Kate Gamble's Blog

After leaving Peru, and suffering the journey from hell; where flying from Cusco to Salvidor (probably supposed to take 4-5 hours) took 48 hours. Thanks to rain in Sao Paulo the plane couldn't land, I missed my connection and ended up in Rio - where i wasn't supposed to be until carnival 2 weeks later... I finally arrived, thanks to a bunch of Argentinians for entertainment, a French girl who helped translate everything and a good deal of patience I got a connecting flight to Salvidor.

Salvidor is a fantastic city, we stayed at the old section of town, Pelourinho, in the Albergue das Laranjeiras Hostel, bustling with people getting ready for the very cultural carnival that is hoasted in this city. Its the second largest in Brazil and seems much more culturally involved where people join the celebrations and dance in the streets for 5 days around town. The Bahian people are lots of fun; they stay up late, dance and sing and tend to enjoy the lighter side of life - you have to when its 45 degrees most days i guess! The streets are all beautifully cobbled and a short walk away is the elevator - this costs 5 Brazilian cents and takes you down to the lower level of the city (yes it really does have two levels!) where the big industrial harbor is. There are also large markets where we bought Brazilian Sarongs (a must have) and some great jewelery.



In the afternoon a samba band of 50+ people might congregate outside the hostel on the streets around town and start up a drumming noise that would wake up even the most hungover of revelers... the local Capoeira schools perform the traditional dance - which stems from the days of slavery when fighting was banned and slaves where not allowed to practice the martial art. They overcame this by performing it so beautifully and skilfully that they could pass it as a dance. In that way the tradition has lived on... Are you learning here people...?

The town is full of old buildings and churches. But the traditional stuff mixes with a lot of amazing graffiti and modern artwork like the photo exhibition around town (see photo with Lex)