Advertisement
Published: September 20th 2008
Here we are !
Salvador de Bahia is the first stop of our 6-month trip that will take us through South America and Australia until March 2009 if we manage to get there on time and alive...
At least, we got there without any trouble but not without any vodka (very helpful to make you sleep on the plane...).
A short insight on Salvador's history (that we obviously learnt in our guidebook): 1st capital of Brazil, its history is closely linked to slavery. Therefore the African influence is still present, though the mix with Brazilian culture creates a cocktail with an interesting flavour.
Our second impression is the omnipresence of music. Music is everywhere every time for everyone: it seems to be the heart of the Bahians' day-to-day life. Capoeira, samba, bossa nova... day and night times are rythmed by the beat of the Brazilian drums and dances.
In the historical center, the architecture is colonial Portuguese: full of bright colors, 2-floor buildings. We were striken by 2 things:
1) 90% of the guys are topless (most of them are well built). Almost like us as you know.
2) A common habit is to look around the
street from one's window while doing nothing. Smiling is a lot as talking seems to be tiring.
So a chill out city as you can picture it.
Don't misunderstand us. Bahians are really friendly people as they do not give up when we try to communicate in Portuguese (you can imagine how fluent we already are). Always ready to help too.
We have spent the first 2 days discovering the city, wandering around the paved streets and eating in per-kilo restaurants (eat as much as you can, but pay as much as your food weighs !). Drinking local beers + caipirinhas is also part of the Brazilian experience (also learnt in our guidebook of course).
We are also surprised by the small amount of tourists in the streets outside the historical center. What a pity in such a nice city! For instance, they must have missed the museum of modern arts which we do recommend.
We have also experienced the city's nightlife. Last night, we went to a very local bar that our party friends would have enjoyed...
To make a long story short. We sat on a table (the bar had a total of 3...
15 square meters for the whole location), ordered a caipirinha and tried to understand the already loud talk people were having together in the bar. 15 minutes later, we were set and part of the play as one of the customers named the nights in this bar.
One of a kind customer:Eduardo, 63 but who pretends to have 40 years left. Good luck my friend! There must be a reason why locals call you "Cachaceiro"...
At some point, it was the right time to leave this place. As soon as we came out, music was loud and attractive. We went to a more mainstream local bar where a Bahian band was performing. O Brazil !
Feeling tired, we realized it was 11.30 pm only... Jet lag has played its role.
The next nightlife experiences will be religious (candomble ceremony) and not clubs. Or both, why not?
End of Part 1.
To be continued...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0838s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Marcus
non-member comment
Tudo Bom?
Enorme les gars!! Tres belle gnac, c'est un plan a la Fatru ce truc non?...on verra les semaines prochaines pour savoir si ce blog sera aussi bien updated...pression!! Par contre, on attend également une version officieuse! Stay alive and try to keep the few neurons left you already have for Australia... Cheers mates and enjoy for us. Marco