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Published: June 29th 2006
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After watching England crush Equador we go back to the hostel and pack up to leave, as we do the daily rain arrives and Tom puts his bag in poo of some kind - hopefully dog or maybe the monkeys we had seen running about the telephones wires, either way not a great start to a 24hr journey and it didnt really improve.
After waiting in a nowhere town to get a bus, which when arrived was full, we managed to watch the Portugal Holland game which was a great way to pass the time. After another bus we arrived in Recife where we contemplated staying the night til the 8am bus to Salvador but we decided against that and just got a late bus in the right direction....basically 6 buses and 28hrs later we are rolling up to Slalvador a city of mixed reviews but imfamous for being the cultural/musical and party central of black influenced Brazil.
After arriving we head straight to the historical area of town where all the hostels and nightlife etc are based. On arrival the streets looked beautiful, all lit up with rows of suspended light bulbs and everyone of the narrow cobbled
streets hung with miles of yellow, green and blue bunting and huge football shirts. This is how the world cup should be celebrated, not 3 pints of Carling for a fiver and a free hat with 5 pints.
After checking into our cheap but perfectly placed hostel we head of into the town area. The decorations were everywhere and its hard to believe that we had been warned off Salvador a few days prior for being very undesireable. We then sat outside of a bar and listened to man playing some lovely acoustic guitar, it was such nice place and we knew then that the plan of staying a few days wouldnt happen. After a few drinks we joined some local girls (not hookers mum) and spent the rest of the night learning about the area from a local view point, although there were times the vast language barier got in the way, luckily one spoke German too which was of no help at all.
Salvador is a completely different place to anywhere id seen before, the African influence is huge and everything form the 24hr a day drumming to the meat on stick vending ladies in full
traditional dress doent feel like Brazil. It a a very lively, colourful and vibrant place.
The next day was the Brazil game and after placing a 3-0 bet on, we head to the sqaure where we´d seen a big screen before. We recognised this area as they show it at half time during brazil games on all the TV channels, on TV it looked mental with drummers and dancers going mad and everyone dancing all in yellow and green. We walk up and see the crowd and move forward to try to see the screen, the sun is beating down and the drumming loud and everyone is happy, im pretty sure some of them didnt know who Brazil were playing but its was such a party atmosphere it didnt matter. When the first goal went int the palce erupted and the drumming, daning and singing started and didnt stop for a long time. An unforgetable game. And 3-0 Brazil gave me a healthy 80 Reals win on the bet to spend, which i did on a variety of musical instruments, takes total up to 5.
The next few days were spent wandering the steets and visiting a local
market, although its a lively place wandering down the back streets you could as easily be in a tiny Italian town with the colourful colonial buildings dominating the historic araea. One you leave this area the towns derelict tower blocks come into view and downtown (literally down a giant lift which costs 1p) near the docks the area isnt attractive at all, hence the negative reputation.
It wouldnt be right to gloss over the problems of Salvador, it has a reputation for muggings,thefts and pickpockets, this is the reason there are no photos on this blog (although i think ill get a few soon), the streets do have an edgy feel and the beggars are constant and some displaying horrific scars and stories of children to feed, its really hard but ive found it easier to switch off really otherwise id have nothing left as even though things are cheaper out here the beggars know how much you have so can be quite demanding even when you do give them something. They also hand out free bands for a local religion and tie it to your wrist, these are free but then lead to a sale of necklaces or asking for money for milk, i can understand why many find it an annoyance.
Mentioning the religion, there is a huge following of the a local religion called candomblé and one night we decided to go with a guide to one of the houses where they perform their ceremonies. The night we went the ceremony was being held outside around a large fire, after about 20minutes of drumming and singing the members started dancing, very much like Matt, to the music of a cowbell and drum. Then our guide pointed out that one of the members had become possessed, this is a regular thing where they gods control the members and they remember nothing after, she wandered around briskly and then growled like a bear before falling over and growling again, this was quite a challenging sight especially after id presumed we would be seeing a few locals dance and sing. Then another women got possessed and as the others held her up she sqarked like a bird. The two continued to do this while pacing around and dancing. Suddenly the rain hammered down and everyone ran for cover, that was the end of the very interesting evening.
So the rain didnt really stop, and it halted our plans to head down to a beach town for 2 days before returning for the England game here, there really is nowhere better to watch football in Brazil, even the Spain France game drew a heated crowd in a small lacal bar.
After the game we plan to watch Brazils next game then head down to our final stop of Rio (anothe 24hr bus) where do we get to celebrated Toms 22nd, meet up with uni friends Lee Peters and Gareth and also watch the world cup semis and final.
Woah this is long, im very very sorry, and no photos. Ill make up for it soon. Até a vista.
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