11th-13th of May 2016
11th of May
We reached Salvador in the evening. As soon as we got out from the airport we had two options: taxi or bus... We didn't want to try the bus as we have heard that Salvador is not the safest place in Brazil.... So we went for the taxi which was very expensive compared to the lifestyle in Brazil (140 Reis = 35€) but it seemed that we were far away from the downtown. While thinking for options, Gwen got stopped by a guy who was working in the tourist agency and offered us the ride for 70... Fair price! Gwen got a good feeling with him... and I was scared haha
Well by then end Gwen was right !:)
We dropped our luggage in a very nice hostel (Galeria 13) next to Pelorinho square. The owner draw us a map with a "No Go" zone and safe zone... It made me think about the parody Fox News made about Paris for the "No Go" zones which was totally wrong but here it seemed a bit more serious which made me feel weird...
We went for dinner in a restaurant the hostel had agreement with and I was already really fascinated about the architecture of the city. This Portuguese colorful heritage was just wonderful. I couldn't wait to visit the city.
12th of May
The hostel was offering a city tour with one local guide so during the breakfast we met all this buddies from all over the world with whom we agreed to go for it. So we did.
We started by visiting the Pelorinho square, the Olodum factory (an association which fights against racial discrimination in Brazil, which Mickaël Jackson has supported in his song "They don't care about us"), the down town which allowed me to take nice pictures of the colorful houses.
We then took a mini van to go to the other side of the city (discrict on Bonfim), spent some time on the beach, visited a fort and the church of Senhor Bonfim (from where all the famous colorfull bracelets are coming from) went for a lunch in the favelas, enjoyed a nice ice cream, met the sunset over the ocean and finished by assisting a class of capoeira... All this trip lasted around 9h but allowed to see a big and nice part of the city.
We reached Salvador in the evening. As soon as we got out from the airport we had two options: taxi or bus... We didn't want to try the bus as we have heard that Salvador is not the safest place in Brazil.... So we went for the taxi which was very expensive compared to the lifestyle in Brazil (140 Reis = 35€) but it seemed that we were far away from the downtown. While thinking for options, Gwen got stopped by a guy who was working in the tourist agency and offered us the ride for 70... Fair price! Gwen got a good feeling with him... and I was scared haha
Well by then end Gwen was right !:)
We dropped our luggage in a very nice hostel (Galeria 13) next to Pelorinho square. The owner draw us a map with a "No Go" zone and safe zone... It made me think about the parody Fox News made about Paris for the "No Go" zones which was totally wrong but here it seemed a bit more serious which made me feel weird...
We went for dinner in a restaurant the hostel had agreement with and I was already really fascinated about the architecture of the city. This Portuguese colorful heritage was just wonderful. I couldn't wait to visit the city.
12th of May
The hostel was offering a city tour with one local guide so during the breakfast we met all this buddies from all over the world with whom we agreed to go for it. So we did.
We started by visiting the Pelorinho square, the Olodum factory (an association which fights against racial discrimination in Brazil, which Mickaël Jackson has supported in his song "They don't care about us"), the down town which allowed me to take nice pictures of the colorful houses.
We then took a mini van to go to the other side of the city (discrict on Bonfim), spent some time on the beach, visited a fort and the church of Senhor Bonfim (from where all the famous colorfull bracelets are coming from) went for a lunch in the favelas, enjoyed a nice ice cream, met the sunset over the ocean and finished by assisting a class of capoeira... All this trip lasted around 9h but allowed to see a big and nice part of the city.
13th of May
As we became friends with some of the people we met the previous night, we went to visit a local market which was the real Brazil without any tourists and from where you can basically buy everything you need. We of course tried the fruits (a delicious cold coconut for me) and then spent the afternoon on the beach of "Lappa". The night we enjoyed a dinner all together and went for a bar. Well in the bar and after discussing with some of the guys, I realized that in Salvador the social mixture I used to see in Rio or in SP is not anymore the case as the city is 90% "African origins'... And the feeling of being European White in the club made us feel a bit weird as we were directly categorized as "tourists"... Well by the end, it hadn't stopped us to enjoy a beer and listen to nice music.
It was really cool having met all this wonderful people.
The night was very short as we needed to take the plane at 7 am and spend out last 2 days in Rio...
As we became friends with some of the people we met the previous night, we went to visit a local market which was the real Brazil without any tourists and from where you can basically buy everything you need. We of course tried the fruits (a delicious cold coconut for me) and then spent the afternoon on the beach of "Lappa". The night we enjoyed a dinner all together and went for a bar. Well in the bar and after discussing with some of the guys, I realized that in Salvador the social mixture I used to see in Rio or in SP is not anymore the case as the city is 90% "African origins'... And the feeling of being European White in the club made us feel a bit weird as we were directly categorized as "tourists"... Well by the end, it hadn't stopped us to enjoy a beer and listen to nice music.
It was really cool having met all this wonderful people.
The night was very short as we needed to take the plane at 7 am and spend out last 2 days in Rio...
