At first glance, this might look like a no-brainer. After all, how can a dumpy little town like Angeles compare to a world-class city like Rio de Janeiro? If you look at this objectively, there are a number of things about each locale that are very appealing. So without further ado, let the comparison begin.

Getting there

As I stated earlier, I live in Mexico so getting to either place is no walk in the park for me. The medium-sized city that I live in is not a hub city for any airline, which makes getting places more expensive and less convenient. The last time I went to Rio, I flew Avianca from Mexico City through Bogota and Sao Paulo into Rio. I ended up with about an 8-hour layover in Bogota but even when factoring that in was into Rio 20 hours after starting my journey.

In order to get to Angeles, I took the following journey: fly to Monterrey, take another airline to Los Angeles, endure a 10-hour layover there, take a third airline for a 14-hour flight to Taipei, sit through another 3-hour layover there, catch a 2-hour flight to Manila and finally undergo the rigors of a 2 ˝ hour taxi/bus/trike ride to my hotel in Angeles. It ended up taking about 38 hours to go from my door to the hotel. On my return, I had to spend a day in LA as I missed all the flight to my town in Mexico, by a couple of hours.

Advantage – Rio

Environment

Rio de Janeiro is a physically stunning place. Thrown up against the mountains along the sea, it is one of the most picturesque places in the world.

Angeles is a shit-hole. Think Tijuana on steroids. If it wasn’t for the bar girls, would anyone ever go to Angeles if they didn’t have to? I think not.

Advantage – Rio

Weather

During the times I have been in Rio it has been generally hot and humid. Rio’s oceanfront location does give it the advantage of having a sea breeze – sometimes. But I can also remember sitting in one of the cafes on Avenida Copacabana watching the thermometer trying to break 40 degrees Celsius with not a hint of wind anywhere. I know that it also gets cool in Rio (of course cool by our standards is downright frigid for Cariocas) but for the most part hot and humid is what I have seen.

I’ve only been to Angeles once, but the weather was generally hot and humid. We did have a couple of brief rain showers that cooled things off. I also have heard that the weather in AC is totally different during the rainy season and the threat of typhoons can be daunting.

But based on my observations I will say…

Advantage – Push, I’d like to give Rio the advantage for the beach, but that’s an environmental advantage not a weather related advantage. Oh, and by the way, who WOULDN”T want to experience a typhoon which would include being “forced” to stay in your hotel with a Filipina?

Infrastructure

This category refers to the quality of buildings, transportation, water, etc. available to both cities. While Rio is certainly showing signs of its age, the infrastructure there is head and shoulders above Angeles. One of my most pervasive infrastructure-related memories of Angeles is the stench of what seemed to be raw sewage wafting through the air while sitting at Kokomo’s. (It reminded me of the time when they were working on the sewers outside of Alcazar.) This would be okay if it were a one-time thing, but it happens daily. One thing that I did like about Angeles is the large number of open wireless internet hotspots. You can log on at a lot of restaurants and bars here. In Rio, I also use the Metro to shuttle between centro and Copacabana. It’s a lot nicer than folding myself into a trike.

Advantage – Rio

Hotels

I’ve only stayed at one hotel in either location so this should be a fairly easy comparison. In Rio, I stay at the Atlantico Copacabana. I like it for it location near Luomo, Monte Carlo, the metro, the Citibank ATM and being a couple blocks from the beach. The restaurant is decent and included a free breakfast buffet, but the beds are cheap foam. There is internet in the room, but it is not wireless and not free. There is also an in-room safe but one needs to rent the key in order to use it. Although the hotel is girl-friendly (particularly late at night) some discretion is required as the hotel serves “normal” guests as well. The price for the room the last time I was there was about $70 a night.

In Angeles, I stayed at the Swiss Chalet. It is one block off Fields, just off Santos Street – a perfect location for barhopping or hitting the restaurants. They have a very good restaurant featuring (strangely enough) Swiss food. The beds are also foam, but seem to be a bit higher quality than those of the Atlantico. There is free wireless internet in the hotel and in-room digital safes. Additionally, whenever I left my room in the morning, I could come back a half-hour later and the maid had already cleaned up the room. The hotel staff arranged to have my laundry done costing a whopping 140 pesos. Also, the staff was extremely friendly and never gave me a hint of attitude as I paraded different bar girls by them daily. I paid about $34 dollars a night for their regular room.

Advantage – Angeles

Food

I have to give Rio the nod here, probably due to the ability to get fresh food delivered in restaurants easier than what appears to be the case in Angeles. In Rio you have the Sucos bars, Kilo restaurants and Chuscarrias. In Angeles you have Brettos, Margarita Station, SubDelicious and Kokomo’s. It just doesn’t compare. The meals that I have had in Rio have ranged from solid to outstanding. The meals that I had in Angeles ranged from acceptable to solid.

Advantage – Rio

Safety

Again, a no-brainer in favor of Angeles. I stumbled all over town at all hours of the day and night and never felt the slightest bit of danger. In fact, except for a couple of cars driving down the road, I cannot remember even seeing a cop. I did see a couple of police “aides” at the corner of Santos and Fields but it’s not like they were doing anything. The dangers of Rio are well known and formidable. Although I personally have never had a serious problem there I have see the favela rats hassling tourists, fallen victim to the dog shit on the shoe scam, heard gunshots coming from the favelas and had a helicopter hover over the restaurant I was eating in as it supported a police raid into the favela. Other than dealing with drunk Aussies, Angeles is a piece of cake.

Advantage – Angeles

Prices

One of the things that made me consider going to Angeles in the first-place was the decrease of the value of the dollar versus the real and the inflation in Rio. While the Angeles vets also complain of inflated prices, even today things are much cheaper in Angeles than in Rio. Let’s face it getting a girl for about $35 dollars (including tip) long time is very appealing particularly when stacked up against $75 – $100 short time in Rio’s termas. When you factor in lower costs on food, lodging, and other assorted sundries, even when comparing it to the higher airfares to get here, Angeles gets the nod.

Advantage – Angeles


So at the end of my first round of comparisons, Rio leads the way by a slim 4 – 3 advantage. Next up, let’s compare the girls.