Salvador de Bahia, Brazil

 

Salvador

A full day by bus is an experience not to even recommend to your worst enemy, but unfortunately for us this was the only alternative to reach Salvador. We reached the destination in the late afternoon when it began to be evening and just dropped us out of there way to the center hoping they could help us to find accommodation. One-stop tour was run by a very nice Ragazzoni available and patient is able, after a long series of phone calls, to organize accommodation in a posada. We also provided the number of a Peruvian who took care of some properties in the city center and gave the possibility to rent the whole apartment for a modest price. With this idea that we have turned in the head momentarily set aside the hypothesis posada and we set an appointment with the Ombudsman of Peru. The meeting was presented as well as him, even the real owners: Concha and Max, a Brazilian-Italian couple who operated a real estate agent and had to have a lot of apartments. Visionatone two, we decided to make a small tear to the rule and abandon the idea of going to posada because the price was almost equal with the advantage that the apartment gave us a total freedom of movement. They were now the top ten in the evening when we signed the contract with concerts and once housed the luggage there was only time for us to shower and go to dinner.

The next day we wake up under a beautiful sun and we began the patrol of the neighborhood: we were in Porto da Barra one of the safest residential areas in town and our apartment was located no more than two hundred meters from the sea. We started a walk in the promenade to head towards the area "Farol" and the surrounding area, but after a few steps, we were literally taken by assault by an army of street vendors trying to promote their goods, saying that was the best. Was not time to leave a way that immediately comes another and sometimes even attacked simultaneously: a glue! The beach was pretty, perhaps that of Porto da Barra, the closest to our house but also the most crowded of the locals and it was virtually impossible to find a corner at any time of day, the other beaches were very narrow and with the onset of 'high tide flooded were on time, something that made it unusable. Also for this in despair, on the first day while taking a bit of sun we went to lay our towels in the flowerbeds of the lighthouse, not on the seashore. At sunset we returned to our apartment to settle in and prepare for the evening. We left quite soon prey to the hungry who have died in a economicissimo "Burger Bar", a fast food restaurant not far from home. We then continued the evening walking in the streets of our neighborhood, however, discovering, that it was anything but lively because all the shops and the premises were closed down. Gathered some information we discovered that to find some night life and we move a lot, and we wanted more or less a half hour taxi and thirty-five reais to bring up the "living area" that was developed around a neighborhood called Pituba . Taken the taxi we were directed toward the goal by now chatting with the driver to figure out which were the most popular places for the evening. The driver responds with a mischievous smile he advised us to make a trip to Casquinha, a local who had already heard of several times by the many vendors that we had stopped in the afternoon. The thing began to make suspicious but no other choice we have trusted the advice. The restaurant was like a huge dance hall dominated by a central stage where a band played and danced live. Recently we were joined by a waiter greeted incravattato that made us sit at the table. The restaurant was not as full as the taxi driver we had promised, but without doubt it was full of beautiful girls, which has further fueled our suspicions. There is just enough to understand that those sweet girls were not exactly santarelline but all (and its all!) Of prostitutes looking for tourists. We were in the lair of the wolf and the wolf was hungry! Perhaps because of the low season and the lack of mass tourism we represent the main course for all those woman who were slowly tightening at our table: voltage to the stars! We sipped our drinks while listening to a piece of music after that, we left the room to return home with the usual taxi and the usual thirty-five reais.

Wake up in the late morning, we were seriously willing to fight for a place on the beach: Armed with costume and towel we left for our mission that unfortunately this time it failed miserably. Disconsolate for yet another failure, we decided to spend the rest of the day visiting the historic center of Salvador called Pelourinho also. Took a bus to Praça da Sé us off at the last stop in the vicinity of the Palace of Government, from where it was possible to admire the most ancient and colonial city. Salvador, which still retains a distinctive and important colonial center, is divided into two parts: the upper town (which is where we arrived by bus) and the lower town (at sea level), connected with each other by phantasmagorical a lift for a derisory figure allows ascent and descent. We decided to start our tour by visiting the city is low and for this reason that we put in that lift. I served a few seconds to reach the lower part of Salvador, in front of us a square with its huge market gave us welcome, while behind us we could see, pasted on the wall of rock, the ancient residence of the first conquerors now become a kind of shanty towns. A charming style reminiscent of the colonial city, one of the first ports of the New World where slaves disembarked from Africa. We then proceed directly to the market, a huge building that contained inside billion agghindate stalls with every kind souvenirs: T-shirts, trousers, derived from wood sculptures and a countless number of junk. From the opposite side at a school of capoeira was showing to scrape together a few reais, inviting tourists to take photos and participate in the ancient local dance. Ripasso again in the market we went to the Palace of the Navy and with a huge building strictly colonial style overlooks the bay. E 'then came the time to ripigliare the elevator to head back to the top of the city, as soon as we were left hooked by a pseudo guide to the motto: "Salvador visit without a guide is like going to Rome and not see the Pope, tried to convince us to take advantage of his services in exchange for a free offer not quantified. As usual, we declined the invitation but we managed to cadge a map of the city in which they had carefully marked the points of interest. Tourist attraction par excellence, the Pelourinho is an old church located in the bottom of a narrow square, surrounded by majestic buildings in the colonial style and maintained in an excellent state of preservation. We started along the streets of the center where we were attacked by an army of "Meninos de rua" and desperate for any kind all too insistently asked for alms. If the vendors of our neighborhood we were stressed, the pressure on the tourists visiting the historic center is unbearable, we would not be unpopular because we are aware that throughout the northeast of Brazil, the poverty level reaches high peaks, but if we get from the tourist, visiting the center can become anything but enjoyable. Another feature of the old town are the "big mamy" donnone strictly to the color you dressed in traditional costume cook "the aracaje" a kind of fried bread Reney and then filled with shrimp paste, almonds CAJU, tomato and a lots of strange sauces. Finished to visit as soon as possible to the Pelourinho, we again towards the house and get ready for the evening we went to look for a place to dine. We opted to head all'Aeroclub, the largest shopping center in El Salvador where he can choose between many types of kitchens: we have preferred a Classicissima steak with potato salad and rigorously promoted. All'Aeroclub because we were beyond the possibility offered to eat a good way to continue the evening with live music and some nightclubs. We decided to sit in a bar in the main square where they were playing live music. The atmosphere was very nice but after a while began to salirci the usual suspects: beautiful women and we were looking winking, something which, without too want to underestimate, frankly we were not accustomed. This time we wanted to give him confidence and hope that those who had not thought a couple conosciutone but our doubts were confirmed: these cheerful ladies (beautiful girls!) Smaliziato much we have confirmed that almost all (99.9% and perhaps even more) of women who attend the local tourist trade are the oldest in the world. The thing that struck us most is that most of these girls know our language ... you know tell us why? Well I will say of us: Salvador de Bahia and more generally throughout the Northeast of Brazil is a popular destination for sex tourism in which our fellow citizens the Island into the an already flourishing market of prostitution. Also this evening was ended as the previous one and the pive we have in the bag towards home.

The next day we managed to earn a place in a cement walkway by the sea and although the place was not exactly comfortable we were finally able to spend a day in close contact with the ocean. Here too we were surprised by some nice ladies that winking asked us to join them, these women really do have a great passion for their work! Browned a bullet from a scorching sun, we abandoned our position in the early afternoon to go and something to munch with a refreshing sound shower. For the evening we preferred to stop in our neighborhood to dine at the usual Burger Bar, the fast food that we had taken on the evening we arrived in restricting ourselves to a digestive walk and a caipirinha at a small bar in the promenade.

The next day we spent on the beach in peace and in the evening we began the usual pre departure practices since the days following it was again time to climb into a bus.

The next day wake up in the late morning we finished preparing the backpacks with the intention to head back toward the center to do some buying at the market. A student strike that had paralyzed the city traffic has sent smoke into our plans and so returned back on foot, we went from Conca (the owner of our apartment) to welcome and give you the keys. Got into a taxi, we were back to the bus station to embark on to Recife.