I was going to do the tourist thing and visit both sites but the owner of the hostal in Ipanema advised me to take only $10 to $20 in cash to the Cristo, no camera and no backpack.

In case you hadn't noticed I like taking photos and decided not to risk my cameras, both of which are uninsured. I decided to not to go at all.

I also felt quite claustrophobic in the city. It has a population density of 250,000 people per square kilometre. The streets are narrow and full of very high rise flats.

I decided I didn't like Rio. I'd rather spend the cash seeing animals in the Panatanal so I left after only one night.