The tour guide mentioned how the streets were closed for pedestrian only, but we didn't find such a place in Lapa on Friday night. We did see a place that looked sort of like a small night market, with food stalls and what not set up. The best one I've to say is the 4 reais 30cm hot dog. Needless to say it was one looong hot dog. Perhaps the even cooler part was that it came with a load of toppings: tomatoes, onions, sauce, corn, quail egg (Yes quail egg). Easily one if the best deals thus far in Rio.
Nothing much else or eventful here - perhaps we were there too early (8 pm-ish) or just not in the right place in Lapa, so we headed back to Copabanca pretty soon after arriving.
All in all, I feel like Rio is very comparable to Toronto. Will wait till tomolo for the final verdict, but it definitely didn't seem too shady a place. Sellers are not haggler like in Egypt, crowded places (downtown and subway) didn't seem all that bad. I am sure there are pockets of shadiness (ie. the favelas), but just as there is Jane and Finch, every city has these areas. Perhaps in preparation for the world cup the place is getting cleaned up alot more in the last couple years?
Oh.. they even had the changing color at night thing like the CN tower for the Metropolitan Cathedral - I think I mapped alot of places in Rio to Toronto actually lol.
Getting back, we go back to hear loud music coming from a rooftop party from 2 blocks across. Here we were, looking for some nightlife, and it was right across from us - yet this was the one place we didn't want to hear it at lol.
Thinking back, it's hard to determine which stay was the vest on this trip - all the places I stayed at has its good and detrimental bad. I think actually surprising as it sounds, I enjoyed the hostels in Ollanta the most. With free WiFi, quietness almost all the time I was there, hot shower (once they turn it on), ease of access to places - while it did not have air conditioning, the weather at night cooled down enough to not require it. Which makes is alot better than loud parties or chatty neighbors who had hyena laughs (At least in my priority list).
Anyhow, sleeping now to loud clubbing music and a thumping bass. Bon nuit?
PS. Zero free WiFi access since I got into Rio. You'd think if Iguaçu and Ollanta had it, Rio would... nope.
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