Plastic limbs and Noel the taxi driver

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06/12

So today we decided to set forth and head to Pelhourino, the old town in Salvador, to go and look around and see some churches. Everyday we're here seems like a new entertaining challenge - and today was no different. We made our way, by bus, into the centre of Pelhourino and got some spectacular views - the city is on two levels, high and low and the city is serviced by some giant lifts - as soon as we arrived we saw a slightly odd brazilian woman dancing in front of TV cameras - we weren't sure where to look - she never stopped. We decided to head down to the market which involved taking the big lift down to the lower level of the city - needless to say that Tasha's fear of heights was tested - but we got to the bottom smoothly (although worryingly quickly - and we strode to the market.

We'd previously been warned about pcikpockets in the area, so we kept belongings close at hand as we wandered around the market - I loved it in there - loads of colours and smells - clothing, food, instruments and paintings. The paintings in Salvador are incredible, you can see some of them in my pictures - they're really bright colours depicting the city, capoeira and traditional african imagery. If this had been anywhere near the end of my travels, I'd've bought one. We also saw a couple of pickpockets in action - tragically but unsurprisingly young children holding a parent's hand. We bought a few bits and bobs and headed out of the market. We were desperate to go to Igreja de Bonfim, a really famous church just on the outskirts of the city. We discovered it was about 3 miles away so we jumped into a taxi, we opened the front door to speak to the driver and on about the 4th attempt managed to make ourselves understood. We jumped in the back of the taxi and away we went - with the front door wide open - we were in Speed again! I finally managed to remember the spanish for door and just started shouting it loudly - the driver recovered the door, didn't really seem too panicked, and off we went.

Drivers in Salvador aren't as crazy as in Rio but nonetheless there was a lot of weaving about - our driver took us to the church and offered to stop the fare and wait for us, and wait he did. The church was beautiful, ornate in gold and white. The girls blessed themselves with the holy water and we walked around. This church is famous for healing the infirm, and many people come here with photos of their loved ones or their ailments to pray for God's healing powers = there was a room at the back of the church specifically for this - this was very bizarre - hanging from the ceiling were hundreds of posthetic or rubber limbs and body parts and the walls were covered in photos and letters oraying for healing - it was weird but very powerful. There was also a wall attributing successful healing to God and the church. It struck me how strong people's faith can be - something which I think will be a recurring theme of this trip - and something which I'm finding interesting to philosophise about.

We headed out of the church towards some incredible views of the ctiy, our driver took some pictures of us and then we saw MONKEYS! They were just chilling out in the trees, having a good time - we were very excited. We then found out that our taxi drivers name was Noel and he took us to a military for with some spectacular views over the bay (we hadn't even asked for this!) There were boys doing capoeira moves and flips into the sea - Tasha was whooping and clapping them whilst Amy and I disowned her with embarrassment. We then headed back to Pelhourino with Noel, and I attempted Portuguese small talk about the weather and he dropped us off, but not before we'd belted out a rendition of 'you've got a friend' - it was as if we had truly made a friend... I think he just thought we were crackers. We poddled around the old town for a bit and came across San Francisco Igreja which, in short, contained the freakiest mannequins I have ever seen - I was petrified and ran away (after taking some photos). I have never seen so many gruesome plastic Jesuses in all my life - and I am not sure I ever will again.

Amy's feet by this time had swollen to twice their usual size due to a combination of heat, sunburn and the walking (on reflection, we could've prayed for them at Bonfim!) So we did our best to do our last job, getting tickets for a dance show - we sat and waited but it had already sold out - GUTTED. Still, not all bad news, we got back to the hostel, had a barbecue and chilled out and chatted with the other hostel guests, who, bar one crazy Australian lady, are all really sound. A chilled night was had by all.

Rxxxx

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