On the move

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Today have to face the long bus trip back to Salvador, and then taxi from bus station to hotel near the airport for flight the next morning at 10 .15 back to Rio. Started off after breakfast eploring the walk to a warfall which begins near the pousada. This is one of the points it markets itself on but when I asked about it the day I arrived was told that I shouldn't do it without a guide!! In fact acording to LP there are lots of walks that you can do out of Lençois itself but none of them are signposted. I have worked out that this is to ensure that the guides make a living. Anyway surely even I cannot get lost within 15 minutes. No, I can't although I do come back a slightly different way back unintentionally. However the water is so low that the waterfall is scarcely to be seen. Then spend the next few minutes looking for a credit card that I removed from my bumbag before this walk. Oh well, it must be at least a week since I last had to tip everything out of my case looking for something so am doing quite well.

Head off into the centre to draw out some cash and maybe consider buying a new hat. I washed (badly) the one I have been wearing and am now carrying it around with me whilst it is still damp in the hope that this will help to dry it. There is something approximating an outdoor shop here which sells hats but since the sales assistant makes a beeline for me as soon as I enter I beat a hasty retreaat. Can't bear to be hassled when buying things. Get back to the pousada and have a chat with Maiza about travelling on my own. I get into a terrible mess with my past subjunctives and conditionals and resolve to tackle these properly when i get home. She is very good though and If I get a word wrong supplies the appropriate one one without appearing to correct me. When I ask about where I might pick up a sandwich for the journey she very kindly offers to make me one and declines any payment.

I give myself plenty of time to get to the bus stop because although this is only about a quarter of a mile away the road is unpaved and very rough. Thank goodness I didn't bring a new suitcase with me. By this time I have worked out that if the bus back is the one with a scheduled arrival time about 10 minutes beforehand, it is almost bound to be late. The bus I came in was about half an hour behind schedule. This turns out to be an acccurate estimate. Shortly after leaving Lençois we are stuck ni a traffic jam apparently caused by a combination of road works and slow moving lorries. This is going to be a long journey and so it proves. We stop for a break at the same place as on the outward journey andI feel very smug as I, unlike the other passengers, am aware that you have to buy a ticket from the cashier for the goods that you are intending to purchase and then present this at the food/drink counter. On the other hand, the other passengers probably didn't spend about ten minutes trying to open the loo door on the bus before having to seek help from the passenger sitting next to it and then another 10 minutes hunting for the flush which turns out to be a red button located next to the wash basin. The journey seems interminable. When planning this trip I had originally intended to catch a flight one way but these are only available about twice weekly and the days had changed by the time I came to firm up my itinerary. Try not to think that at that point I should have given up on the trip to Lencois.,

The bus eventually gets into Salvador over an hour late. Bravely, or rashly, I decide to give the radio taxis a miss on grounds of expense and make for the the line of taxis outside. The taxi driver assures me he knows where this pousada is but it becomes increasingly obvious he doen't. I show him the address on my mobile phone as this makes no sense to me - there is a QD in there after the street name which I don't understand. His primary concern seems to be getting the termperature in the taxi right which already I couldn't care less about as the meter ticks relentlessly on. I console myself that we are on the road to the airport. However we reach the airport and he keeps going - and going. (There are no hotels at the airport or I would have stayed at one.). He puts the satnav on, not once but twice. The taxi fare has now almost reached the epic proportions of my journey from the airport to my airbnb in Barra and the bus station is supposed to be a lot nearer to the airport than Barra. Eventually, miles after we have passed the airport - according to its entry in Booking.com the hotel is only 5 kilometres away - I eventually spot this tatty looking pousada in a very quiet run down streeet. No dinner for me tonight then - by this time it is about 9.45 pm and I am too tired to face the perils of Salvador simply to eat. The receptionist eventually comes to the door long after the taxi driver has driven off - no knight in shining armour this one - and we go to the reception desk.

Whilst he is apologetically hunting down my reservation I cannot take my eyes off the insects crawling all over the wall behind him. I am not sure whether they are cockroaches or not. I would really have liked to turn tale and run but where to? I venture something in Portuguese along the lines of - I hope there aren't any insects in my room. Oh no - he says , it's just the rain. Wonder whether the insects have also invaded the kitchen and whether I will be able to face breakfast tomorrow. The receptionist proudly wishes me goodnight in his best, and possibly only, English. The room does look clean apart from the shower screen and it is the best bed and bed -linen I have slept in since I arrived. However I quickly discover that although the pousada might be a very long way from the airport it is situated directly under the flight path! Console myself with the thought that there are probably no planes taking off between say 12 and 6 so I shoud at least get some sleep.

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Photos

The river at Lençóis
You can just see women washing c!othes in the background.