2007-03-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

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And finally I gave up on my crazy party town Porto Seguro (my mom was belli dancing when she heard about it=)

And I came to the worst city in Brazil, Salvador, having the best time I could have in a Catamaran, and leave back with happy thoughts as always.

Salvador is the city that is more famous than Rio for its carnaval in Brazil, although Rio is known better in the world. It is one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil, and apparently even more dangerous than rio during the carnaval. They are well known for celebrating the carnaval starting from 2 months before the festival. Other than the carnaval, all the guidebooks write that it is one of the best cities in Brazil.
Personally, I strongly disagree. Firstly most of the places for staying in Salvador are in the tourist district. The tourist district is a totally professional district full of salesmen for tourists and pickpocketers, I have heard much more guys mugged in tourist district of Salvador than any other place in Brazil, and most of them even occurred in front of the police, who absolutely do nothing.

OK , I admit that it has some interesting structures to be seen =). But still this does not change the fact that it is an ugly city for my standards, at least when compared to Rio. And anyways, you know I do not like touristy cities right =)? Anyways, the city is divided to 2 sections, the first one where I took it from being the upper city, and the place in the picture being the lower city, the elevator on the left costs around 5 cents to move from one to the other and works non-stop during the day being another transportation mean like a metro.
Maybe the experience can be different if you stay in some other area of salvador rather than the tourist district. But when I spoke to tourists that have travelled all around brazil, I never heard anyone tell even one good word about the city. So I guess I am not alone in those thoughts. I should admit that it is a very cultural point where you can see all those cultural dances like candomble (a religious tribal dance which originated from the slaves combining afro culture with the conditions of slavery), or capoiera (yes this region is where it originated), and try tasty bahiana food (like acaraje, or different muquecas and many different varieties with coconut oil and palmitos).

Another view to the buildings from the lower city, and also another discovery, you can use a different kind of subway ride from bottom to the top as an alternative to the elevator. I personally have seen most of the things I wanted to see from the city, and I personally was not amazed with the things I have seen other than that. So I decided to go to Morro Sao Paulo, which is a small villages in the end of the big Tinhare island close to Salvador (the island is huge and it is only separated by a small river filled with mangroves, so it is sometimes hard to distinguish which one is the island and which one is the continent).

Anyways, the better way to reach Morro Sao Paulo is by catamaran, so I decide to take my chance. Nice views are bonus as always. =)

And me not missing the chance to get tanned a little bit more =)
And justifying why I should not smoke, even if it is the Turkish blend =)

Yes finally I am in Morro Sao Paulo, I pay 15 reais tax for conservation of the village, and start wandering around. It is full of some natural swimming pools. I like the island, but having seen quite some islands in Brazil by now, I am glad that I came here for a daytrip =)

Of course the constant problem of my blog, sometimes soo much to say about a single photo and then not much more, the views talk by themselves =)

Yes, sometimes engineers are not so good in their ship design, and then they try to sell it as historic art =)
Yes I was there =)

And I was still there... I guess I will not need some beaches for quite a while after this trip =)

Of course I used all my chances to improve my portuguese on the way, and also would not be satisfied without climbing all the way up for the better view for you guys=)

I already told you about my blogs problem. This picture has some special meaning for me so it will take the largest part... It was one of the best parts of my Salvador trip. Meet Elena, she is 21 years old (if I am not wrong, she looks even younger =) ), and such a nice person to communicate with.
We had an interesting induction mechanism for each other =). I fired her up for leaving the island without really knowing it... We first went to the island together with her and some other travellers. She was going to stay there, and I was there for a daytrip. We were walking with Fernanda (the brasilian in the previous picture) and when I met them all again, and she asked me when I was leaving the island. And as soon as I said that there is a ferry at 4:30 pm, she just turned her back and did not say anything!!! I had absolutely no idea... I just said a crazy girl... And went ahead to see more of the village. Anyways,,, when I was in the catamaran on my way back, she was there!!! Apparently she decided that she did not like the island, and as soon as I talked to them she was immediately motivated to leave the island!!!
Mann, I was glad, it has been long time since I spoke in English with someone so sincerely and long (honestly hasn't had that kind of talk since Dario)... And it was really soo good.. It was one of those times that you would never forget in your life. We were all open talking about everything. She was talking all about her life, and how she did not like Salvador, and I totally agreed. We were looking at the stars and an amazing catamaran trip back. It was freezing cold with a lot of wind, but we were able to finish this amazing trip with all the sunset and the appearing stars with some 40 miles in the water in a catamaran just under my kanga... It was absolutely amazing, and definitely the best part of my salvador. Anyways she missed her friends in Rio so much that she just wanted to fly back to Rio from Salvador... When we returned back to the shore, as I could not convince her to stay I bargained her taxi and was able to bargain her taxi down. It was simply some amazing time together.
Anyways, she did not know that but she was really able to fire me up too. I was back in my hostel, knowing that the best night of Salvador is tuesday night (that night), I went out, and learned that none of the clubs in Salvador were open and it was only the streets. I went around in the streets and I was totally dissatisfied, it was interesting, but I really did not want to stay there, even if I paid for my room in the hostel. Sooo, I could not help my creativity either, asked the guy where is a nice place to have some holiday in Brazil in between Recife and Salvador. Learned that it was Maceio, quickly called the bus station, learned the last bus, lightning-packed my backpack, bargained another cab (!!) and immediately went to the bus station... I should really thank Elena for that. If it was not for her I probably would not have done it.
I guess I was really not so in for Salvador, I really did not like there either, and I really agreed that I could not have had any better time there without her after all that amazing talk and time we had together (interestingly it is only just a little bit more than 2 hours!!!)...
Anyways,,, so I have paid for 3 nights in Salvador and really only stayed one night (the first hostel I went the first day, I really did not like it and changed my hostel)!!! And now I am on my way to Maceio, one of the Brazilian holiday cities in the North,,, just following my crazy feelings fired up by a 21 year old who did not accept what the logic tells her... Wait me Maceio,,, I am on my way home!!!!!
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