Everyone has to do it, and so do I: I went on top of the Pão de Açúcar today, Sugar loaf mountain.

First: how to get there: a taxi, or do I dare to take public transport? I have heard different things: it’s safe… be aware of your surroundings… no cameras… don’t take it at night… ride a cab…

Google maps recommended line 511 until the foot of the teleférico. It took ages for that line to arrive at my stop – by then I was sure I had misunderstood something (again)… but then the pictogram had shown the sugarloaf being serviced by 511.

On to the bus, with the coins duly mis-counted (three 50 centavos are not equal to 75 centavos… oh well, math!). So you get on the bus and there’s a lady (always a lady) sitting a few steps behind the driver and cashing in, or surveying if your electronic ticked is valid, then lets you through a red turnstile.

How inefficient, I first thought – wanting to rationalize away the poor woman’s job in the blink of an eye – but only throughout the ride I realized that this is actually not bad a system. The driver can drive off right after the last new passenger steps on, while she deals with the fare. No time lost in buying tickets off the driver. By the next stop, she’s done with them…

Anyway, the ride took 45 minutes and got me through Ipanema, Copacabana, past the university, around another mountain and to Urca, right where 99% of the bus got off and ran to the cable car…

Waiting time was surprisingly short, and off I went onto the first mountain, Morro da Urca, where you could take in the scenery at 220 meters, then be lifted up to the Sugar Loaf top by a second cable car, to a staggering 396 meters above sea level. Great views of the city and Baía da Guanabara. Check out a couple of pics in the next post.

The most interesting thing was to see how the city actually interconnects, on my first venture out of Ipanema. It’s so stretched out and torn in a way… always a mountain or bay somewhere in between its neighborhoods.

I was still far from the downtown high risers, but could make out Copacabana, and its banana beach, see a glimpse of Ipanema behind another mountain, get a full frontal view of the Christ statue I had seen the day before, see the chain of beaches from Botafogo to the center…

And above all a great view of the Bay, with the bridge spanning the vast expanse in the distance to adjacent Niterói. With a couple of oil drilling platforms thrown in for a change.

Back on the ground I went for a quick walk through the lovely neighborhood of Urca, nestled underneath both mountains and full of little town houses (judging from the number of surveillance cameras, rather well-off). Then hopped on the 511 again in the hope it’ll take me a similar route back.

Not quite, it went through Botafogo this time, not Copacabana, and on to yesterday’s Parque Lage and Jardim botanico, around the lagoon again and to Leblon, along its beach and into Ipanema.

So I came full circle. It took a while in Rio’s traffic, but definitely worth the ride, the views, and the valuable info on how the city’s neighborhoods are linked.

After that, a quick bite in another new place: The New Natural, a self-service organic buffet with some good veggie choices and lots of desserts. I had a trial run through half of it, will sure come back. The shop that is part of it is impressive, too. Lots of different choices for Risotto, Quinoa, a huge variety of honey…

I finished off in Caféina for coffee and a nutty dessert, followed by a Caipirinha in To Nem Ai bar. I’m spending too much money on food I fear.