Bahia

24 May travel day back to Rio and we say goodbye to Peter Shakes - he heads to Paraty for his last 3 days. Ele gosta Paraty muitissimo (He loved Paraty very much). Harry and I go to Salvador in the state of Bahia. This is about the same longitude as Cairns.

Arrived in Salvador 25 May - my pre-perception was that this is a big and poor city with high crime, and we would get out as soon as possible and get to the more luxuriant islands just south. What a false perception! This is a city of incredible vibrancy and history. Salvador has an eclectic mix dominated more by Africans than in the south. And so here is where you see more of that beautiful brazilian ass. The integration of african and european genes has produced a truly great ass- a work of art really! I am nominating the ´brazilian ass´ for world heritage listing!

Fine Brazilian Ass

Tuesday night in Salvador is party night so it was a great time to arrive. The streets were crowded with people and dancing and music and we had an absolute ball. Sure, you have to put up with the touts and beggars and hasslers trying to scalp you but its mainly just good people trying to scape together a living. It was easy to put the hasslers aside and soak up the atmosphere. The police presence is really high and they are trying to make it safe for tourists. A couple of caparinhas (lime, rum, sugar and ice) in the square and then follow the crowd to the next music venue just in the next block. A couple more caparinhas and my portuguese improved significantly, as did my dancing.

street party in Salvador

Salvador

Salvador

main square - pelourinho

inside one of salvadors magnificent churches

Next day we were heading to Morro de Sao Paulo, but the boat was not running due to rough seas. We had packed all our bags and had to decide whether to stay in Salvador or go elsewhere. So we just got on another boat without really knowing where we were going - just another adventure. The seas were rough and the boat seemed like it was going to tip over, but there were plenty of other people who didn´t seem worried. We arrived on a big island, and took a van to a town that we found in lonely planet. This was offseason and the pousada we had sought was closed. We lugged our bags down a lonely dirt (ie muddy) road and over a beach with nowhere to stay and no clear destination. Another couple of van trips (like private taxis, where they try to cram as many people in as possible - bags on lap, we had 19 people in our 13 person van at one point) and we were still stranded at something that looked like a bus stop. A van driver told me it was dangerous to be here (perigoso) after dark, so we took his word and went with him to a town called Valenca -a sleepy fishing village where we could refresh - arrived about 8pm.

a boat from salvador to somewhere?

Next day we got a boat to Morro de Sao Paulo - a resort island (like Bali) where we got ourself a beautiful pousada on 3rd beach. Think we´ll chill here for a few days and enjoy that wonderful brazilian ass.

Trivia comment - In Brazil in most places your toilet paper goes in the bin, not the toilet. That'ś right - the bin next to the toilet. Only what comes from your body goes down the toilet. I guess the sewerage system doesn't have to deal with it, but its also something to do with pipe diameter because the westerners keep blocking the drains in hostels because they cant change their habits to the brazilian way.