The bus

So I have been in Rio de Janeiro for a few weeks now and even though it's a difficult city for someone on their own, I am slowly managing to get around using the bus system. It might seem like the most mundane of things for a city of this side, alas it is not and I will relate how.

Forget the usual luxuries that are to be found in every megalopolis: transit maps, bus schedules, station name display... you learn quickly they are superfluous, at least according to city planners.

Now for a bit of geography. Rio is sitting next at the mouth of a bay and built around a few mountains - famous landmarks like Christ the redeemer (Cristo Redentor) or the sugarloaf (Pão de Açucar). These are great landmarks when you are lost, however they are a sure-fire recipe for traffic hell. It takes me one hour and a half - just traveling - to get anywhere interesting.

A Carioca bus stop: no name, no time tables.

before that, you have to wait for the bus. And wait. There are no schedules and depending on the bus you want you might have to wait a long time until the number you want comes up and passes you without stopping as it's already packed. My typical waiting time is close to 1 hour each time. 

Turnstiles are a good way to ensure you'll have fun times during rush hour.

Once in the bus, you have to get passed some turnstiles which is where you pay for your ticket (no ticket provided). The cost is around 1 euro whether you're traveling for 5 minutes or 1 hour. Annoying and yet Amsterdam does the same at three times the price.

Ensues a lot of swaying and brutal stops during which you keep looking for landmarks that would signal your destination is coming. No announcement is ever made and I assume that the screen that have been installed are only here to display football matches when there is a world cup. They were always blank when I took the bus. A good idea is to ask the person collecting your money at the turnstile to warn you when you arrived if you can get yourself understood in pseudo-Portuguese.

Then you get off the bus and walk back to the stop you missed. You have just lost 3 hours for a mere 20 kilometers and the way back will be the same.

Still, I like the bus because it's my best chance to look at the poorer layers of Brazilian society and observe. Thanks to that, I realized that a lot of progress has been made in the last 10 years. You still need to be wary, yet the bus isn't very dangerous to take. If you have something to hold on to, as the rides can be wild.