Rio day 5 – Mirante Dona Marta

Today I was on my own again and I decided to do some more of the walking stuff. This time I wanted to go to Mirante Dona Marta. This viewpoint is located more amidst the city right in front of Cristo Redentor. There is no public transport to this place so you either have a guide bring you there, take a taxi or you walk a bit.

But first I wanted to get my bus ticket for my trip to CEMB (Centro Educational Mestre Bimba) on monday. Thanks to the legwork we did two days ago I knew where to go and what to bring. Being that this time there was no one around who spoke english it was good I had prepared myself up front. Using my two pieces of portuguese and good will from the vendor I managed to get a ticket to the bus I wanted to use.

Being happy to have a mode of transportation for my next sidetrip I went to look for the 507 bus to Silvester. According to Nick from the hostel this one should me take to the drop off point from where I’ll have to walk. The alternative would have been to go all the way back to the hostel up the hill and get one of the other buses (006 or 007).
But be prepared as the bus lanes tend to change. So better check first.

Lucky guy I am the next 507 arrived just a few minutes later at the bus stop. The drive up the hill was fast and took a few serpentines. But don’t expect the buses to be slow because of that. All Cariocas seem to drive like they are chased by someone.

At my stop I hopped of the bus and walked past the obligatory guard post where they asked my where I was up to. After I told them my destination all was fine and I was on my way.
The hike was the shortest and easiest of the last days and pretty soon I was up at the lookout. There were a few other people but overall I saw maybe 50 people over the period of two hours.

The view was stunning. Maybe the best yet. You can not see as far as from up at the Cristo but you are amidst the city and all the areas are nearer.
You are right next to the Projecto Alamao and can look right into the football (soccer) statium of Botfogo.

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Unfortunately it seemed as if the clouds would continue to hide the sun and I would not be able to see the sunset from up there. The tradeoff between maybe chance of a sunset picture and going around in Rio by night didn’t seem worth the risk so I departed and went down back to the bus stop.

Well wht happend was what alway happens: Sittin in the bus I saw the best transformation in color of the Pão de Açúcar to a deep red in my whole time in Rio. As it turns out I made the wrong choice.
I arrived back at my stop where I probably didn’t make to many friends in the bus because I only went through the crowd after the bus had stopped. Anyhow I got and made myself an easy meal of Rice with onions and tuna.