Brazil by Bus

I wanted to post some pictures of my two bus rides in Brazil. One was from Foz do Iguacu, in southeast Brazil, to Brasilia, in central Brazil (27 hours). The second was from Brasilia to Salvador, in northeast Brazil (24 hours). The scenery was really impressive all the way. Busses are the best way to go to really see the country.

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The bus to Brasilia:


Early on in the bus ride:


Still Early:


Stopping for construction long enough to stretch my legs (day 2):


Passing through the city of Goiania:


Stopped at Churrascaria's for both dinners (but I brought my food):


Sunset night 2 (close to Brasilia):


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Beautiful beginning to bus ride 2:


A large valley is turning into a Savannah outside of Brasilia:


Very savannah like:


Turning into more of a jungle/palmtree forest, with some small lakes:


Flattened out with mountains in the distance:


Imnpressive rock formations start:


More Rocks/forest. This area is a national park somewhere within 6 hours of Salvador:


Flattens back out with new mountains:


I threw this in here because the clouds are really cool looking:


Turned back into forest outside of Salvador (still inland but approaching the coast):

More Brasilia

Post dated like a week....

So on Friday morning my host Jackie had to work, so she had her friend Daphne take me around, along with Natasha from South Africa. We drove around and she pointed out some buildings, then we went up the antenna tower in the middle of the airplane design.

The view from the top was very cool. Daphne knew a ton about the design and the city plan (and thankfully spoke perfect English since her Dad was ambassador to Haiti and somewhere else). For example, all of the apartments are in the wings of the plane. They dug artificial lakes on the outer side of each wing. The two rows of apartment buildings closest to the water are all 3 story buildings. These were designed for the ‘poor’ people. Then, there are two more rows of 6 story buildings, which were designed more for middle/upper class. Well, things didn’t work out so well, and the poor could not afford to live in the ‘poor’ buildings, which are now inhabited my middle class people & students, like Daphne. This also lead to a huge boom in ‘satellite’ cities outside Brasilia. People who couldn’t afford to live in the airplane had to move outside the city.

You can see the layout of the airplane from the tower. Also, you can get a feel for how the city is compartmentalized in ‘quadrants’. For example, you can see all the banks are concentrated in one area. All the hotels are located at the point on each wing that connects with the body of the plane. There is a sector for sports, which really just contains a large soccer stadium, as well as an indoor facility for concerts/basketball. The shuttle of the airplane is one giant green space, and the roads on the sides are symmetrical. At the very front of the plane are 3 buildings, which are for the 3 branches of government. Then, there are about 6 large rectangular buildings on the side which are all government buildings. The bus terminal is one of the only things located in the middle of the shuttle. The green space was designed so to allow for the people to walk directly up to the president’s house and protest. Product of the urban planner, who was a communist (and the city was designed in the late 50s).


This is a wing, which you can kind of see curves:


The front of the plane with the 3 legislative buildings (president in middle). Plus green space to walk up to:


Legislative buildings (10 on each side):


The front of the airplane shuttle:


The view of the rear part of the airplane:



The 'sports' sector. There is a soccer stadium in front, and a venue for concerts & baskeball in back:


On the way back, in the large tent market below the tower, we tried some green coconuts as well as some ‘pastels’ which are just like empanadas, dough filled with something then fried.

Trying Brazilian Coco's (drinking then scooping out the edible part) with Daphne and Natasha:


So after this, we watched the USA England game. It was a good game. I know a whole heck of a lot more about soccer now (probably watched a bit of soccer every day the last 3 weeks). We tried to go to a brewery to try some local microbrews (not impressed with Brazilian beers, they are extremely light/watery, but not without a purpose...because it is always hot here so drinking a Guiness probably wouldn't be the best). Anyways, it was closed, so we just watched it at Daphne’s apartment, and thus I got to go in one of the bleak, 3 story, rectangular, working class buildings!

Later we had some Brazilian hot dogs. Topped with corn, peas, mini French fries, two types of mayo, one infused with garlic, the other can’t remember. I think there probably was more stuff in it as well. And, it was quite delicious.

Hot Dog:


Then that night we went to a party for Brazil’s Valentines day (maybe they flip it because the seasons are switched…I have no clue). It was in the backyard/back patio of the house of a friend of theirs. It was very official. They had a list with people’s names and everything to get in. Anyways, they had some DJs playing music in the backyard. Seemed like a rich house, but we couldn’t go inside to check it out. However, they did have a pool out back. Hmmm.

Host Jackie (hold the beard comments, I trimmed it recently! haha):


A drink with Natasha, girl with Brazilian name I dont know how to write, and Pree:


Sunday, I left for my 27 hour bus ride in the afternoon. Jackie took me to the bus terminal, and a big hug was given! I really enjoyed Brasilia, not only because it is the strangest city I have ever been to, but also because Jackie and her friends were so nice and treated me like an old friend (except for the fact that they speak English with a Portuguese accent...) So, maybe I will stop back in on the way to Bolivia at the end of the month.

Brasilia, Brazil

Brasilia is weird. The people from Brasilia even say so. But that makes it a really interesting place to visit.

My host Jacqui picked me up with a few friends from the bus terminal at 9pm after my lovely 27 hour bus ride. We dropped my stuff off at her and her mom’s apartment, then headed out to meet some more of her friends for drinks close by.

Jacqui got a degree in history and works for the newspaper in Brasilia (she is the person that gives the writers facts when they need them), so she knows a ton about the history of Brasilia. Actually, there really isn’t much history, but what there is is pretty fascinating. Basically the president of Brazil created Brasilia from nothing in the late 1950s in a span of 41 months, and promptly moved the capital there. It was designed as a vision of the future. The main part of Brasilia is shaped like an airplane. There is a long shuttle , or body, that is 5 miles long or so, and two wings. Everything is compartmentalized. There is a ‘sector’ for hotels. A ‘sector’ for restaurants, a ‘sector’ for banks. Within sectors, there are ‘quadrants’ and ‘letters’ to designate locations. There are also ‘north’ and ‘south’ designations, at least for the wings of the plane. Within the plane, there are many apartment buildings. You might live in quadrant ‘102 B’. The architect of the city was Oscar Niemeyer, who was a communist. All of the apartment buildings are remarkably similar, with a 50s communist feel to them. Rectangular buildings on stilts with few windows and bleak colors. Depressing. Niemeyer also design many of the churches and government buildings which make Brasilia so famous for its modern architecture. One of the most famous is its main cathedral. It was really designed so that on the outside it does not look like a typical religious institution.

50s style communist architecture:


The antenna tower building:


Can't remember what building this is:


The cathedral:


This is another Niemeyer Cathedral. The weirdest church I have ever seen. The seats are not really inside. There are murals in bright colors inside. The outside is a mosaic of tiles with airplanes on each tile:


Inside this cathedral:


It was interesting hearing about Brasilia from Jacqui and her friends. They are really proud to be from here. They are all between 20 and 30, and consider themselves to be the second generation of Brasilia. However, the first generation that was pretty much all born in Brasilia. They consider themselves to be the ones shaping the future of Brasilia. The oldest person that was born in Brasila is only 51! When the city was created, the government offered land to get people to move here. So the parents of all of Jaquis friends are all from many different places in Brazil. That lead to a smorgasborg of accents and foods. I found it really funny that Jacqui said she travelled to other cities in Brazil when she was younger and thought they were all weird, then at some point she realized that it really was Brasilia that was just plain weird.

So with the way the city was planned, you pretty much need a car to get everywhere. They have busses as well that go the length of the wings and the body of the plane. I hear there is even a subway, but I haven’t seen it. You really can’t just walk from place to place. Suprisingly, though, the traffic is not horrible. One funny observation is that the drivers here are the most sane in all South American cities that I have seen (and there are A LOT of crazy drivers). If you step into a sidewalk, you can put your hand up and the drivers have to stop! I had Jacqui test this theory for me, and it worked!

Having Jacqui test the fact tha tyou can put your hand out and cars will stop:


Anyways, it is an UNESCO heritage site, the youngest city in the world to have the designation. That means they can’t change anything within the plane. There are tons of suburbs outside the airplane, so I think the total population in the area is 3.5 million.

Friday, the first day of world cup, for some reason about half of Brasilia had the day off. I’m pretty sure half of the country of Brazil probably did as well, they are crazy about world cup to the millionth power (when Brazil plays, the country WILL shut down). Jacqui invited a friend over, who had a girl who just arrived from South Africa with her. So, everyone thinks she is absolutely nuts for leaving South Africa the day the world cup started. The four of us watched the South Africa vs. Mexico game.

Me, Jacqui, and Natasha (from South Africa)


After that, we headed out to lunch for north Brazilian food. Basically: white rice, pinto beans, mandioca, ground falafel, and slightly dried sliced meat. Delicious. I thought mandioca was cursed and the worst food after my experience in Paraguay, but this mandioca was delicious. They cook it in a pressure cooker for over 2 hours so it is nice and soft. Then they have this special butter they put over it. We also had this slab of some specific type of Brazilian cheese Yum.

Lunch:


Lunch:


That’s it for now from Brasilia.