Rio - Porto Seguro - Arraial dÁjuda
Our first proper bus ride since we got here and 23 and a bit hours later we arrived in Porto Seguro. The bus people had said it would take 17 hours, so we were a bit miffed...especially as we stopped every 2/3 hours for another break - and nearly got off a few times - but we made it and to be honest, it was almost like travelling business class Cathay. big seats, cosy blankets and the Goonies on repeat. wikid. beats flying anyday.
Porto Seguro was nice, but Carnaval was still going strong and since we´d left Rio in search of a quiet little beach town, we were really happy to arrive smack bang in the middle of more ridiculous Samba music blasting out of huge semi-trailers right outside our pousada until 3 in the morning. so boring i know, but we were all samba-ed out.
Arraial dÁjuda (or Israel d´Ajuda as it´s more commonly known) was a 5min ferry ride across a river mouth and was just what we´d been trying to find really. It was the sweetest little town and the first pousada we stayed in was kind of similar to the Arts Factory where we´d stayed in Byron Bay but...
to Pousada Pimenta Malagueta and found a sweet Brazillian lady with a great breakfast for almost half the price and had a wikid 5 days there.
The beaches were wikid - there wasn´t anywhere near as many people trying to sell you stuff on the beach and we enrolled in a capoiera school Sul da Bahia. (which made si really happy - and me really scared after we went to watch them training one night).
And because we´d paid up front for a week, we had to go everyday. It was actually great fun (yes, i was surprised) I said to si that i´d go, as long as I didn´t have to go in the roda at the end...but the mestre got me to play with him and it was pretty cool - so now I´m hooked (and not so chubby after the beer in Rio) so we have to go some more. The same academy is in Buenos Aires too, so we can enrol for a month when we get there.
Your local bank.
(and the only bank in Arraial d'Ajuda - which was helpful when neither of our cards worked and we´d run out of cash.)
Arraial was really cool, I think we were both getting quite into it - the Glastonbury vibe definitely helped, as did Miloca Creperie with it´s Techno crepes (pineapple/banana/cinnamon/ice cream/choc sauce!!) - but if we want to see anymore of Brazil we have to get a move on...so off to Salvador we go. Enough from me, si will tell you the rest.
Salvador de Bahia
The only thing I remember anyone telling me about Salvador was Chris Moore who just said "Salvador is full of murderers." What he forgot to mention is that it's a complete shithole. Luckily we opted to spend our 1 night in "the restored historic center" (tourist centre) which meant there was military police on every corner keeping the murderers at bay. Sunday lunch at a local cafe consisted of a "meat stew with rice and salad". The part about dog food must have been lost in the translation.
We found a tourist office and they suggested we spent the evening at a Candomble ceremony. I hadn't heard of this religion before but apparently it's big around here as there's loads of Afro-Brazillians and fortunately, not everyone here is Catholic. We were promised a spectacle of costumed processions and people dancing around in trances - I was expecting something like that Voodoo party in Live and Let Die. It started with women in dresses like tents made of tablecloth walking around in circles. There were some kids learning to play drums throughout. After some one and a half hours of walking in circles they brought out some falafels in big bowls and walked around with them for a while. Then some guys decided they would get possessed by their guardian angels and go into trance. One guy must have had a guardian chicken as he spent a while pecking around on the floor. Another guy was possessed by a very camp angel and minced about with his eyes closed. We didn't wait around to see what happened next. We found some terrapins in a fountain outside which was the highlight of the evening until we found one of them was lying dead on the bottom. It was more fun than your average Sunday mass though. Obviously this is a very ignorant (and cynical) spectators account of events. If you want to know what was really going on you can check this out.
We're leaving Salvador for Recife now, a 15 hour bus ride away. Maybe we'll stop by here again on our way back down but I doubt it.
Porto Seguro was nice, but Carnaval was still going strong and since we´d left Rio in search of a quiet little beach town, we were really happy to arrive smack bang in the middle of more ridiculous Samba music blasting out of huge semi-trailers right outside our pousada until 3 in the morning. so boring i know, but we were all samba-ed out.
Arraial dÁjuda (or Israel d´Ajuda as it´s more commonly known) was a 5min ferry ride across a river mouth and was just what we´d been trying to find really. It was the sweetest little town and the first pousada we stayed in was kind of similar to the Arts Factory where we´d stayed in Byron Bay but...
- way more mosquitoes
- not the best breakfast ever ( as we´d been told and had swayed our decision to stay there)
- holes in the mosquito net
- lots of ants
- way too dark ( we were going to suggest some fairy lights or any lights really)
- and too expensive
to Pousada Pimenta Malagueta and found a sweet Brazillian lady with a great breakfast for almost half the price and had a wikid 5 days there.
The beaches were wikid - there wasn´t anywhere near as many people trying to sell you stuff on the beach and we enrolled in a capoiera school Sul da Bahia. (which made si really happy - and me really scared after we went to watch them training one night).
And because we´d paid up front for a week, we had to go everyday. It was actually great fun (yes, i was surprised) I said to si that i´d go, as long as I didn´t have to go in the roda at the end...but the mestre got me to play with him and it was pretty cool - so now I´m hooked (and not so chubby after the beer in Rio) so we have to go some more. The same academy is in Buenos Aires too, so we can enrol for a month when we get there.
Your local bank.(and the only bank in Arraial d'Ajuda - which was helpful when neither of our cards worked and we´d run out of cash.)
Arraial was really cool, I think we were both getting quite into it - the Glastonbury vibe definitely helped, as did Miloca Creperie with it´s Techno crepes (pineapple/banana/cinnamon/ice cream/choc sauce!!) - but if we want to see anymore of Brazil we have to get a move on...so off to Salvador we go. Enough from me, si will tell you the rest.
Salvador de Bahia
The only thing I remember anyone telling me about Salvador was Chris Moore who just said "Salvador is full of murderers." What he forgot to mention is that it's a complete shithole. Luckily we opted to spend our 1 night in "the restored historic center" (tourist centre) which meant there was military police on every corner keeping the murderers at bay. Sunday lunch at a local cafe consisted of a "meat stew with rice and salad". The part about dog food must have been lost in the translation.
We found a tourist office and they suggested we spent the evening at a Candomble ceremony. I hadn't heard of this religion before but apparently it's big around here as there's loads of Afro-Brazillians and fortunately, not everyone here is Catholic. We were promised a spectacle of costumed processions and people dancing around in trances - I was expecting something like that Voodoo party in Live and Let Die. It started with women in dresses like tents made of tablecloth walking around in circles. There were some kids learning to play drums throughout. After some one and a half hours of walking in circles they brought out some falafels in big bowls and walked around with them for a while. Then some guys decided they would get possessed by their guardian angels and go into trance. One guy must have had a guardian chicken as he spent a while pecking around on the floor. Another guy was possessed by a very camp angel and minced about with his eyes closed. We didn't wait around to see what happened next. We found some terrapins in a fountain outside which was the highlight of the evening until we found one of them was lying dead on the bottom. It was more fun than your average Sunday mass though. Obviously this is a very ignorant (and cynical) spectators account of events. If you want to know what was really going on you can check this out.
We're leaving Salvador for Recife now, a 15 hour bus ride away. Maybe we'll stop by here again on our way back down but I doubt it.
4 comments:
Sounds like you guys aren't having much fun...maybe you should ditch the dead terrapins and the crap hotel beds made with mosquitos and come home!!! No seriuosly, adventures have begun, it sounds very interesting and hot!! Erin you good girl you....cant believe your doing your capoeira, nice one. How are the blisters on the souls of your feet?
Over here its finally getting brighter, lighter and warmer - yay!! Sat in the sun today and ate my lunch and can leave the shop with all the lights off and still see cause its light outside - yay!
Keep posting the pictures...you guys look great, love the hair si, specially the facial bits, looking good. Erin i miss your smile...*sigh*
Well untill next time mon amies, take it easy and enjoy that hot sun. much love Lx
Just enjoy and take care love you guys x
Finally worked. have been trying to remember my password couldn't so went on under anon.
love the photos and stories.
m + d xxxxoooooo
hey guys! raybould raybould raybould, you're on holiday!!!! Sounds like you need a day at the local spa or smth!!! sure a spa will fix everything!! I was roaring the whole time I was reading si's bit!! HK is humid and drizzling but aside from that it's all good. Andrew been offered another job which he is thinking about and I've been doing afew jobs as well, going to start my 1st martial arts class tomorrow. should be interesting! hope all is well and take care!!! loves... us! xxx
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