Single's Guide - Salvador Carnaval

---

OH YES, I said Carnaval!!

So just when I am about to freak out because I thought we were going to miss our flight out of Sao Paulo to Salvador, we catch the shuttle just in time. We had to go to the other airport which is like an hour out of Sao Paulo bus terminal. We were flying with Azul airlines (they were the cheapest) and something was about to happen which has never happened to me before. We got a chance to fly for FREEEEE because they thought/assumed that we have already paid. Conscience really sucks though. It got the better of us...and we ended up paying for it anyway. The reasoning behing that was that the "Cock of Karma" was going to get us at some point if we don't. And we all know we can't mess with some'o'dat.

Me and Hanz were supposed to meet up with the third amigo. He has waited for us like 8 hours at the airport. And this time, it was Robin's luggage that did not arrive. We took the cab, since it was not a bad option for three people, and plus we had no idea where we were going. We booked an apartment like 6 months in advance because it was crazy busy, well if you want to stay in the good areas. Which brings us to lesson 1.

LESSON 1: IF YOU WANT TO STAY IN A GOOD PLACE CLOSE TO ALL THE ACTION, AKA, BARRA, CAMPO GRANDE/ONDINA, DO BOOK IN ADVANCE AND DO PREFERABLY BOOK AN APARTMENT IF YOU WANT SOME SLEEP AND PRIVACY.

(Fine Print: If you are traveling by yourself, this will not be the most economical option. Apartment prices vary according to location but we ended up paying about 1400 reais/person for 8 days for a 3 bedroom air conditioned apartment. 10 minute walk to the Barra cirucuit and 10 minute walk to Campo Grande circuit as well.)

So we finally arrive with the taxi to our dwelling. The apartment manager seemed to be rather fake/aka just wanted to drop the keys off, get the money and get the hell out. He told us to be careful cause supposedly it's dangerous at night and all that bla bla. WHATEVER.

We were all tired but hungry as well so we headed out to eat and then went to bed. Carnaval was going to start in two days anyway.

The next day we started looking around the neighbourhood to see where we were in relation to everything. It was confusing at first but maybe because I am not that good with orientation. We went to check out the beach called Porto do Barra. It is a rather small but pleasant beach. We went to check out the supermarket and tried to take out some cash but had some problems at some of the ATMs. Anyway, since it's been a while and I can't remember all the useless details that happened during that day so instead of me regurgitating a bunch of garbage just to fill up space I will skip it.

Food Scene

To get exactly to the point, we had a hard time finding a restaurant with good food in the Port do Barra area. We went to a restaurant with a Swiss owner and Hans had the misfortune to order a curry in that restaurant...wow..the owner claimed it was his specialty. I do believe that was voted as the worst curry has a had...and I can attest to that since I had a bite. In the malls, the food courts have fairly decent food actually. Also, do stay away from the local dish called Carne do Sol. Maybe I had it at the wrong places but there was never a smile on my face while eating it. One can only get tricked so many times.

Robin caught some kind of rrhea so he was in bed for 36 hours straight... I didn't think it was possible for a person to stay in one position in bed that long but "The easy rider" proved us wrong.

Carnaval Begins

The night of the carnaval we started off in the first restaurant and then went to check out the gathering scene. It begins slowly with these huge trucks driving down the street and parking. They wait until it's their turn and drive down the street with the "Banda" on top and Imax size speakers blasting music from the top. There is also a roped off area for the people that buy the tickets to go with the particular band around the city. These are fun, depending on which band you buy. Some bands looked like a bunch of zombies but that's what you get for buying the cheapest band. The best bandas are Chiquita com Banana and Timbaland but those suckas will set you back around 850 REAIS for one night...oooh ya boo ya good luck too ya cause I am not dishing out $500 for one night being roped off like cattle. But I did pay less to do the same...hehe. The choice you have are:

1. you can be part of "popcorn" aka just regular people partying on the street and watching the trucks go by. very fun on the fun scale.
2. you can buy a ticket to a banda and dance in the roped off area and move with the band. fun factor depending hugely on which band you go to.
3. you can buy a ticket to a "camarote" which is essentially a section where you can sit, drink, eat and party at the same time. They are put together on a truss, and you can watch all the bandas go by and staying in that area. once again, the fun factor depends on which camarote you chose but it is potentially a lot of fun. I will spare you the details. =)

I would recommend to try all three actually. That way you get the experience of everything. The people are awesome, and they definitely love to have fun. The BARRA circuit starts at around 8pm and goes until 5am. The CAMPO GRANDE/ONDINA circuit is during the day and starts in ungodly after (especially after partying) and goes on until around 8pm. So if one wants, it is possible to party non-stop. The third circuit is the PELORINHO circuit which is more geared toward the black heritage with a lot of drums and fairly addictive music.

Now let's break down the rules, myths and legends:

1. You cannot piss anywhere you like despite what the friendly public leads you to believe...how would I know? I picked a perfect spot by the "FAROL" which is the lighthouse. I went to the local fence to depressurize; while in the middle of the deed I hear the spraying noise and it aimed right for my eyes. I was pleasantly surprised to see the cop spraying some form of pepper spray right into my eyes, telling me I cannot do this in public. I always love a good warning before drastic action is taken. On the bright side, after five about five minutes, my vision did clear up.

2. The carnaval is NOT an orgy. I was reading blogs about anything goes on the streets and all the latidaa but it couldn' be further from the truth. But we did see what I can truly refer to as rape attemps by the "Brothers of Ghandi". they are all dressed the same and god help you if you are even a semi attractive person resembling a female and pass by them. But you truly will see just about anything on the streets. We saw people doing summersaults all the way down the street because they couldn't contain their happiness, drunk people passed out on the curb....looked pretty much dead. People doing all kinds of funky dances simply whatever you may think of, you will see it.

3. There was absolutely ZERO theft attemps. I purposely even put stuff hanging out of my pocket to see if there would be any takers but NOTHING, not even once in any of the three circuits. Once again, don't believe the blogs that say that you will have around 100 hands going through your pockets at any one time. And we ventured off to some truly ghetto places where there was not even a hint of a white tourist like me. Deep in the Pelorinho circuit for the brave, it was weird because no one even notices you....simply does not give even a hoot that you are there. Second watch the crowds because that was officially the most crowded street my ass was ever on. We almost got crushed by the mob twice standing in one spot.

4. From my experience, whenever you get a chance to drink the local light beer called CHOPP, alway opt for that it's on tap and an amazing thrist quencher, then SKOL or BOHEMIA in that order.

Another thing you will notice is the team of Terminators walking around. They usually travel in groups of 6 police officers, of which one is always a female to control the testosterone rage of the male cops. Let's just say if you are not a tourist they do not play around and will manhandle you like there is no tomorrow. Every night would finish with coconut juice in my hand from the dehydration...hehe. Alcohol is incredibly cheap and drinks really strong. It is one crazy party though and the atmosphere is not comparable to anything I have seen before. One simply has to experience it for himself.

The ladies in Salvador are quiet amazing, not only in the way they dance but also quite simply HOT. Who are we kidding. If you are a male with even a test tube sample size of testosterone in your system, you will have to control your "inner cave man urges"...lol.

Another thing that never fails is STREET JUSTICE. There are definitely a lot of gays in Salvador especially during the parade. While there was one clan of them passing by the designer dildos and all that fancy stuff, Robin was laughing at them and taking pictures while one rascal took off from the pack, approached Robin from behind and gently shoved a medium sized dildo up his ass. Robin jumped away but I did think i detected a slight sign of satisfaction on his face. But maybe that was just me. =)

Anyway, the feel and atmosphere is quite different than the one in Rio. Rio's main attraction is the Sambodrome, the show and the costumes. You can do different things like go to samba school rehearsals and party in Lapa at night. However, in Salvador, it's all about partying in the streets and just going crazy and letting go. When you do, you will have an amazing time and a once in a lifetime experience.

---

Photos

Salvador
El FAROL...the famous lighthouse where I attempted to pee.

Salvador Carnaval
Brother of Ghandi in training....hehe

Salvador
Pelorinho district Sunset on top of the Elevator

Salvador Carnaval
Pelorinho district

Campo Grande/Ondina
Camarote da Central. This was one of the biggest ones.

Campo Grande/Ondina
Packed like sardines

Camarote da Central
Chillin, fairly tired at this point.

Camarote da Central
One of the bands passing by with some dancers.

Robin
The Easy Rider himself

Campo Grande / Ondina
One of the bands passing by

Campo Grande / Ondina
One of the bands passing bye