I could really sit back, chill while the days passed by here in Salvador. I’ve met backpackers in various parts of the world who were doing that but I’ve never really understood it until I got here.
Salvador, or really Pelourinho, Pelo.
I’ve been to so many places. Important for one reason or another. Beautiful, historic, architectural wonders some truly amazing places. Pelo has the history, architecture, music and dance. It has a heart and a soul.
Is it touristy? Well yes but somehow that still doesn’t detract from the place for me. Maybe it’s just because Carnival is approaching fast and the various participants are giving it there all before that all important time but there always seems to be music playing of one type or another.
Everything from the rhythmic beat of drums to soloists on guitars to the modern sounding blare with a reverberating base. Then in particular in the evenings to add to that there’s dance of one form or another. From the stylized ‘Folclorico’ shows to locals who listening to the music stand up even in the middle of a restaurant in the spur of the moment and start to dance.
As long as I do not miss my flight.
The strange thing is that I spent a day running around from place to place comparing bus tickets from Salvador to various locations always with that little countdown of days in my head.
Ultimately I want to end up in Iguazu Falls. Just for the heck of it I checked out the flights. As it turned out the flight to Foz do Iguacu only ended up being about $45 USD more than the combined bus tickets and certainly a lot quicker.
That’s the kicker you see. Flying is about the same price as the bus so the difference between the two, on the surface, makes the decision easy, yes?
No. At least not with long term travel. You see the long way via the bus network allows the cost of moving from place to place to be spread over a number of days, in turn, in a way making it cheaper so that you do not end up blowing your budget totally out of the water. If your not careful all those times you took the option that ‘wasn’t that much more’ over the course of the entire trip could mean you have plenty of time left to your trip but totally all of the sudden you realise you’ve run out of money.
When on a short holiday 2 to 6 weeks or so time is your enemy in al lot of ways. You’ve got the money, if you have a brain and saved appropriately beforehand however in some instances particularly in the bigger countries you can be time poor. So if you keep taking the cheap option, with the longest time frame you could end up with the cash left over but only have seen half of what you wanted to.
I’m in a strange position somewhere in between to two worlds of travel. I still have plenty of time for the overall trip however I do not have that much time due to the restrictions of the visa. Well actually not the restriction of the Visa that is a problem since that is for 90 days. It’s the flight I brought out of the country for the ‘proof of onwards journey’ that is limiting my time here in Brazil.
Weighing one thing against the other, I decided on the flight.
After that decision was made I read up on some of the things I wanted to see whip I was here in Salvador then headed out. The really funny thing is, at least from my perspective is that I discovered that in my running around I’d seen most of the areas I was interested in. I just didn’t know what is was I was looking at when I was gazing up at them at the time!
I also went to ‘Bale Folclorico Da Bahia’ in the evening (folklore dance). I really enjoyed the show. The joy of the dancers themselves was kind of infectious.
One other thing I’ve decided is that Brazilians really have trouble with the concept of ‘Individual Portion’. I swear the so called individual portion could feed two people. Possibly more if you are light eaters and want room for desert. Oh and the local cocktail, caipirinha goes really well with the local dishes!
So we come back to my last night and the party. Turned out to be singing and the drum teams drumming up a storm in the main square. Was kind of fun. I had to laugh at one point since a really drunk ‘white boy’ was trying to imitate some of the locals and dance. Some of the locals, seeing him started to point and snicker. He didn’t, um, quite have the moves down!
All to soon it was time for me to leave and go to the airport.
Next stop Iguazu Falls.