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Created on Tuesday, 02 February 2010 05:45

Yesterday I made it to the top of Brazil’s very famous tourist spot, the Corcovado Mountain where the giant statue of Jesus Christ known as Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro prominently stands. At 700 meters or 2,300 feet above sea level, Corcovado Mountain offers panoramic 360 degrees bird’s eye view of Rio de Janeiro. At this spot, the city of Rio de Janeiro with all its irresistible splendour and overpowering charisma lies below seductively. Kilometers long stretch of white sandy beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema facing the South Atlantic Ocean, Rio de Janeiro’s horse racing track (Jockey Club), the lagoon, modern skycrapers and Rio’s old district to name a few were among Rio’s several landmarks distinctly visible from the top.
Named as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, Christ the Redeemer’s outstretched arms welcomes thousands of tourists everyday. And yesterday, myself along with 25 other passengers I was escorting with, were among those who received a very memorable welcome. The weather was perfectly clear except for the occasional clouds passing by and briefly covering the statue but cleared up again in seconds. The statue stands at 40 meters tall, 30 meters wide, weighs 635 tons and is situated at the peak of the 700-meter high Corcodova Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. The coach left the ship at 0820H and tracked the 15-minute drive to Cosme Velho where we changed transport to the electrically powered funicular railway for a 20-minute trip up to Corcovado. As the train climbed the what is also known as “Hunchback Mountain”, we were also treated to a spectacular scenery of the dense vegetation of the Tijuca forest.

From the train terminal atop Corcodova, visitors still have to take one elevator ride and then another escalator ride before reaching the observation deck of the giant statue. Another option is the 223-step stairs but no one from our group dared to use that challenging alternative.
An hour later, we start descending the mountain onboard the funicular railway and reboarded the coach for a drive underneath the Tijuca Forest (through the tunnel) to the Barra District. On the return trip back to the ship, the coach drove past the famous beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana where the sight of the sparkling sand and the mosaic sidewalks provided another unforgettable memory of Rio de Janeiro.

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