (~7PM) when we were on the Terrace on the 13th floor.
- El Querandi
Seeing a tango
show is a must-do in Buenos Aires. El Querandi is an authentic icon of the
city of Buenos Aires. It has been awarded by the Historical Museum of the
City with the title of “Testimonio Vivo de la Memoria Ciudadana”
authenticity and fidelity. I booked a dinner-show VIP package which has
3-course dinner at 8PM, and story-telling tango show at 10PM. The show last
for about 70 min, and we had a private transportation take us back to our hotel after the show.
Day 9 (3/16) ...
- Caminito
Caminito ("little walkway" or "little path" in Spanish) is a
colorful street museum and a traditional alley, located in La Boca, a
neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- La Bombonera
La Bombonera, officially named Alberto Jose Armando
Stadium, is a football stadium owned by Boca Juniors, a professional sports
club based in the La Boca neighborhood and one of Argentina's premier
teams. However, the stadium was not open for tour (due to some
construction?) and only the museum was open for visitors.
- Colón
Fabrica
After lunch we walked to Colón Fabrica, a museum that
encapsulates the rich history and artistry of one of the world's most famous
opera houses, Teatro Colón. One of the highlights of Colón Fabrica is
its collection of costumes, set designs, and memorabilia from past
performances, which provide insight into the creative processes behind the
scenes. The coolest thing at Colón Fabrica is you can actually
touch and play all the sets and costumes like kids in a huge playground.
- Teatro Colón
The
Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires is one of the world's most important opera
houses. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the
world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the
acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leading international opera and orchestra
directors, the Teatro Colón has the room with the best acoustics for opera
and the second best for concerts in the world. In its original
location, the Teatro Colón operated from 1857 to 1888, when it was closed
for the construction of a new theater. The theater opened on May 25, 1908,
with a performance of Aida. The guided tour (3PM) was very
informative and took us to various parts of the theater including the main
hall (although it was dark for some lighting test for the performance tonight).
- Aida at Teatro Colón
When I found out that the famous opera Aida
will be played at the Teatro Colón when we visit Buenos Aires (the theater
opened in 1908 with a performance of Aida too), I bought the tickets on the
first day when the tickets went on sale :-) Although we were no
experts, we did feel the acoustic was really fantastic in the opera house.
Day 10 (3/17) ...
Today we flew from Buenos Aires (AEP @ 11:10AM) to Iguazu Falls (IGR @
12:58PM). Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the
border of the Argentina and the Brazil. Together, they make up the largest
waterfall system in the world. The semicircular waterfall at the heart of
this site is some 80 meters high and 2,700 meters in diameter and is situated on a
basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil. Made up of many
cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular
waterfalls in the world.
- Inferior (Lower) Circuit
After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we
went to the Inferior Circuit to have the first encounter of the waterfalls.
This circuit allows you to enter the jungle through various stairs and
walkways, where you will see flora and fauna characteristic of the area. As
you move forward you will see a beautiful panoramic view of the falls.
- Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo)
We took the last train
(Ecological Train of the Jungle) at 3:30PM to the Devil's Throat, one of the
main attractions of Iguazu Falls. At the Garganta Station you can take
the 1.1 km path (one-way) that takes you directly to the Devil’s Throat.
The Devil’s Throat allows you to be meters away from the most impressive
waterfall and see it from above. Since we were there in the late
afternoon (no more trains with more visitors coming), the walkways and
platforms at the Devil's Throat were not crowded at all, and the longer we
stayed, the less people were around. The timing was also good for
photography with the late afternoon sun.
-
Gran Melia Iguazu
Gran Melia Iguazu is the only hotel in the national
park on the Argentina side. With its privileged views of the
Devil's Throat, guests enjoy an unparalleled connection with nature and the
majestic sound of the world's most beautiful waterfalls.
However, we were not allowed to access the trails after the park was closed
after 5:30PM. When we
had the dinner at the rooftop bar, we were visited by many monkeys which
sometimes tried to steal food from the tables aggressively.
Day 11 (3/18) ...
- Superior (Upper) Circuit
This circuit allows you to have a panoramic
view of Iguazu Falls from the upper walkways, the 1.75km path that takes you
up and over the top of the waterfalls. Although you were standing on
the top of the waterfalls and feeling the power of the water, I think the
views from the Superior Circuit were not as impressive as either Inferior
Circuit or Devil's Throat (from photography point of view).
- Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo)
We went to take the Ecological
Train of the Jungle to the Devil's Throat again in the morning. This
time the walkways and platforms at the Devil's Throat were full of people
and you had to fight for a spot to be able to get closer to the waterfalls.
I think taking the last train as we did yesterday would be a better choice
to enjoy the views at the Devil's Throat.
We checked out of our room at Gran Melia before noon and
had a quick lunch at a hotel bar. I had arranged a car to come at
1PM to take us to Hotel das Cataratas, A Belmond Hotel, on Brazil side.
Although the direct distance between Gran Melia and Hotel das Cataratas is less
than half a mile, the driving distance is more than 25 miles (41 km), and it
took us about 80 minutes with a border crossing.
-
Macuco Safari
Since our room was not ready yet, we decided to take a
boat ride at Macuco Safari. This boat tour was not like the boat tour
at Niagara Falls. This boat ride was full of speed and excitement.
We were directly under the waterfalls and experienced the biggest shower in
our lives. It happened so fast that I almost did not have time to put
my camera inside our dry bag...
-
Hotel das Cataratas, A Belmond Hotel
Hotel das Cataratas is the only
hotel in the national park on the Brazil side. Restored to its
original 1950s charm, the hotel’s hacienda-style exterior is matched by its
warm, inviting interior design.
- Waterfalls Trail (Trilha das Cataratas)
The best thing to stay in the
Hotel das Cataratas is you can access the park trails after the park is
closed to public (it's only true for Brazil side. On Argentina side,
we could not access the park after the park was closed even we stayed in the Gran Melia).
I went to
the Waterfalls Trail at 6PM when all the tourists had gone. The late
afternoon lighting on the waterfalls gave the mists more mysterious senses.
On the Brazil side, you could constantly see the panoramic views of
waterfalls. At the end of the trail (Devil's Throat), you can
stand right next to the big wall of waterfalls. I would say
nothing could be more impressive!
Day 12 (3/19) ...
- Waterfalls Trail (Trilha das Cataratas)
Woanyu and I started to walk
to the waterfalls before 6:30AM and we could enjoy all the panoramic views
without anyone else. It was a pleasant walk with cool air in the early
morning and best views of Iguazu Falls.
- Hotel das Cataratas, A Belmond Hotel
- Waterfalls Trail (Trilha das Cataratas)
We went to the Waterfalls
Trail again at 10:15AM when the park was full of tourists. The
waterfalls were shining with rainbows under the sun. Some platforms
were so crowded that we could not get in to get a picture. Although
you had to compete with the crowds from time to time, it was still a
fantastic experience to see waterfalls.
- Parque das Aves
When we got to the end of the Waterfalls Trail, we took the park bus to the
park entrance to visit a unique Bird Park (Parque das Aves) at about 1PM.
Parque das Aves is the only institution in the world focused on the
conservation of Atlantic Rainforest birds. Visiting the park, you have an
enchanting experience with these beautiful and exuberant birds and the
forests they inhabit.
- Waterfalls Trail (Trilha das Cataratas)
After some rest in our room
in the afternoon, we went back to the waterfalls again (my fourth times!)
for a late afternoon/sunset walk. It's really quite some experience
for us to visit the waterfalls at different time of the day to see the
powerful and beautiful waterfalls in different ways.
Day 13 (3/20) ...
- Sunrise
I went to see the waterfalls for the last time after sunrise.
We had a flight from Iguassu Falls (IGU
@ 10:40AM) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG @ 12:45PM). When we landed in Rio, it
was actually raining so I decided to change some plans for the rest of the day
(my original plan was to visit Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro).
Rio de
Janeiro is a huge seaside city in Brazil (second-most-populous city in Brazil
after São Paulo), famed for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, 38m Christ the
Redeemer statue atop Mount Corcovado and for Sugarloaf Mountain, a granite peak
with cable cars to its summit.
- Royal Portuguese Cabinet of
Reading (Real Gabinete Português de Leitura)
Elected the fourth most
beautiful library in the world by Time magazine, the Cabinet has the largest
collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal. The
building, designed by the Portuguese architect Rafael da Silva e Castro, was
erected between 1880 and 1887 in Neo-Manueline style. The interior
also follows the Neo-Manueline style on the covers, wooden bookcases for
books and memorials.
- Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian (Catedral Metropolitana de São
Sebastião)
The cathedral is home to the cathedra of the Archbishops of
the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Built between 1964 and 1979,
the cathedral was designed by Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca in a modern style
based on Mayan architectural style of pyramids. This enormous
cone-shaped cathedral was inaugurated in 1976 after 12 years of
construction. Among its sculptures, murals and other works of art, the four
vivid stained-glass windows, which stretch 60m to the ceiling, are
breathtaking.
- Copacabana
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro is famous for its
vibrant atmosphere, beautiful natural setting, and rich cultural history,
drawing locals and tourists alike to its shores for sunbathing, swimming,
and enjoying the lively beach culture.
Day 14 (3/21) ...
- Mirante Dona Marta
I booked a sunrise tour to take us to Mirante Dona Marta
which has a stunning panoramic view of Sugarloaf Mountain. We were
picked up at 4:15AM (and 3 other tourists along the way) and got to Mirante Dona Marta
at about 5AM. Although the sunrise time was at 5:56AM, there were
already quite a few people at the platform when we got there at 5AM.
- Christ the Redeemer
(Cristo Redentor)
After a simple breakfast at the Paineiras Visitor
Center, the tour continued to Christ the Redeemer by a van from
Paineiras-Corcovado. When we got to Christ the Redeemer at 7:45AM, the
crowds were already filling the small platform around the statue.
Christ
the Redeemer is an Art Deco statue of Jesus created by French-Polish
sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva
Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian
sculptor Gheorghe Leonida sculpted the face. Constructed between 1922 and
1931, the statue is 30 meters (98 ft) high, excluding its 8-meter (26 ft)
pedestal. The arms stretch 28 meters (92 ft) wide. A symbol of
Christianity around the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of
both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the
World.
- Copacabana
We went back to the hotel at Copacabana to take a break
after the tour since we woke up very early this morning before 4AM.
- Confeitaria Colombo
After a short break, we took the Metro to Confeitaria Colombo to have a
breakfast and dessert. Nestled in the heart of Rio de Janeiro’s
bustling downtown, Confeitaria Colombo stands as an actual historical gem.
Established in 1894, it has witnessed the transformation of Rio from a
colonial capital to a bustling metropolis, and its interiors are a testament
to this rich history.
- Convento de Santo Antonio
We passed by this centuries-old monastery
featuring ornate religious art & a church with a gilded interior.
Since there was some service in progress, we did not stay long in the
church.
-
Santa Teresa Tram
The famous Santa Teresa trams, connecting downtown Rio to the neighborhood
of Santa Teresa, are not just for tourists wanting to explore the area, but
also a practical means of transportation for local residents. This
historic tramway, operational since 1877, offers a unique experience that
combines breathtaking views, a taste of Rio’s bohemian charm, and an
unforgettable exploration of the city’s heart. The round-trip took
about an hour, and it has a very interesting way to "turn" at the end of the
route to make the return trip.
- Lapa Arches
Rio’s old Carioca Aqueduct, Lapa Arches, is one of the
best known sites in the city, as well as one of the most representative
symbols of old Rio. The aqueduct was built in the middle
of the 18th century to bring fresh water from the Carioca River to the
population of the city. Since the end of the 19th century the
aqueduct serves as a bridge for the Santa Teresa Tramway that connects the
city center with the Santa Teresa neighborhood uphill.
- Metropolitan Cathedral
We went back to Metropolitan Cathedral at
about 3:15PM to take a break (it's much cooler to sit inside the Cathedral)
before our planned next activity: tour at the Municipal Theater of Rio
de Janeiro at 4PM.
- We started to walk to the Municipal Theater at 3:40PM. When we
walked down an underpass along the Ave Republica do Chile, we got robbed!!!
One of three teenagers came behind us and grabbed Woanyu's phone from her
hand and ran away. I tried to chase them and ran up staircases, but I
was blocked by some traffic. After ~10-15 seconds, I ran across the
road and the first people I met was a policeman! He knew we were
robbed and started to talk on his radio. A few minutes later, he told
us they caught a suspect and took us across the road to the bridge to
identify the suspect. After a few more minutes, we got another message
that other police caught another suspect and found the phone! I could
not believe we were so lucky. When we got back to the location to
identify the suspects and the phone, there were total 7 policemen on the
scene. We later got in a police car and was driven (with siren on) to
a tourist service station to make the statement and sign the report.
It was really a dramatic 3-hour experience. The biggest loss we had
from this incidence was I broke my $1400 lens in my camera bag when I chased
the bad guys and fell on the stairs :-(
Day 15 (3/22) ...
- Sunrise from the balcony in our room
- Sugarloaf Mountain
Sugarloaf
Mountain is one of several monolithic granite and quartz mountains that rise
straight from the water's edge around Rio de Janeiro. Rising 396 m (1,299
ft) above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the
traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. It is known worldwide
for its cableway and panoramic views of the city and beyond. We
got to the cable car station before 8AM (it opened at 8:30AM), and we were
one of the first few people got to the summit. It's a perfect day to
enjoy the panoramic views from the mountain peak. We tried our first
açai smoothie
with mango and granola at the summit for our breakfast.
- Copacabana
Before we checked out of our hotel, we had to walk on the
famous Copacabana Beach to complete our Rio experience.
- Maracanã
After
lunch, we went to
visit Maracanã Stadium. The stadium was opened in 1950 to host
the FIFA World Cup. Maracanã has already been the scenery of the most
important Brazilian soccer classic and earned historical moments of the
international soccer. Monumental facts, like the thousandth goal of king
Pel , in 1969, also happened in the grass of Maracanã.
Day 16 (3/23) ...
We had a late night flight (GIG @ 1:30AM) to Panama City (PTY @ 6:40AM).
Since we had about 10 hours of transit time in Panama, I booked a
Layover Panama Canal & City Tour.
- Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile)
waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.
The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel
between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy,
hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake
Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. Colombia,
France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the
canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but
stopped in 1889 because of a lack of investors' confidence due to
engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The US took over the
project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control
the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter
Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of
joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in
1999.
We got to the Panama Canal at about 8AM and saw
a cruise ship go through the lock, and then watched an very
informative 3-D IMAX movie at the visitor center.
Going Home ...
We were back to Panama Airport at about 3PM for our flight (PTY @ 5:43PM)
back home (SFO @ 11:40PM) to conclude our 16-day Argentina and Brazil journey.
The landscapes in Patagonia (mountains, lakes, glaciers) are fantastic no matter
it is Argentina side or Chile side.
The powerful Iguazu Falls are so beautiful from either Argentina side or Brazil
side. Seeing the opera Aida and a Tango show in Buenos Aires is a
reflection of its European heritage and rich cultural life. Our
"adventurous" experience in Rio de Janeiro was really a unique and unforgettable
experience and we really felt we were blessed in many ways in this incredible
trip.
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