After somewhat reluctantly leaving Itacare, the most beautiful beaches I`ve seen anywhere, and awesome relaxed atmosphere, we bussed it back to Ilheus - which is meant to be a cruisy 1 and a half hour bus ride, but man - there are obviously NO passenger restrictions or safety standards over here! I have never been so crammed in one vehicle! There were up to 3 people on each 2 person seat, and people crammed 3 sideways through the narrow aisle down the middle. Strangers sitting on laps and squeezed together! Quite an amusement...
We finally made it though, and it was a relief to get off the bus and breathe some fresh air! Most people had told us not to bother with Ilheus because there`s not much there to see, but we were glad we dropped by for the night.
We suprised ourselves at navigating on our very sparse portuguese (with the help of the lonely planet phrasebook) to the city centre and finding a very basic but comfortable pousada to stay at nearby, where the host did not speak a word of English, but not to worry.
Onto a walk through the streets to find some dinner and we managed to stumble upon the huge 16th century church by the beach which was quite lovely to walk through just before closing time. It was not as ornate as I expected, did not look as old as some European churches, but there was still a nice aura about it. Close by there were fun park rides set up on the beach right beside the main road which reminded me a lot of the beach scenes in Baz`s Romeo + Juliet.
After a brief walk around, exchanging a few phrases with the dreaded guy trying to sell us beads he`d made, and tanya buying some suss but very traditional looking food off the street (while I settled for a coke, ruffles and ice cream :) it was nice to have a quiet night sitting by the open window watching the cariocas on the street - for once a bit of a role reversal. Oh - and watching some very entertaining Brasilian soaps on tv and commentating the dialogue!
All in all, Ilheus is worth a quick stop if you`re tripping between Salvador and Rio, but Itacare is a much nicer spot to stay.