Shopping and Sipping

When we woke up, we headed out to find a new place to stay. Check-out time wasn’t until noon, so we had plenty of time to look for a hostel. First, though, we went down to the city to find a post office so we could send some more postcards and the CD with our digital photos. We had transferred the pictures onto the CD to clear out the flash cards. It cost 28 reais to send a CD to Denmark. We passed by several places that had “hostel” signs, but they all looked pretty run-down, and there didn’t seem to be any other tourists around. Luckily, we had a note about a hostel, Albergue do Carmo, which offered a double room with breakfast and a safety box for 55 reais. We took a taxi there, and it turned out to be located in the historic part of Salvador, which is really charming with its old houses and narrow cobblestone streets filled with shops, restaurants, and travel agencies. After dropping our bags in the room and securing our valuables in the safety box, we set out to find Mercado Modelo, a large warehouse full of small stalls down by the harbor. We had heard that Salvador was supposed to be really cheap, but the prices weren’t quite as low as we expected. Unfortunately, I can only mention some of the things we bought since several items are gifts. I got an African mask for 20 reais, about 40-45 kroner, a football T-shirt, and four postcards for 30 reais, around 60-65 kroner. Honny bought necklaces for 3 and 5 reais. They have the most beautiful wooden items, pots, and giant figures, but they’re hard to haul back home on a plane. After shopping at the harbor, we walked back up to the city and stopped by a travel agency to see what tours were available in Salvador and the surrounding area. The girls working at the travel agency spoke good English, so we had a long chat with one of them. We even touched on the topic of “safety.” We mentioned that this morning we had walked down from the upper part of the city, where we were staying, to the lower part where the post office was. She looked at us strangely and said that in 99% of the cases where tourists walk down instead of taking the elevator, they get attacked. We were new in town, and the guidebooks on South America are pretty lacking, so we didn’t know any better. She went on to tell us that she has four friends who have died due to assaults. They had resisted, and since the attackers are often very nervous, it’s easy for them to pull the trigger. Even though there are many stories, you shouldn’t become too paranoid; otherwise, it’s impossible to enjoy the trip. The most important thing is to never walk around at night—just take a taxi. Back to something more positive... we ended up booking a boat tour around the nearby islands for Wednesday. It cost 50 reais per person, including lunch. In the evening, we were going out to see a religious Brazilian/African dance, Carambole. We had met a man who organized tours to these temples, and it was 25 reais with a student discount for me and 30 reais for Honny. 70% of the population in Salvador is Black or mixed-race and descends from slaves. When they were brought over, they were forbidden to practice their religion. However, they continued in secret, developing a faith that blends Catholicism with African gods. We were told that this wasn’t a tourist attraction. We weren’t allowed to wear black clothing, necklaces, watches, or belly bags. The temple was in a neighborhood that you shouldn’t venture into alone. We were glad to be accompanied by a German-American couple. During the ceremony, we couldn’t quite figure out how much was organized for tourists, as there were a few others besides us. At one point, the women danced outside with trays full of food. We thought it was going to be an offering, but instead, they started handing it out on small leaves. We never quite figured out what that had to do with the religion. Honny was also offered a leaf but gave it to one of the children present who looked very hungry. After the feast, the women began to go into a trance. The dance became more intense; they were sweating and jumping around with their eyes closed. It was a very different experience :) The girl at the travel agency had also recommended some good party spots, which we headed to afterward. It was getting close to 11 PM, and we hadn’t had dinner yet, so we first grabbed something to eat. We were taken to a place that looked like a shopping center, Aeroclube, but it was filled with restaurants and bars. However, it wasn’t very lively since it was a Monday. Instead, we went to a bar that was supposed to be “the place” on Mondays. It looked like a giant wooden cave with strange figures on the walls. It was a really nice spot with cheap drinks. An beer cost 2 reais, and a huge cocktail was 4 reais. We struck up a conversation with another table where they spoke good English. We ended up being the last ones to head home :)