These photos are from different locations around Machu Picchu. They were also taken from 6am, when there is fog covering the moutain, until about 3:30pm. Machu Picchu is one of the best sites to see in the world and a must see if you are traveling through South America.
These photos are from the Temples of Angkor. The most famous being Angkor Wat. Howard and me in front of the lake in the afternoon. I would recommend to be at Angkor wat either at sunrise or sunset. You will get the best pictures at this time
While I was traveling through Rio de Janeiro, Brazil I went to an area call Lapa. It is a barrio that is not too far from the beach. An artist from Chile, named Selaron moved to Rio de Janeiro, and decided to make this his home over 30 years ago. He had a passion for art, and decided to make this stair case his master piece. To check out his whole story go to this site:
This stair case has around 200 steps that have been redesigned by this artist. By doing this, he has changed everything in the neighborhood, and brought in tourism, which also brought back the nightlife! Selaron still lives on this stair case, and you will more than likely run into him if you visit the stairs! Enjoy the video!
In my daily life I never wear watches.I usually have my cell phone with me, and if I need to know what time it is I look at it.So I would have never dreamed of wearing a watch while traveling abroad.That is until I found a sport/travel watch called Deuce Brand!It is like a livestrong band (think yellow lance Armstrong band) with a watch.
I found it on line at www.deucebrand.com.I ended up getting a black one, but the web site has a variety of colors.It was perfect for my recent trip to Brazil!!The watch is inexpensive, water proof, light weight, and I almost forgot I was wearing it most of the time.I would highly recommend this watch for any backpacker or traveler that is traveling overseas, and doesn’t want to wear a “regular” watch.
While I was in Brazil I wanted to go to a brazilian steakhouse.I had heard so many stories of how good the meat is in Brazil that I wanted to experience it myself.There are two main steakhouses in the Impanema area of Rio.The most famous steakhouse is called Porcao and the other one is called Carretao.Hayden, Jared and I had met locals while saying in Riothat lived in Impanema, and told us that both restaurants were the same quality, taste, and variety of meats except that Carretao was half of the cost!So instead of paying 70 Reais at Porcao you can pay 35 Reais for basically the same meal.
The night we went to Carretao we arrived around 11:00 pm.It was about half full so we were able to choose any table in the restaurant.We sat down, and we basically only had one decision to make: what did we want to drink.Then we got right back up and hit the salad bar first.It had everything you wanted to make a salad, had a variety of sushi rolls, pastas, rolls, etc.
Once we got back to the table, they laid down this round circle that controls if you want a serving of meat or if you don’t.One side of the circle is green, and the other side of the circle is red.Braziliansteakhouses have employees walk around with different cuts of meat, and if they see you have the green side up then they will cut you off a slice of meat.If they see the red side of the circle they just pass you by.To add to the already huge amounts of food that we had eaten the waiter also offered us french fries, cheese rolls, plantain, and rice.
By the time we got done eating, an hour and a half later, we almost needed to be wheeled out of the restaurant.I was so full.I do have to admit it was some of the best steak I had ever had!Here are the details on Carretao:
There is all kinds of action going on at the beach in Rio de Janeiro during the summer (Dec, Jan, Feb).There is footvolley (basically volleyball using only your feet), people exercising, people body surfing, but my favorite has to be bargaining for anything that people are selling.There are people that walk up and down the beach all day selling sarongs (basically a light beach towel), jewelry, drinks, and shirts.Honestly, I don't know how they work so hard all day in the hot Rio sun.
I didn't buy anything from the vendors until the last day, but I ended up buying one sarong.The vendor came at me asking for 20 Reais.After being in Rio de Janeiro for a week I already knew that other tourists had been buying these for about 10-15 Reais depending on the vendor.I ended up buying it for 15 Reais, and I felt like I didn't do a good job bargaining. At least it wasn't the 20 Reais that he wanted. It was a black one that has a huge symbol of Cristo in the middle...pretty cool.
In the picture above, my friend Hayden was working hard on the beach.At first he told me that he was not going to buy a sarong. The next thing I know is Hayden flagging down a vendor. Then the vendor started hustling.So they started with one for 20, then Hayden asked "how much for two?"The price was 2 for 30 Reais.Next thing I know Hayden bought 5 for 50 Reais.So it actually turned out to be a good deal for Hayden, but in reality the vendor is a great salesman!He talked Hayden into buying 5 sarongs when he wasn't going to buy any!
Don't worry about bringing a chair and umbrella to the beach either.Up and down Impanema and Copacabana beach they have different crews of workers that rent beach supplies.You can rent just a chair or umbrella for 4 Reais a piece, or you can rent them both for 8 Reais. As you can see above, the chairs are really comfortable!
I can promise you one thing about going to the beach in Rio de Janeiro...you're not going to be bored!
The video of the week comes from Arpoador Rocks which are located between Copacabana and Impenama beaches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One night, during my trip to Rio, Hayden, Jared, and I walked all the way to the end of Impenama Beach to the Rocks. We took one of the two paths up the rock to a point were there is a great view of Impanema Beach (you can't see Copacabana Beach from these rocks). I was surprised to see that there were so many people hanging out at the Rocks for sunset. The cool thing about this spot is that it is not just tourist that go watch the sunset here, but also a ton of locals. There is also a vendor there that sells water, beer, food. I would highly recommend checking out this spot when traveling in Rio de Janeiro! Enjoy the video
