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Three more days passed before I finally pulled myself from Itacare's seductive grasp bringing my total there to nine days. The final day/night/morning consisted of an all nighter with miscellaneous goods, homemade firecrackers, and exploding fruit with Dave-O the Destroyer the Aussie extraordinaire. It was time to go. So I hopped on a bus at 7am for an eight hour journey south to Porto Seguro where I transferred onto a ferry to cross a river to Arraial D'Ajuda. Porto Seguro was nothing to write home about and I stayed one night in Arraial but found it to fancy for my liking. So I bused further south to Trancoso where I found a nice little town to stay put for a few days.
My first and only night in Arraial D'Ajuda was OK, but like I mentioned the town was very upscale with boutique pousadas, high end fashion shops, and very nice restaurants. There was nothing here for me. The only upside was that the hostel I went to was closed for the low season so the lady walked me over to a hotel and I got a room there for the same price. The hotel was very nice with a
pool, hot tub, beautiful gardens, and big rooms. I was very pleased. But out of all the sixty or so rooms I was the only one at the place. Well, me and the staff. It was all very strange so I left for Trancoso about 20 miles South.
Trancoso is a very quaint town perched high above the tropical Atlantic Ocean below. The town has a main square dubbed "Quadrado" which is a large grassy expanse with a church at the end of the cliff overlooking the ocean. Around the Quadrado are several bars, restaurants, and pousadas. All of these are protected from new development by qualifying for UNESCO status. It was a nice peaceful spot to sit and watch the time go by.
Of course the other main draw here are the beaches. All of which retain their charm, beauty, and isolation of their brothers and sisters to the North. I've not been to many beaches outside of North America but I'd be willing to bet that Brazil has some of the best in the world. I guess I'll find out after time. Not much going on in Trancoso. I would generally sleep till 10 or so
and have breakfast. After a little walk through town I'd go down to the beaches and wander up and down the vast expanses of powder white sand listen to music, soak up some sun, and ponder what I'm doing and what lies ahead in the unknown. For dinner I ate at the same roadside churassco stall where I would dine on skewers of roasted meats, fishes, and giant cubes of cheese. All for about $1.50 a piece and served on a plate of beans, veggies and the best chilli sauce I've had to date. Who needs restaurants when you have street food?
For my time in Trancoso I was running with Lucille, a French girl I met in Itacare and happened to run into whilst in Arraial and her friend Jean-Michael whom she ran into in Arraial as well. Being in a group we were able to secure some really nice accommodation for a reasonable price in otherwise pricey Trancoso. Something I would not have been able to do alone. Lucille and JM are very nice people but being the only one who doesn't speak French or Portuguese became sometimes taxing and down right annoying. I felt like the
outsider who was nagging for translation all the time and was being a bother to get it. So at night I just cruised by myself and ended up at the local hole where I took in the futbol games. I think I sort of have offsides and the other rules figured out and it was good preparation for the match I plan to take in when I get to Rio.
The weather was not the best in Trancoso with lots of clouds and the afternoon showers. The farther South I get, the colder it is. I guess I better get used to it as Winter has now arrived down here. Still no complaints though as when the sun did pop out it was really, really nice.
One random observation I've had is that the Brazilian vendors I've patronized are not good at simple math. For example today I purchased an Acai (fruity yogurt concoction) with banana and granola. According to the sign this should cost R$4.50. I handed the woman a R$20 and five R$0.10 pieces hoping to break a bill and get R$16 even change back. Simple enough. The woman shook her head no and kept saying
"dois" (two). I figured she did not want my large bill so I was going to give exact change, but she took my R$2 bill, recounted my five R$0.10 pieces and said OK. R$2.50 for what is clearly posted as costing R$4.50. Also the other day I had lunch and my bill was R$11. I gave a R$20 only to receive R$19 in change back. I try to tell the vendors as I do not want to be dishonest but they yell and give me the look like I'm some stupid gringo. Sometimes it's just not worth the argument.
If you've made it this far on what's turned into a long worded blog I'll offer up another side note. Whilst on the bus ride down to Porto Seguro I had what I can classify as a mild anxiety attack. I became very aware and very overwhelmed about the enormity that lay ahead of me and of what I am trying to accomplish and do with my life right now. I've been gone three months and I've made it to Colombia and Brazil. When I first planned I figured on six months in South America and I still believe I
am on track, maybe a little over. But then I think six weeks or so in New Zealand, six weeks or so in Australia and I am at nine months without even getting to Asia yet where I planned to spend most of my time! There is all of SE Asia, India, Nepal, maybe Africa, and don't even get me started on Europe. Just writing it out I'm starting to hyperventilate. I don't know what my problem is. I'll figure it out. I need to tranquilo.
I'm now back in Porto Seguro where I have a 5am flight to Rio where I'll rendezvous with an old friend I met way back in Bogota when I was fresh off the plane from Denver. I scored a last minute flight for $105USD. $8 more than the bus would have cost. Difference was 3 hours as opposed to 20 hours on the bus. Easy decision. Although that means I have to navigate my way to the airport at 3am via bus or taxi. I'm not happy about walking around that late at night / early in the morning with my bags while it is dark, but what choice do I have? Wish
me luck!
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