THE BIKE RENTER FROM TIRADENTES IS A BU OM AND THROWS ME TOWARDS RIO DE JANEIRO.

In Tiradentes, the bike renter (Uai Trip) who has the face of Bu Om, offers to get me the ticket to Rio de Janeiro, but in the end the direct night bus is complete also because it is Saturday evening. There is therefore a need for a connection and so he offers to accompany me, together with his wife and one year old daughter, to the bus station in San Joau del Rei where he buys me the 2 tickets necessary to reach Rio de Janeiro. Speak excellent English. He was really kind and turned out to be a Bu Om and will remain etched in my memory.

From the Rodoviaria di S Joau del Rei I therefore take the 7.00 pm bus to Barbacena (Brazil) of the Transur Company, (price: 14.20 real). There are several departures per day. I arrive after 1 hour and 30 minutes at the Rodoviaria di Barbacena, where at 24.20 I take a bus of the Util Company (price 45.10 Real) which in less than 5 hours takes me to Rio de Janeiro.

NOW THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE RENDENTOR CHRIST BY RIO DE JANEIRO, WHICH I HAD ON THE DESKOP OF THE COMPUTER, HAS BECOME REALITY.

I arrive at the Nova Rio bus station in Rio de Janeiro at 4.50am on a Sunday morning and logically I don't dare leave there until 7.00am. Inside the station the security is optimal. Despite the hour it is full of people and police who wake you up only if you bend your head resting it on the other chair as I did to keep the backpack under your head so that they wouldn't steal it while I closed my eyes. At 7 am I take a bus to IPANEMA, the most chic area of Rio de Janeiro, where I chose to spend my last night in Brazil. (3.10 real, ticket on the bus issued by the young lady and then passage of the terrible turnstile) I arrive at the hostel at Piratas de Ipanema but the owner tells me that I have to stay at least two nights to get a bed. But I insist and I manage to snatch a hammock in extremis, in a semi-covered place (15 real, with free internet). Then I leave for Christ the Redeemer. I take, in Via Rainha Elizabete da Belgica, at box n. 2, bus no. 484 for Cosme Velho (2.75 real, ticket on the bus issued by the lady and then passage of the terrible turnstile). Once in Cosmo Velho, I take the mini bus (25 real) which in about 40 minutes, including the panoramic break, takes me to the ticket office for entry to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Here I have a crazy queue to get the entrance ticket to the Statue (26.53 real) and then still a lot of queue to take another minibus. All this waste of time can be avoided by taking advantage of the train that leaves from Cosmo Velho station and reaches almost to the top at the price of 44 real, but also includes the cost of admission to the Statue and therefore, in addition to costing less, this solution allows to avoid a lot of unnecessary queues. The only flaw is that there are few trains a day while there are always minibuses. Then the lift and then the escalators lead me to the Cima del Cordovaro mt. 704 where the immense white statue of Christ the Redeemer is located. It is full of tourists, the sun is burning and the view is incredible: an unimaginable spectacle before my eyes. Under my feet the incredible Rio de Janeiro and above my head the immense statue where inside there is a beautiful chapel where a prayer vigil is taking place. This excursion takes me a whole day and at the end for safety reasons I hurry back to Copacabana before it gets dark.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2012/06/finalmente-le-foto-di-rio-de-janerio.html