After all those blocos, I decided to take it easy the next day in Rio.
Did some soul searching on the beach (read as, watched beautiful people),
booked bus tickets and a hostel and generally just walked around. The next day,
I caught a bus to Parati (pronounced parachi) and made my way to The Parati
Beach Hostel, a nice cosy place opposite the beach. My room had 19 other people
on bunks. All the guy in the bunk above mine had to do was step off it for the
entire bed to vibrate like there was an earthquake. Essentially, I had to wake
up whenever he woke up, at any odd hour. There was also a Labrador around,
named Pucho, who steals slippers. You always have to close the gates of the
hostel behind you because he makes a run for it and then is usually found
around the old town, eating the bracelets that hawkers sell.
So, Parati is an old Portuguese town with cobblestone streets and no vehicles in sight. It’s also a good base to explore the beaches and nature around. The sun was out the first day so I ditched my plans to go to the waterfalls and joined some of my hostel mates to Trinidade beach. Ooooh... powdery white sand, crystal clear turquoise waters surrounded by hills. There’s really nothing more you could ask for. Well, perhaps some free beer. I saw a sign that said something that I imagined was ‘natural pool’ 400 mts. So, a friend and I said... why not? After trekking through some jungle we reached another beach. Was this the natural pool? Technically, they were not lying. On paper, it was a natural pool. But we saw another sign that said 1300 mts ahead. Great. We walked the length of the beach and reached (surprise surprise) another sign! 650 mts! Well, we came this far. So 650 mts through some more jungle and we reached this large pool of water, cut off from the sea by massive boulders with people snorkeling. With clear water through which you could see the bottom, it was really worth the little trek. Although I wish there could have been some fish to see. Just spotting your toes does not make for ideal snorkeling.
While walking back, I made fun of all the white friends I’ve made who were rubbing sun tan lotion and complaining about getting burnt. Haha, gringos! Unfortunately, I soon learnt that nobody told my shoulders the joke as they turned fiery red and the burning started killing me.
At night, a bunch of us pitched in and bought stuff for a BBQ since the hostel had a fireplace. My job was to light the coal and you will be proud to know that I did a great job. All it took was one and a half hours and somebody’s guide book. Yeah, we used the paper.
Up next, there are waterfalls with excellent jumping spots to be explored. That’s right down my alley. Till then, Ciao!