Rio de Janeiro: a few initial tips and observations

With five days to go until the Olympics begins (woo) I know a few friends are heading out here to watch things. So I thought I'd do a slightly premature blog with a few observations about life in Rio, although I've only been here two and a half weeks ...

1) Transport

Is, to be frank, pretty hideous and I think will be the main issue once the Games get going, although the Olympic lanes are supposed to be swinging into action. There's a metro, but at the moment it has just two lines. Line 4 (don't ask me what happened to line 3, really) opens for accredited Olympic personnel tomorrow and to people with 'RioCards' (like London's Oysters) on Friday. Just in time. The Metro itself is great, the trains are frequent, air conditioned to the extent I'm often cold in shorts and t-shirt and reasonably cheap at R$4.10 for a single (about 95p). I'm not entirely sure the Olympic card they're selling, at R$160 for seven days, represent good value unless you're planning a lot of travel, but on the other hand it's convenient not to have to get tickets every time and this will give you access to line 4, which gets you much closer to many venues.

Women have women's-only carriages for rush hour, which is lovely. They're much calmer than the mixed ones, although still crammed with people.

There are about a million buses and picking the right one is confusing. There's an app called Moovit which helps a little bit but nevertheless I find it hard to know what bus to get on. Our boss said don't use buses, but I have done a handful of times in affluent Ipanema and it's been fine. I'm not sure I'd get a bus at night. Bus tickets are R$3.80 for a single, and you can pay by cash. You have to go through a turnstile to get to the seats so the driver is separated from his passengers.

There are a number of 'BRT' (Bus Rapid Transport) buses which have dedicated fast lanes, and in the centre they've recently opened a tram line, although it's not very long yet. Seems popular though.

Taxis are pretty cheap and Ubers cheaper and plentiful. Ubers are also good for avoiding language issues, although we had one the other day who took a very roundabout route to get us back to Centro from Copacabana.

If you need to go between Centro and Barra di Tijuca (the Olympic park and village area), ask to go on the Linha Amarela. This is a toll road and adds about R$6 to your journey but it's usually tons quicker than the other route through town.

To get to town from the airport, I'd recommend one of the blue 'onibuses'. They go from outside the terminal (turn right as you leave the building, don't cross the road) and mine from GIG to Centro was R$14. Taxis can cost you over R$100. Although again, maybe not if you arrive late. The bus people can tell you which bus to get and they're pretty frequent. 

2) Safety

The streets are bristling with soldiers with rifles, police, and what look like state security guards - in Centro they're in red and white uniforms labelled 'Centro Presente'. All are armed.

There have been a handful of high-profile incidents involving athletes or journalists but to date I haven't felt unsafe anywhere. I've been pretty careful, although I have had my camera out a lot. I've walked a lot and I think the key is to make it look like you know where you're going. My main advice would be remember Rio's a big city, don't wave valuables around in quiet, unlit areas and don't go out late alone. I won't say don't go out in the dark alone as it's dark by 6pm at the moment, being winter. I've walked back from Uruguaiana metro station to the hotel a few blocks away at 8pm alone and it's been fine, although hanging around Uruguaiana isn't recommended as it's not the most salubrious district.

Basically, use your common sense, stay alert, and if in doubt, hail a cab.

3) Food

Brazilian do lunch properly. This means in the business district, everyone decamps from work for an hour or so and has a restaurant lunch - usually a buffet. Sandwiches or lighter fare is tough to find. There are 'juice bars' everywhere, some of which also sell various forms of pasty-type things (empadas) filled with meat or cheese. If you're lucky you might get a cheese or cheese and ham sandwich.

Round the touristy areas there's a lot of restaurants which stay open in the evening too, selling various forms of meat and fish, usually with rice and a sort of garnish called farofa - toasted cassava flour, sometimes with additional ingredients, which Brazilians have with EVERYTHING. It's actually quite good. Steak is omnipresent and the most common fish is tilapia. Sides tend to focus on rice: rice and beans is a staple here. Vegetarians are not well catered for but the fruit's great, I'm having melon, pineapple and mango every morning for breakfast at the moment.

Street food is pretty good although the choice is limited.The main savoury options are kebabs (steak or chicken, often served dipped in a sauce and coated in farofa) or tapiocas, which are a kind of pancake filled with your filling of choice. I had a cheese and tomato one the other day which was really rather nice. These things cost between R$5 and R$10 a portion. Then there are carts selling popcorn everywhere, and many of the tapioca stalls also sell churros and sweet tapiocas as well as the savoury versions.

Decent coffee is not that common. There are a few proper cafes but my roommate's had a couole of really dodgy cappucinos in normal cafes. At the venues, all the Brazilians have their coffee in little espresso-sized cups with loads of sugar; they have incredibly sweet tooths here.

Drink is generally beer. This often comes in giant 600ml bottles in their own little cooling bucket which you share between your party in tiny glasses. Or you can ask for a 'chopp', which is a glass of draught beer of about 300ml. By the beaches, it's capirinhas but I haven't managed to have one yet. Fail.

4) Environment and lifestyle

Rio is a big city and it's not the cleanest city. It can smell pretty rank in places with the stench of urine as people pee on the streets. There are a lot of homeless and the poverty is evident - as is the wealth if you go to places like Ipanema.

Despite the traffic when you get to the beaches or the Lagoa there are a lot of people running and cycling and the average weight is definitely less than in the UK. Brazilians care about their appearances!

The plumbing system is also not great and while it's fine in our hotel everywhere else I've been has signs saying don't put loo paper in the loo. For those of us used to doing this it's a weirdly tough one to remember, even if you're looking at a sign ...