February 16, 2008 - Salvador, Brasil
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I woke up at 8 AM and turned out to be the sole person at the breakfast table. Sumptuous breakfast. Fresh fruits, fruit juices, bread, butter, marmelade, fried bananas, different types of cakes, bruschettas with tomato and coffee! I could not eat everything on offer. If you are a meat eater, I am sure you have other options that can fill your belly for an entire day!
It poured during the entire time I was having breakfast. Once it tapered a bit, I headed to the nearest Laundromat and gave them my clothes. They charged a flat rate of R$20 for up to 5 Kilos of load. They were to deliver my clothes in about 3 hours. They are not open Sunday, but I could always pick up my clothes on Monday.
I got back to my Hotel. Jean-Paul warned me to be careful about my camera in the Old city area as there have been reports of Camera snatchers. As the old city has way too many alleyways, it is rather difficult even for the police to chase after these folks to recover your goods!
The rain had stopped completely by the time I returned to the hotel and the sun was out. I headed out with my Camera and tripod. I reached the San Francisco Church in Pelourinho after a 20-minute walk. The church has its charm but the convent´s altar was OTT (Over the top). Gold coverings everywhere! No Photography was permitted and I did not attempt any. I had a coconut after I finished my visit and headed to the tourist office nearby where I obtained additional information and maps.
I headed back to the Laundromat at 1:30 and my clothes were ready. I took the bundle back to the hotel and rested a bit. As TIM (Brasilian Cell Phone company) does not provide free incoming calls, I recharged my Phone card.
I plan to visit a nearby Island (by taking a ferry) on Sunday. The local natural food store (that serves vegetarian food) was closed on Saturdays! I had a bruschetta and soda for lunch at a nearby cafe that had a good view of the Harbour and the sea.
It was getting quite hit and I was sweating. I traversed through the Pelourinho area and reached Praca da Se (where the bus from the airport dropped me yesterday). Although it does appear close to my Pousada, I will take a taxi from my Pousada to here before taking the shuttle bus to the airport (all this planning is when I head out of Salvador to Belo Horizonte next Tuesday!).
I took the Lacerda Elevator (Charge R$0.05) to Cidade Baixa (Lower City - Baixa is Lower and Cidade is City). I took pictures of the Church there, the Naval academy, Maritime area and aqueducts before taking the elevator back to Cidade Alta (high City!).
Once I got back to Praca da Se, I took a bus to Farol de Barra. I got off way beyond where I was supposed to. I ran into a young couple who were headed to the Farol as well. They asked me to follow them! Looking and acting dumb has its advantages! People go the extra bit to help you and guide you.
After traipsing along for about 20 minutes, we reached the Farol. I thanked the couple and headed to the Farol. If you remember your lessons from 2 days ago, you will recall that FAROL refers to a Lighthouse in Portuguese! The Hydro graphic (Oceanographic in English) museum is located within the lighthouse premises. The entry fee was R$6 and it was a decent museum. While the museum is in the lower level of the lighthouse, the upper level has a cafe and a viewing deck. I had travelled all the way from Praca da Se to visit this upper deck and hopefully take decent pictures of the sunset! The weather co-operated and I watched the sunset from the FIRST lighthouse in South America (1560s).
When I tried to get back to Praca da Se, I found that all buses were being re-routed due to some concert performance en-route. Even most drivers and conductors were clueless as to which bus will take me back to Praca da Se. I gave up after 30 minutes and hailed a taxi. It cost me R$13.
I stumbled upon a group of dancers near the church of San Francisco. It had some semblance to Carnival but it appeared to also have some religious overtones. Folks in Salvador are descended from African Slaves and despite following Catholicism also practice some native beliefs. Despite the numerous warnings I had received, I whipped out my camera and flash and took some pictures of these dancers.
I walked into a nearby cafe and announced to the helpful maitre´d that I was a vegetarian. I had white rice with green peas and pureed manioc for dinner. Manioc is a flour. I also requested and had some EXCELLENT hot sauce made from local pepper. The pepper is called MALAGUETA. No TASTELESS, ITALIAN CRAP tonight!
I walked back to my Pousada. En-route I kept popping into many music shops to inquire about some CDs that had been recommended by the NY Times as representing Bahian Music. I did not have any luck finding them tonight. I blogged on the hotel´s computer for 2 hours, chatted with my brother, wrote my diary before going to bed.
I may head out early tomorrow (by 9 AM) to take the ferry to Isla Itaparica.
The wonderful welts given to me so lovingly by the inhabitants of the Amazon have more or less disappeared!
February 17, 2008 - Salvador, Brasil
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I had a leisurely wakeup. It was pouring outside again. I helped myself to the sumptuous breakfast (yet again). As the rain continued to pour and showed no signs of abating, I blogged on the Hotel´s computer for a bit. I depart the hotel around 11 AM. The rain appears to have stopped completely. The weather forecast calls for 50% precipitation today and 20% precipitation tomorrow. I walk to Praca da Se and take the Lacerda elevator to Cidade Baixa. I head to the ferry docks and buy a 1-way ticket to Isla Itaparica (R$4). There was a departure at 11:30 AM (5 minutes later).
The boat has hardly left the Salvador quay when the sky opens up and it pours. And Pours. And Pours. The ferry to Itaparica is filled with locals and a few tourists. The rains appear to be keeping many folks away.
After a 35-minute ride, the ferry reaches Itaparica. As it is still raining, I debate about getting a return ticket and taking the ferry right back to Salvador. As I have a poncho handy, I decide to don it and walk a bit around Itaparica in the hope that the clouds will pass and the sun will Shine. (ever the optimist). I roll up my trousers to my knees, don my Poncho that covers me as well as my backpack and start walking. I head into a hotel a bit later to ask for directions to the old town. The English speaking owner is quite helpful and tells me that the old town is 20 kilometres (13 miles) away. With the weather being this bad, he does not think that today would be a good day to visit the old town.
I concur with his reasoning, thank him and head back to the Itaparica dock and purchase a ferry ticket back to Salvador. I take the 1 PM ferry back to Salvador. I take a few pictures of Itaparica from the shelter of the Ferry. On reaching Salvador, I head to Praca da se and take a bus to Barra. I get lost in trying to find a vegetarian restaurant and the locals help me find Ramma (pronounced HAMMA). It is a natural food restaurant and the price is by weight. You can fill your plate with whatever and how much ever you want and based on the weight you are charged. I have a decent lunch along with a glass of fresh Mango Juice. The price of R$15 (US$ 9) is well worth it. Ramma and the Chinese Vegetarian restaurant in Asuncion (Paraguay) both have fish cutlets at the end of their buffet counters! I guess this is to appease those folks who call themselves Vegetarian but like fish. The restaurant appears to be quite popular as it was packed.
I wait for 30 minutes for a bus back to Praca da Se. The rain has stopped completely now. I head to an Internet cafe and copy my memory cards to my portable hard disks. I head back to the hotel, shower and then blog for 2 hours before heading out to dinner at 9 PM. I find a Cafe in Carmo that is almost closing. I have an Excellent Green Pea Soup with Bruschetta followed by Brownie with coffee ice cream. Quite filling and I am happy. I head back to the hotel and blog for 2 more hours. I still have 2 weeks of blogs to catch up and get myself current.
As Brasil is famous for its coffee, I decide to try some good Brasilian coffee while I am in Salvador. Coffee is mostly grown in the State of Sao Paulo.
February 18, 2008 - Salvador, Brasil
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A leisurely wakeup and sumptuous breakfast as usual. I head out into a light drizzle. It appears to be a pattern here. Quite similar to Rio (where it rained most of the days I was there). Within 10 minutes of my heading out, the clouds opened up and I took shelter (despite my Poncho) in the nearby Carmo Church.
The rain gods finally stopped raining on my Bahian Parade and I headed to the house of the writer Jorge Amado. I spent 30 minutes here. One gets a good view of the Pelourinho from the first floor of this building. Note to Self: Read books by Brazilian writers Jorge Amado and Paul Coelho. I wanted to buy a English edition of a book by Jorge Amado but the bookstore at Amado´s house wanted to charge me US$40 when the US retail price (as printed on the book jacket) was US$14.95. I shall wait to get back to the US and get it from AMZN or BN.
I visit the tourist office and use their public Phone and my Brazilian calling card to call home (India). The line kept getting disconnected every 4 minutes. I guess this is a good way to monitor my conversation! I visited the Museo Afro-Brasilero and Archaeology and Ethnographic Museum. There is a very helpful English guide book (returnable to museum upon exit) provided. I spent around 45 minutes here. Quite a decent museum. I next headed to a highly recommended cafe for a cup of Brasilian Coffee. Quite decent coffee. I purchased a small bottle of MALAGUATE Peppers doused in Vinegar.
I headed to Praca da Se and visited the Memorial Gobernadores. Free entry. Very Opulent Halls and ceilings. The Balcony of this building has great views of Cidade Baixa. I took pictures. It was quite hot and humid. I took a bus from Praca da Se to Barra Shopping. The music CDs (by the Brazilian Artists, I was looking for) were priced at R$30 to R$40. I was looking to pay R$10! As I walk around the mall, I see a movie theatre running JUNO with English dialogues and Portuguese Subtitles. The next show appears to be at 4:15 PM. I receive a call from a friend in the US and we chat for 20 minutes. TIM (the cell Phone company) had given me R$25 credit. The incoming call uses up all this free credit. I find an office of TIM within the mall and charge my Phone for R$50 (US$28).
I get back to the movie theatre by 4 PM. It turns out that JUNO is shown only ONCE every day at NOON. The 4:15 PM show that I saw earlier was for something else. Oh, one of these days, see an English dialogue movie, I shall!
Jean Paul is a Frenchman who has lived in Bahia for over 20 years. He has been Married to Zeline for a long time now and they have 2 sons. Zeline appears ageless! I saw pictures of her with her babies from years ago and she appears the same as today.
Jean-Paul provides me with the address of the Natural food restaurant he recommends and tells me on how I could get there. I take the name of the restaurant (including the address) and head to a bus station. I finally get a bus and show the address to the conductor. There is a long discussion between the bus driver and conductor on where I should get off to reach the restaurant. After a ride of 20-minutes, I am asked to get off at what appears to be a bus terminal.
I ask around a few times for the directions to the restaurant and after a steep climb on a cobblestone street, I reach the place. They are CLOSED!
The first act of my enlightened dictatorship (it cannot be anything but enlightened) would be to educate the Portuguese speakers in the TAMIL Language and cuisine and abolish Portuguese totally. Italian cooking and any cooking that cannot cater to vegetarians (Salads are for cows and horses) are abominations. Folks following these ought to be shows the path to salvation and good vegetarian "cooking". key word - "Cooking". Not boiling stuff. Actually cooking.
One of the first step in this Salvation process would be for each individual to consume a bottle of MALAGUETA Peppers. You may think this is Hunger and Anger (from hunger) talking, but I am dead serious!
I finally take a bus to Mercado Municipal (Municipal Market) and then the Lacerda elevator to Praca da Se. Walk to Praca 15 Noviembre hoping to have rice, green peas and pureed Manioc again. The restaurant is closed on Mondays! I head back to Hotel.
I have decided that I cannot have Italian Crap for dinner. I head to the cafe from yesterday. I order the Green pea soup and Natural sandwich (lettuce, carrots, corn, wheat bread). I open my bottle of MALAGUETA peppers and pour some of the vinegar onto my Natural Sandwich. I also take out a pepper, slice it into tiny pieces and spread it over my sandwich. Simply DIVINE!
I top this off with a coffee and head back to my Hotel and blog for 2 hours. I may decide to try something new with my MALAGUETA Peppers tomorrow!
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