Day 66 : Wet Wet Wet….

I was looking forward to go to Cristo Corcovado (the famous hill with the statue of Jesus Christ) today, but woke up to find that it was raining… Bummer!  Was hoping that it would stop after a while, but it didn’t look like it was going to let up, and when I checked the weather forecast, it indicated that it will be raining the whole day.

So time for Plan B!  I decided to head over the bus station to first purchase my tickets for Paraty, my next destination, before heading to Centro, the main downtown district.

I realised that travelling almost anywhere within Rio takes almost an hour!  I intended to use the washroom when I get to the bus terminal, but changed my mind when I saw that there was a HEFTY fee to use the toilet.  BRL 1.50 (about S$1.10)!!! 

I can’t believe that using a toilet in Brazil could be that expensive!  Singaporeans shouldn’t complain too much about the price of toilets in Singapore, even though I still don’t agree with paying for them!

I subsequently headed to Centro and walked into one of the hotels to use the toilets instead.  I realised that hotels in Brazil seem to always have a roof top bar, and also often a good view of the city! 

I continued walking around the downtown area, and stumbled into a market called “Market Popular Uruguaiana”  It reminded me of a combination of Sim Lim Plaza, Bugis Street Market and Chinatown.  Lots of hand phones, gadgets, speakers etc. sold here, and in addition, there were also stores selling clothes, hardware tools, shoes etc..

For all the many things that Brazil is expensive for, there is definitely one thing which is cheap here and that is Havaianas!  I finally got a new one after mine had given way in Greece, at probably about half the price or less than Singapore!