My Heart still Beaches on
- Beaches of Rio

On the afternoon of February 23rd, 2006, I finally arrived at Rio de Janeiro, the No. 1 destination on my "10 Places I've always wanted to visit but haven't..."

One of the most beatifully situated cities in the world, Rio de Janeiro ("River of January" in Portuguese, usually just called "Rio") is surrounded by mountains and water. Water is everywhere in Rio and it is said that there are 37 white-sand beaches fronting blue sea in its city proper alone. Locals called it "Cidade Maravilhosa" (the Marvelous City). However, it is also among the most densely populated cities in the world. Due to pollution, many beaches are for sunbathing only but not suitable for swimming. Even though our hotel, Paysandu, is located just around the corner of Flamengo Beach (Praia do Flamengo), this is one of the "polluted" beaches. So the next day, I took a bus (1.8 to 2 reals) to the other side of the mountain to Rio's two most famous beaches: Ipanema and Copacabana.

Unlike Flamengo, which is facing Guanabara Bay (Baia de Guanabara), both Ipaneman and Copacabana are outside the Bay and facing the Atlantic Ocean (thus have cleaner water I think). Both beach neighborhoods are relatively affluent and full of high-rise buildings. However, Copacabana is more cheesy and tacky, sort of more like the Atlantic City (New Jersey) beach. While Ipanema (on the other side of a hill west of Copacabana) is a really wealthy neighborhood at even higher end. There are many beautiful boutiques, bookstores, coffeeshops, and "juice shops" (selling fruit smoothie with protein powders) in this area. Further west lies Leblon, another affluent neighborhood. It is sometimes counted as a part of Ipanema since they are contiguous. Together, Ipanema and Leblon give me the deja vu feeling of South Miami Beach: full of beautiful and tanned (white) people who don't seem to need to work to make a living...

Walking along the beachfront sidewalks and fascinated with its dizzying pattern, I suddenly felt the thrill. Yes, I was finally in Rio! On the beach of Ipanema and Copacabana! How exciting it is....

Please click the thumbnail on the pictures to see enlarged images

Mid-morning at the beach of Leblon. the beach was not yet too crowded.

View of the beach. Sorry that I did not get too close to take pictures of those bikini-clad babes...

As I walked further east and into the Ipanema Beach, there were more sunbathers.

An interesting street art piece that is full of humor, on the streets of Ipanema. No this statue is not a sniper but a trumpet player.

Copacabana Beach. It is cresent shaped.

Copacabana Palace, possibly the most famous hotel in Rio de Janeiro (many celebrity, such as late Princess Diana had stayed here).

The wavey pattern of sidewalk tiles in Copacabana. It is a little dizzying after you stare it for too long. They even have this pattern on beach towel.