Calm day @ Sugar Loaf

Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. Second day. Late lunch. Another day of adventure.

Well, it’s not as adventurous as yesterday, which is a good thing cos’ my body can’t take too much sleepless nights. Getting old already.

Ok, back to the story of the day. We decided to cross another item on the must-see list and ventured out to visit Sugar Loaf, or in Portuguese Pao de Acucar. Similar to Corcovado, we took a bus from Ipanema. This time round, it took us about 30 minutes (versus over an hour yesterday) and we’re lucky enough to have a fellow passenger telling us that we’ve reached our destination.

Tip: It cost R$53/person for entrance. Credit cards and cash accepted. 

The famous cable car ride is divided into two, both taking about 3 minutes each. To the uninitiated, the Sugar Loaf cable car was first operational in 1912, one of the 3 in the world at that time. It was designed by the Germans and it ran for 60 years before the original cable car was discontinued and replaced by a newer version. It has never had an accident throughout the years of operations.

The ride is quite smooth and we reached our destination within the blink of an eye. The view from here is quite different from Corcovado and there are also more shops with a cafe right at the top. We sat down and had drinks, watched people around us and enjoyed the calm view before us. Blue eyes commented that girls around always seem to have a pose for the camera. Immediately when they’re in front of the lenses, they change their expression, smiled a little more and stood in a different way. I laughed.

Brazilians are an attractive bunch. The ladies always have very nice features – big eyes, thick lashes, high nose, long, lush, wavy hair  and deep smile. The men, meanwhile, are manly, broad shoulders, well-tanned and firm built. Girls walk on the streets with their tops unbuttoned, showing their bras/bikinis and lots of cleavage. Men go without shirt 😉 As you can imagine, we stayed longer than expected at the mountain; who wouldn’t when people-watching can be so much fun!

By the time we took the cable car down, the sun was setting and the view from the mountain was indeed gorgeous. The golden ray of the sun shone brightly against the mountain and the whole place seemed to lit up. One of the best sunsets I’ve seen, definitely.