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!
