The Real Deal
Brazil is a must-visit place: not only is it beyond
beautiful but the exchange rate makes it positively irresistible
When your Instagram feed looks like a poorly curated
travel magazine, with acquaintances hopscotching all over Europe, and a
depreciating rupee makes your own tour plans seem like a financial suicide
mission, the motivation to travel doesn’t run quite high. And yet Brazil ought
to feature in every traveller’s must-visit list. While it is beyond beautiful,
the current exchange rate of about ₹18 to the Brazilian real makes it positively irresistible.
Don’t let the exorbitant flight fares scare you. If
one has to pay upwards of ₹40,000 for a
return ticket to a destination as common as Madrid, it is only fair to pay
twice that to cross one continent and two oceans to touch the pearlescent
shores of Brazil. If you can gather enough travel miles and pay a little bit
more, Emirates and Qatar Airways are two of the most competitively priced
carriers that will take you from Mumbai or New Delhi to Sao Paulo with one stop
in under 24 hours.
If there’s anything more endearing than the famous
joie de vivre of the Brazilians, from Uber drivers to museum managers, it has
to be the pristine beauty of the treelined avenues and clear blue skies of Sao
Paulo. Take, for instance, the massive Ibirapuera Park, designed by that Latin
American god of modern architecture Oscar Niemeyer and located in the dead
centre of the bustling metropolis.
For a fee of six reals, the Museo Afro Brasil in the
Ibirapuera gives a crash course in the ethnic diversity of the Americas. Apart
from indigenous people, Africans and European migrants, Brazil is home to the
world’s largest Japanese population outside the Land of the Rising Sun. Sao
Paulo, no wonder, bustles with sushi bars as well as party clubs.
It is also home to some of the finest street graffiti
by Eduardo Kobra, a contemporary muralist. His kaleidoscopic graffiti of
Brazil’s diverse ethnicities as well as famous personalities such as Formula
One hero Ayrton Senna is both therapy and inspiration.
Soul Food
There’s nothing more exciting for a coffee lover than
to be in the holy land of the brew. Coffee, in all its variations, is for the
day while nights are devoted to cachaca, an alcoholic cashew brew, which is so
strong and delicious that it may well be the mother of the humbler Goan feni.
Have it neat or in the more charismatic caipirinha cocktail, and you are ready
for the carnaval of life.
Having visited the country in the thick of the carnival
season, we were party to many public carnavals, where streets are
sealed off at both ends, techno music blares and copious amounts of beer and
food are on sale. The delicious national dish feijoada is a rich, slow-stewed
gravy of black beans and meat, while the quintessentially Brazilian barbecue or
churrasco features not only various types of meats but also pineapple and corn
on the cob. The juicy tropical fruits, the glittering spread of seafood and the
exquisite varieties of cheese and chocolates all contribute to Brazil’s
culinary heritage.
Blame it on
Rio
The city of Rio de Janeiro is to blame if you find
yourself swaying to the rhythms of samba music as soon as you touch down on its
frighteningly short runway. A global party destination since the late 1980s,
Rio is far more expensive than Sao Paulo but much more affordable than other
party cities like Las Vegas or Ibiza. Set aside daytime for the city’s natural
attractions while you party all night, and you will have a holiday to remember.
Goodbye sleep, hello Rio.
During carnival season — usually February — Brazil is
one big street party. And when in Rio you can’t miss the mother of all carnavals at
the Sambodromo, a specialised parade stadium for thousands of revellers who
come to cheer the dancers who lead the floats. For a slightly steep fee of 500
reals, you can book a premium seat at the Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro,
which is not only the largest carnival in the world but is also on Unesco’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage List. In typical Brazilian style, the event
organisers will request you to get food and drinks to be shared with the new
friends you will make at the Sambodromo but to kindly leave drugs and weapons
at home.
You can revel in Rio without breaking the bank. Scale
the Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca National Park in a rack rail coach for a
view of the breath-taking Christ the Redeemer. Ride the cable car to the
Sugarloaf Mountain where you can quietly observe marmoset monkeys swinging on
the branches of tropical trees.
Skip the overpriced hotels along the beautiful yet
crowded coastline of Copacabana beach, and explore hostels and homestays.
Research online and plan well in advance so as not to compromise on safety,
especially in the peak carnival season. From the fantastic view of our homestay
balcony in the romantic but slightly secluded, elevated neighbourhood of Santa
Teresa, we could gaze at the solitary Sugarloaf Mountain against multiple
shades of blue where the sky meets the ocean.
To be fair, unlike the organised tourism industry of
Europe, Brazilian attractions are easy on the pocket but lack the simple
professionalism of, say, guided audio tours. Hence, Indian football enthusiasts
may find it difficult to cut through the thick Portuguese accents of friendly
tour guides in Rio’s Maracana Stadium, terra santa of
Brazilian football. Clicking selfies with the feet moulds of Brazilian legends
Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and others is the closest one can get to these gods
of the game.
Obtaining a tourist visa can be painful for some, but
all things considered, the land of the Amazon and armadillos offers a delicate
balance of nature, history and contemporary culture. It is the perfect answer
to the wanderlust of value-conscious, adventure-seeking Indian. Obrigada (thank
you) Brazil!
annabel.Dsouza@timesgroup.com
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