The interstate bus companies here are fantastic (and we hear they are nothing compared to what Argentina offer!). Jeff and I caught an ‘executivo’ bus from Rio to a small coastal town called Porto Seguro. The seats recline back like business class in an aeroplane and there is a cushioned foot rest and snack pack for the journey. The trip was 19 hours and a very pleasant one.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and approx. 840,000 square km larger than Australia. It boasts around 195 million people and the city of Sao Paulo alone is home to 21 million – a touch short of the entire country of Australia. Even though there is a lot of bare land mass between cities and towns, I’m sure you will then appreciate it takes at least 1/3 longer in time to get to each place by road than it does in Australia for the same distance.
We arrived into Porto Seguro just after 3pm and went straight to our hotel. After spending a week in a busy but exciting hostel, we decided to lash out and stay in a pretty flash hotel for a whole $42 (AUD $22ea) per night. It was really lovely place but they had to call for the owner’s son every time reception saw us coming as absolutely no one in the hotel spoke English. But they did try and they were all extremely pleasant and very helpful.
The hotel food was awesome but I think the pool with its bar was the highlight – their cocktails (especially the caipirinha) were pretty damn nice and on the rainy day, we spent it upstairs in their little cinema room and watched a couple of DVD’s – we were never short of anything to do. The beach was amazing – long and quiet with squeaky sand. It was dotted with straw rooved huts and wooden seats, open restaurants and peaceful locals.
It should never be an expectation that people around the world speak English but every day it surprises me how few people in Brazil do. Thank goodness for translation books. When we are unable to communicate with hand gestures or by speech, I have learnt to point to the word in the book that Jeff brought (Thank you!!). My pronunciation of Portuguese is evidently extremely bad – even when I know a word, be it in Portuguese or Spanish – they are unable to understand me. But when they do not speak English they will always find someone who can if they are available.
Another interesting observation is the number of non-speaking English folk here that can sing songs perfectly in English but unable to hold a conversation. Like the Saturday night we spent in Rio. Jeff and I were having a few duty free bourbons and coke when a group of Brazilians sat at the table nearby with a guitar and started pumping out Oasis tunes. We joined in and they invited us to join them at a street party in Lapa. One lady, Mariana, spoke great English and looked after us like we were family. Around 11ish, all 15 or so of us jumped on a public bus, took up the entire back section and one of the guys pulled out a ukulele and we screamed Oasis tunes the whole way (around half hour). The group of friends have been meeting and going to Oasis concerts around Brazil for years. Even when Oasis split, they continued following the transformed group now playing under the name ‘Beady Eye’. You would have sworn they spoke perfect English. The night was like nothing Jeff and I have experienced before and we stumbled home around 4.30am with an arm full of McDonalds. We thought we had a great video of us singing, but can’t find it. Alcohol induced slip of the finger in recording we think. Brilliant, brilliant night!!!
Salvador is a bigger city than I was expecting. After a pretty comfy 12 hour journey on a sleeper bus, we arrived into Salvador around 7.30am and made our way slightly south to the lively beach area of Bara. With its pumping music, beach sport, market stalls and burnt tourists, it was actually little more of what I expected the beaches of Brazil to be like. The atmosphere was alive and fun.
It definitely deserves a mention that a huge and surprising group of talented people we have found do amazing sculptures in the sand. Literally unbelievable pieces of artwork. They start around 7am when the tide is going out then work on them tirelessly all day until it gets washed away.
We were only in Salvador for 2 days but it was brilliant. The weather was perfect. We spent most of our first day walking around the historical town of Pelourinho and checking out the markets. The beach was clean and busy with sunbathers and people playing sport or music. The restaurants are open and full of patrons. I picked up a pair of Havaianas on special for around $6 AUD. They are black and have been branded my new ‘going out’ shoes – the new high heels for the NE coast of Brazil – jeans, dress, bathers, shorts, you name it and they wear them.
We stayed in a very cheap hostel that boasted great reviews, was clean, safe and close to the beach. This morning 15 hot rugby players arrived for the weekend. Not happy about leaving tonight!! It would have been a very entertaining night out. But excited about arriving in Natal.
By chance I decided to check out flights just 3 days ago and found an awesome last minute deal for under $60 AUD to Natal which means we gain an extra night and it’s actually considerably cheaper than a bus. Woohoo. Another 9 days in paradise.
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