Salvador de Bahia

This is what we first saw when we stepped out of our pousada at sunset.
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I have a few stories about Salvador, most of them involve being barraged by street vendors and beggars, acosted by thje stench of urine for days after the local Carnival celebrations, difficult sleeping condintions, and of course, caipirinhas.

I am slow to write, having just spent three amazing days in the Amazon, a truly unforgettable experience.  We are currently in Sao Paulo, a city of 20 million, and have finally found an internet cafe with a fast connection. I am uploading hundreds of photos, which will take about an hour and a half, so I have a bit of time to write before we take off to explore Sao Paulo and visit the city`s main museum. I think it`s March 10th today, but we have been completely disconected from news and radios and technology, and it feels great!

Salvador Carnival left-over
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Salvador is a culturally rich city north of Rio, with strong black roots and a Carnival celebration that is even more wild and authentic than Rio`s.  When we arrived, we were suprised to see many modern high-rise towers, often decorated with intricate tile work and unique architectural designs. It was very hot, close to 40 degrees celcius, but fortunately our pousada was only 1/2 block from the beach. Unfortunately, our room at the charming Pousada was not air-conditioned, so we had to sleep with the doors to the second-floor veranda opened, which allowed a breeze and the noise from the nearby streets to flow in.  I didn't sleep much, which just added to the uncomfortable edge of being in a bustling city filled with aggressive vendors and kids begging for food or money.

A hot day in the old town
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We spent one day exploring the market and  the old center of Salvador,  an area rich in colonial-style pousadas (hotels), churches, parks and statues.  The market is located at the bottom of a tall escarpent, near the docks of this seaside city.  The market was not a place for me.  The boys all liked it and spent hours searching for hand-crafted treasures, but I felt like it was gas-town on steroids, filled with crappy tourist junk... but maybe that was my lack of sleep colouring my perspective.

A church at the top of the old town
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After an hour of being harrassed by street vendors, dogged by beggers and blessed by old women looking for cash in the name of god, I had reached my limit. A woman grabbed my arm from behind, and I wheeled around and very nearly punched her. It was time to leave.

JY and I took the elevator up the escarpment to the old-town, a section still crawling with vendors, but slightly less aggressive. No, I don't want any crappy wooden beads. No I don't want a beer, no I don't want a wooden boat, no, I still don't want any crappy wooden beads. Ok, enough of this... we headed out of old-town and decided to walk back to the pousada, which took us through the bustling downtown area, and then through the resort area near the beach. It was a wonderful walk, still full of street vendors, but vendors who stood behind theior tables and waited for you to approache them, lovely. I bought a kick-ass Porsche watch for only $10R. None of the hands seem to be moving right now, but I expected that.

We shopped at air-conditioned malls and department stores along the way with the locals, and had fun trying on t-shirts that didn't fit and ate in a pay-by-weight buffet, for only $8CDN for the two of us.

After lunch we continued our walk and took photos in the park, where we I bout a beer from a vendor. Beer everywhere, how very very decent. After snapping a hundred photos, we finally made it back to the pousada, changed into our swim gear and headed to the beach for a little sun. a few caipirinhas some refreshing swim-time, and some brilliant people-watching.

The tide told us when it was time to leave by washing up to the umbrellas in front of us and stealing peoples flip-flops.

We are all sold on the fabulous and cheap X-Burger experience, we found a place that offers an x-burger with a fresh juice for only $3.50R...$1.75CDN. Love it! And the best way to have an x-burger is with egg, beef, bacon and corn. If there aren't at least 3 dead animals in your sandwich, you aren't eating right!  And of course, the juices are fresh and exotic. Papaya, mango, melon, pineapple, banana, and a half-dozen other, less identifiable sorts.

My photos are almost finished uploading, so I'll process a few and include them here. And we just found out that our plane tickets to Buenos Aires have arrived at our hotel here in Sao Paulo!  Yipee!  (that's another story all together!)

More to come!