Rio De Janeiro

Rio De Janeiro, what a milestone for the trip this is.

My brother, Adam (pictured left) flew to Lima, then Peru, hiked Machu Picchu via Salkantay Rio, all just to bring me essentials like marmite, skincare (from my lovely client) and hair straighteners.

Rio De Janeiro marks 22,079.14 miles by bike and a major milestone reached.

Cycling across South America is one of the hardest parts of this trip for me, from Vina Del Mar, Chile to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

I felt every single mile, especially in Brazil, tough days.

With my brother, Rio De Janeiro was quite different.

We’ve had a holiday: bars, beaches, and some touristy stuff including one of the seven New Wonder’s of the World, according to Britannica, Christo the Redeemer statue. We got up there on Good Friday. It was the best day for the weather, or so the forecast said, and what a great time to be there!

We were warned before taking the train to Christo that visibility was poor, and that we wouldn’t see the statue. But, with Friday being the best day forecast, and with us never coming to Rio again (probably), we risked it.

We went straight to Christ, ignoring opportunities for city pics on the way, and it was a good job we did! We got a full twenty minutes or so before the cloud completely covered Christ and we really couldn’t see him at all.

We got seriously lucky! In fairness, we had managed that day like clockwork. The alarm went early, Uber booked the night before because we wanted to give ourselves the best chances.

After, we went back to the beach for snacks and beers 🍻 and down from Christ the Redeemer there was sun on the beachfront for the first time. ☀️

Being in Rio was a bit of a pinch me moment.

We’d completed South America.

Our bodies physically relaxed knowing we were done and the bikes were packed away for their last flight of the whole trip.

Actually, we got quite unwell, both exhausted and full of cold. You know when your body finally gives in after doing too much? Just like that: forced rest.

Still, it didn’t stop up getting up at 5am and booking our taxi to the airport. My brother was arriving at 6am and we hadn’t seen him for 13 months. 🥰