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Published: March 16th 2010
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As I mentioned from the last blog, I managed to book the last seat on the coach to Olinda, a small town about 5kms north of Recife and my chill out destination before my flight to Manaus. I had to wait in the bus station in Salvador for about 6 hours, giving me plenty of time to think about the last few days, home, family and friends and what lies in store from the next encounter. Time passed relatively quickly and I was soon on board the bus, although, as is no surprise, securing the last seat means getting the worst seat, at the back of the bus right next to the toilet! The next 14 hours were spent with toilet fumes coming from one side and the arm of a rather large gentleman sitting next to me on the other…brilliant! I had thought that the journey was 24 hours so I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived in Recife 10 hours early, at about 08:30, giving me plenty of time to secure a roof over my head and have a look around. On the other hand it meant spending more time there than I had planned and having read a
lot of negative press about Recife, opted to stay in Olinda.
I ended up sharing a cab with 3 aussies who were staying in the same place, had some breakfast and freshened up and then headed into Recife with them after a well earned nap. Carnival was still drawing to a close and by Brazilian standards, the remaining revellers were looking tired, along with the decorations around the area. We walked through a market, had a brief look round, had a beer and a bite to eat and decided to head back to Olinda. Maybe Sunday wasn’t the ideal choice to look around, or was it that Recife didn’t have much to offer? It seemed a lot more deprived than other places in Brazil and the poverty was pretty evident. Trying to get a bus to return to Olinda was the first time in my trip that I had felt genuinely intimidated. There were a group of youths hanging around about 30 metres down the road and we could all feel their eyes on us. Thankfully there was a police patrol car in the area, doing laps of where we were waiting and as the bus came the youths
made there way towards us. We managed to get on the bus before anything happened, but we all agreed that we thought something would have happened had the bus not arrived when it did. Maybe we were slightly paranoid, but given the area we were in, I think we were justifiably so! That night we went for a pizza in a beachside restaurant and I had an early night.
The next day I did some washing (by hand), caught up on emails and wrote the Salvador blog. I went for a look around Olinda with one of the aussie girls, Kate (the other 2 had left) in the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised with the place - small and basic but quite picturesque, very different to Recife.
I went back into Recife the next day in order to give it another chance, but in all honesty I wish I hadn’t bothered. I went with another English guy who had checked in the previous night and we spent about half hour walking around and moaning at how ugly and dirty everything was. It wasn’t long before we were back on a bus bound for Olinda. After another meal in
the same restaurant (with the English guy, Euan, an Irish guy, Barclay and an Israeli and a Dutch girl) and a few beers too many it was back to the hostel for a last minute dip in the pool and chat with the group, which now included Seb, an English guy studying Spanish in the area and Pep, a typically charming French guy. It was soon time for bed, having to be up early for the flight to Manaus, via Fortaleza and Belem.
I think it is fair to say that I was unimpressed with Recife and Olinda isn‘t special enough to justify any lengthy stay. It served as an ideal place to zone out for a couple of days, but I certainly wont be recommending it too highly! Not much of interest, considerably run down and I felt on edge the whole time I was there. Hopefully the next chapter will be a lot more enjoyable!
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Janis
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Didnt you go to Boa Viagem?? No wonder you were not impressed by Recifie. It is like going to Rio and totally avoid Copacabana and Ipanema and stay only in the center. Plus you should know the real city cenetr these days in all brazilian cities on the coast is the beach districts. The old city centers especially on weekends are no go areas.