On Thursday morning of our trip to Rio, we got to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. I’d read on Trip Advisor that you should go as soon as they open (8:30 am) to avoid crowds, otherwise you could be waiting several hours just to buy a ticket for the train up the Corcovado mountain.
So we took a bus from Copacabana very early and got there about 8:45 am… absolutely nobody there, except a few people who were on the bus with us.
the "line" for tickets 😛
Even though we didn’t have to wait in line, a decent crowd with several large groups had arrived by the time we got onto the train a few minutes later. The train takes maybe half an hour to go all the way up the mountain, and there are tons of amazing lookout points along the way. If you ever go, I recommend sitting in the seats facing backwards for the best view.
Jorge falls asleep after 5 minutes in any form of transportation. I envy him.
When we got to the top, it was pretty chilly. I remember stepping off the elevator and looking up at the back of the Christ the Redeemer statue and almost crying in awe. We were at the top of the world looking at one of Brazil’s most impressive monuments. There was a small crowd there that got steadily larger over the next hour or two (glad we went early!), and we spent our time enjoying the views and taking pictures.
lots of hang gliders that morning!
Once we were done taking pictures, Jorge and I went down to the cafe for a coffee. Once we saw a simple coffee was ridiculously expensive, we just pulled some apples out of our backpack and sat down to enjoy the view.
I know I live in a big tourist destination and I can spot a tourist trap from thousands of miles away, (Ok, pretty much our entire trip was uber touristy) but I don’t care. Our morning at Christ the Redeemer was one of the best mornings of my life. Absolutely amazing.
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I’ve always wanted to see that. For some reason in my head though I’m singing “then I saw her face…I’m a redeemer!” Yes I’m drinking right now.
beautiful! While I know that statue is huge – it looks so small in your photos! I’m so glad you went though, because now I know that I HAVE to go 🙂
I noticed that, too! I think it’s more of a camera issue. In person, I got a little dizzy every time I looked up at it… it was huge!
The pictures you share from the morning show how beautiful it is. The one with you & Jorge is really good.
That’s incredible! It looks like the train ride alone was breathtaking. What a beautiful view. Could you imagine hang gliding over that? Wowza.
Wow, does look absolutely amazing up there!! How cool 🙂 I will now have to go research this statue to get more info 🙂
This is amazing and the views look beautiful. Lucky girl, thanks for sharing photos.
I’m so glad you got to go. Thanks for the pics from the site– it makes the monument feel more tourist real for me. I hope some day I can go.
I just read all of the Rio posts…very cool! Thanks for sharing. Sometimes I get depressed that I don’t have enough money to go everywhere I want to.
Happy for you that you got to see so many cool things and that you made it home safe and sound (albeit a little late).
Incredible. That’s definitely one of those must-see sights and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 😀 Yay for being there before the crowds!