January 31, 2005
Pics
Flying high in the sky
The view
Sunset in Miami
Ipanema Beach (a cautious touristīs quick snap!)
Buzios - "the rich man's playland"
Buzios beachside
The toils of our day
Tanya getting her tan!
Buzios adventure hostel
Iticare - the best place yet - surfers at dusk
Capoeira on the beach
One of the many beautiful beaches
And two of the many beautiful Brasilian women
Jealous yet? :)
On the road to Salvador
The streets of Salvador
H & T
View from the "Nega Maluca" (crazy black woman) hostel roof
Some place round the corner! (And me making like a bird)
Local kids playing football on the church steps
January 30, 2005
Salvador!!! Festa festa festa! 27-29 Jan
Salvador! The city of party party party! This place is amazing, and we've only just scratched the surface. But there is certainly a lot of sparkle amidst the many layers that lie beneath.
First impressions aren't always correct- fortunately! Since we arrived at night in Salvador after a 9 hour bus ride, we thankfully took a taxi to our hostel which lies tucked away in one of the many tiny, grimey, windey streets in Pelhourino, the old city of Salvador. As the taxi was turning up dimly-lit alleyways and losing traction heading up these little streets, with party goers lining the sidewalks and poorer people lying in doorways and corners, we were getting a bit worried about where exactly we were heading.
But this hostel - Nega Maluca, is awesome. The daylight is much kinder to the location and we now know the short walk down and up the few blocks into the main square, which - though it can be dangerous due to the mixture of tourists and very poor people, is quite busy and generally safe. We have been advised that unlike Rio, here there is far less risk of violent robbings, only that someone may take your watch or bag as you walsk by. So the simply solution is that you take 10 reas with you (equiv AUD$5) and if they steal it - they obviously need it more than you.
There is a host of free entertainment here each day and night with drumming bands, reggae and fohhore and other music happening - many practising for carnaval and others performing for the streets - you don't need to take much money with you; only enough for food and drink.
At this hostel we are sharing with a load of really friendly fellow travellers - a bunch of Israelis, a few Londoners, 1 other Aussie we met today, a few Canadians, and an American, Irish and Swede. The hosts are fantastic, speak fluent English and are very well travelled, as shown by a lot of beautiful photos around the walls. There is also a huge communal area for meals and chilling with hammocks, music and internet so it's great to be able to sit and learn so much more from others who have travelled places we are yet to see.
Our first day here was magic - we went to our first samba class in the morning which was soooo much fun! I've also never sweated so much in my life. 2 hours in a studio which despite the cover was very hot, dancing to African-samba, Brasilian samba and reggae. Luckily big butts come in handy with this dance style so I have a bit of a natural ability to shake my "boombda"! I loved the fact that the class was a mix of travellers and locals - many of whom looked like they did this every day, others struggling to keep up, and a mix in ages with one older lady shakin her stuff in skimpy clothing and loving it. It's not a partner dance but rather a group act - people here samba along in the streets behind the big drumming bands - anyone's free to join and often you have no choice if you want to go in the same direction.
After the class, I had the most surreal experience where I somehow ended up sitting on a plastic chair on the street corner of the main square, having hair extensions put in by 4 Bahian (local Brasilian) drag queens! The boss was called "Mona Lisa" and was very sweet and attentive, moving my chair in and out of the shade as the sun turned. It took 3 "girls" working 5 hours, pulling my head in every direction, but it looks awesome! And it cost about 1/5 of what it would cost in an Australia salon. It was loads of fun, trying to communicate in very basic Portuguese, with a band playing in the cafe opposite us. One Japanese tourist even stopped to take a photo, while the taxis would slow down to drive around the corner and smile and nod. It was quite an experience! Especially amusing was the fact that Tanya was loyally hanging by as my hair was being done, and many locals assumed she was "one of the crowd" (not meaning in drag, but Bahaian) and would ask her for directions or something!
So now I have tight curls to my waist, so that from behind with my tan I could pass as a Brasilian from the southern states. It makes me feel much more feminine, but it is very heavy and feels quite different sleeping on such long hair. I was just about to cut it all off on the first night when I had a huge headache from the pulling and weight, but since then I've been loving it!
The city is packed with people here and I imagine it will only fill out more for their carnaval celebrations later in the week. It is nothing for guys to walk around the streets and places with their shirts off and the girls in tiny tight fitting clothing, all in bright colours. I guess the brevity is suited to the climate as much as anything culturally. Tanya and I just said last night that there are pieces of clothing we left at home thinking it better not to bring brief things, and yet we'd feel more comfortable wearing them here than our clothes that we have. It is great though that even though the clothes are briefer (and especially on the beach) it is not seen as an obscenity or anything by Brasilians. We feel much less threatened by guys here than in Australia in fact, and the only ones you do notice starring at the beach are the tourists.
Yesterday I had a nice quiet morning reading and then a group of us from the hostel went to some beaches about 1/2 hour away from the city. The water didn't look so clean as the more tropical looking beaches down the coast. The beach here was a lot longer and packed with locals aswell as some tourists, so most of us just lay under the umbrella all day, reading, chatting, napping, eating and looking at all the foods, beaded jewellery and things that are offered as locals walk along the beahc with large boards of things to sell. One of the specialty foods on offer is goats cheese that is cooked on a skewer in oregano or different spices and is quite nice to eat, though sort of like eating the top of a pizza all at once. My favourite was a really fatty fried churio with warm caramel sauce through the middle and on top! Yum!! Great morning food!
Lying on the beach reading, watching the day go by and eating ice cream made me feel like a child again; enjoying the simple pleasures.
Last night Tanya and I headed into down the road, caught up firstly with the drummers through the street and followed them along for a while, and then to a reggae concert that was semi-outdoors and was so good! It has been raining here on and off quite frequently, as it is the rainy season and we are towards the north, so we ended up dancing in the rain for quite some time but it keeps your temperature down and is just beautiful!
Brasilian reggae is a bit more like funk at times, and it was mixed with African-Brasilian beats and of course some samba and salsa songs in between. You don't get to dance on your own (or girls together) very often here as the guys quickly grab you to dance and are very forward compared to our cultural standards! Most also give goodbye kisses on each cheek - you just have to watch the cheeky ones who seem to stumble for your cheek! I have a tactic I discovered last night when a guy asked "how do you say... can I have.. a good night..." I said "hug? Sure." and gave him a quick hug, and when he asked "how do you say, can I have a good night kiss?" I said "nowng" (no) and after that they usually disappear to try elsewhere!
It is amazing when you dance with someone who really knows how to salsa - your skill level becomes somewhat negligible. It's no wonder when you see tiny-tots swinging away to the music as they walk down the streets. This one guy last night - I really don't know if he was far out of his teens, but spin-spin-spin and the next second - with no warning - bang! Flips me over his knee with a huge dip so my head nearly touched the ground and flicked me back up again so quickly I was still in shock when it was all over and onto another turn! I imagine the look on my face would have been very funny to capture! I was a little more prepared for the second one and I must say it is fun having the long braids that fly around, but I was wondering on the way home if I had unknowingly done damage to my back and was going to be able to get out of bed this morning! Luckily I`m fine!!!
Today was washing day and a nice quiet one. Night has now fallen and no doubt we'll be heading off to see some live music in the streets soon. I am enjoying learning more Portuguese - very gradually, and I am amazed that we even tried to navigate our way around before with no knowledge at all. It is no wonder we got lost finding the Rhodoviaria in Rio but a miracle that we made it at all! We have been really blessed in our travels, staying safe, meeting so many different people and seeing such different ways of life.
Though it is very easy to walk on by the poor in the street and focus on the fun, it is an awakening to see amidst all the hype, the poor lying in the streets and eagerly picking up aluminium cans in the rain. One thing that does stand out though is the zest for life that people seem to have here, no matter what their staus of living. In every way we are learning more each day and I am so thankful for my friends, family and opportunities back home - as well as the opportunity to travel.
Hoping you are all well. xoxoxo
Itacare to Ilheus - 26 & 27 Jan
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.
January 26, 2005
Itacarč - 24 & 25 Jan
This place is like heaven on earth! It is so beautiful and so many of you would love it. Dan, Ness, Mum, Matt in particular - youīd love the beaches. Each day the biggest decisions we have to make are which beach to go to, and what time to leave....
The water temp is so high here too, an incredible difference to Buzios. It feels like it must be 26 or something in the water. And yesterday I successfully gained some new tan lines - a little too much red though for the desired effect. I think we spent about 6 hours on the beach - reading, swimming, sleeping with a nice coconut palm breeze cooling things down. Oh so nice!
This town reminds me of a little Byron Bay but better. Itīs filled with a mix of hippie, rasta, surfers and tourists scattered in between trying to blend in somewhere. There actually arenīt that many tourists which is good too. Small streets with clothes, jewellery shops, and cafes spilling out. I just wish I could buy all the sarongs and hippie skirts and shirts and dresses for back home, but then have to remind myself that wonīt fit our "business casual" policy at work! At night cars back up and open the hatch and load out market stalls on the streets. Music invariably blares out from stereos here and there, from local reggae to Brazilian grunge. I heard some Jack Johnson the other day and just wanted to sit and stay there!
Oh, the funniest thing though, was yesterday afternoon at one beach, this vw equivalen of a polo had pulled up to one end of the beach and 3 very white and funny looking Europeans were standing outside with their esky, speedos and hairy chests with the music absolutely blarring out of the car, standing together and waving at some girls on the beach - for about an hour! They were so funny, it was like something out of a mister bean episode. Lucky we were far enough away to laugh because we just couldnīt help it. We were just hoping and praying they werenīt Aussies and giving our country a bad name!
Oh - and happy Australia Day to all of you back home! I hope you enjoyed the time off work and had a chance to wind down for just a little while.
The other night we met up with the Danish and Slovenien guys who were on our bus from Campos and ended up going to a bit of a local reggae/fohore (no idea of spelling - folk kind of music which is pretty much reggae-ish) club which was just like a big backyard party. Tanya and I embarrassingly were persuaded by two local guys to dance - local style though - those partner dancing steps, man I never learnt those at school! I donīt think our dancing skills impressed them very much though cause we were quickly handed back at the end of the song! It felt like the longest song ever!! Ahh, so funny! The only thing is that nothing starts here until 2am, and goes until morning. So if youīre tired around 10, you have to either have a nap for an hour or two or push through. I donīt know how they all get back up the next morning and work in the heat.
Last night there was another party on the beach here with a big stage set up on the sand where the tide had drifted out, for the townīs birthday celebration. Thatīs our second one in 4 days - pretty good. But we were pretty tired last night so we skipped out at about 12:30 and went to bed - only to jump up this morning at about 5am to the sound of fireworks - just before sunrise. These places never sleep! Even the little kids are out eating dinner with their families at midnight.
Speaking of food, itīs great! We had our first proper meal last night at a restaurant with the two travellers - I know the Danish guyīs name is Jacob but can never remember, yet alone repeat, the Slovenien guyīs name. They are our link between English and Portuguese at the moment! So we had this great meal - unfortunatley Iīd worked out what the fish dish was only to find they were out of that, so we had chicken and it came with rice, a beans mix, potato and salad and was so filling.
The hosts at our pousada are really nice too. Breakfast is included and this morning it was like a feast (laid out for us as soon as we walked down at 11am:) we thought weīd missed it but pretty soon there were plates of cake, toasted fresh rolls with melted cheese (beautiful with our vegemite), watermelon, papaya and bananas, this other sweet stuff (??? your guess is as good as mine!) but it tasted kind of like croissants with sugar and cinnamon, coconut and pineapple juice and fresh coffee. If only I could eat it all!
Weīre going to head back to Ilhčus today so we can get an early bus in the morning to Salvador. Would love to stay here on the beach for a few more months though. Ahhhh, this is the life....
January 24, 2005
Buzios to Itacarč
Well, the last two days were basically spent on buses - and lots of them! Well... 4 to be more precise...
We left Buzios in the morning and first caught a local "onibus" to Campos Gara fori, which was about an hourīs bus ride. (The bus conductor guy obviously thought we had a bit too much in our packs too becuase we had to pay an extra Reas for the pack to get through the turnstile!) How discriminatory! What if you were pregnant?!
Anyway, then we caught a bus to Campos which was another 3 hours north, only to find ourselves at the wrong Rhodiviaria - because the bus took us to centro (the town centre) but we needed to get to the larger rhodoviaria to find out when buses went further north. Well, with no-one speaking English, we found some really nice girls in one information centre, after the 7 of so of them all talking loudly in Portugeuse to us, trying to make us understand directions, they decided to walk us to the right bus stop and wait to put us on the bus too! They were very kind and made it a bit more fun, trying to exchange our few words of Portuguese with their few words of English.
We were lucky to make it in time for a next bus to Ilheus that would go overnight. We had wanted to travel less far, to Porto Seguro, but didnīt want to be waiting another 8 hours at night, so we jumped on this one further north when it came and that was a 15 hour bus ride, with 2 main stops to stretch our legs. The long-distance buses are really comfortable, and feel extremely safe. We had a few comedians on board from the sound of things too, playing a few jokes with the bus driver and friends.
I had a woman with a 2 year old next to me, so my lap became bed for most of the trip, which was okay. I was just wishing I could have spoken some more Portuguese or had access to the stickers and koalas in my backpack that Iīd brought for the kids at Porto Allegre.
Once we arrived in Ilheus at about 9am, Tanya and I were really lucky to have run into a brother and sister (Vitor and Simone) who were travelling here for holidays and who could speak English and have been so helpful. They persuaded us to come on yet another bus to Itacarč, which is about another hour and a half north, and is another cool beach village, way better than Ilheus apparentlly, which is a bit of a hole. Their friend also met us at the station and his dad runs a HI hostel here - they only had places left in the boys dorm but Vitore and Simone walked us to another Pousada and found good accomodation for us. They were so helpful and weīre meeting up with them again while weīre here so thatīs pretty cool. Oh - even more coincidental, two of them are studying law here.
Well we are on our way to the beach. Oh yeah - I bought a Brasilian cozzie last night! Tanya made me do it!! Donīt worry mum - itīs not the typical Brasilian style, much more modest than that! So Iīm on my way to test it out and get rid of some other tan lines!
Tchau! (goodbye)... I hope workīs not too tough for you all over there ;)
xo
January 22, 2005
Buzios
Day 2 & 3 - 21 & 22 January
On our second day Tanya & I slept in (missed our 1 good breakfast at the hotel) but thatīs okay - who needs to eat?! Especially when I still have tim-tams from the giant pack we took on the plane (thanks Joan!) so a little mid-morning we started on our adventure to get to Buzios which is about 3 hours north of Rio on a peninsula scalloped by 17 beaches! It was an old fishing town until the early 1960īs when it wasīdiscoveredīby Bridgitte Bardot. Now at night time, itīs filled with people like a little Disneyland, lined with boutiques, restaurants, fancy villas and posh pousadas. During the holiday season the population is said to explode from 8,000 to 100,000. Wow!......
The real adventure though was trying to just get from Ipanema to the Rodiviaria which is the main bus station where we were to find our bus north. Unfortunately, we had this little map from the hostel that had a picture of the bus station next to "Cais do Porto" so we were asking for the cais do porto and witnessing big discussions between the two men helping us at the bus stop as they argued in Portuguese about which bus we should catch. After two different buses and feeling slightly lost, we discovered as we asked another person pointing at the map, that the cais do porto must be some port or something which is near - but separate to - the bus stop! Anyway, a few hours later we made it. We still made the afternoon bus to Buzios and the seats were all more comfortable after carrying our packs that long!
Oh yeah - when you come to Brasil, make sure your pack is not only light but not too wide cause itīs such a laugh trying to get through the turnstiles on the bus! As Tanya said - she found herself at one point going against all good travel advice - staying at the wrong end of the bus, her money belt exposed as she tried to heist her pack over the turnstile, handing a complete stranger her carry bag to help lift things over! I kind of barged my way through but it is quite an effort!
The actual bus trip from Rio to Buzios was great too - the bus was like a coach and we had the front seats so we could keep our packs with us. I slept probably half the way and when I opened my eyes I could just see lush green hills with mist everywhere! It looked so beautiful and very different to what I expected. Then we struck a heavy downpour of rain - the drivers donīt seem to mind, they still overtake on crazy corners and floor it round bends, but we arrived in Buzios in the rain at a stop right opposite our hostel - "Buzios adventure hostel" which is appropriately named for there was no electricity due to the rain, so no hot water, lights or fan, but hey, we have hammocks, a mattress and a clean floor so itīs all good! So good in fact we decided to stay another night. I wouldnīt mind staying a week actually but we are on our way to Salvador so are due to leave here tomorrow.
We came into town here last night and the place is beautiful - it reminds me of a little Italian village. Cobblestone roads and shops spilling out everywhere, restaurants and cafes and lots of people walking around. I think this is the rich manīs holiday spot though, even though itīs not actually expensive; itīs very pretty and I guess it could be exy if you ate at certain places and stayed at more upmarket joints. (Love the Aussie slang!) Tanya made her first clothes purchase last night (I wasnīt first!!) and then came home and started ruthlessly throwing things out of her pack after carrying it for so long that day. I couldnīt stand to give up anything - actually, I donated one of my 21 (no joke!!) tops to Tanya, but Iīd rather carry the weight than give anything up just now! Iīm so bad, I know. I just wish Iīd had more time to pack but itīs okay, better than not having something I need. And today I bought some awesome cotton threaded bali style pants. I love ém, so yes I might part with one other item of clothing if I must.
Today we went to the beach which has crystal clear water, still cool - and short sandy beaches, but no waves where we were. I hear there are some good surfing beaches around here but we havenīt ventured that far as itīs really hot to be walking long distances. The food is great too - cheap and loads of variety. We had a really good hamburger for brunch, though I havenīt figured out how to say no meat yet, so that was fun - I had egg and cheese still - was meant to have salad on it but theyīd run out. But thatīs fine. It was 4 times the size of the bacon and egg rolls we have at work so Dave Kirkland would only have to eat 3 or 4!
Apart from that weīve just been chilling out, about to go back and hang in the hammock and read my book. I havenīt taken many photos yet but will post a few when I get a chance. Bye!
Rio!!
Day 1 20/01/05 - Rio
Ola!! After many plane rides and airports, we are now in Brasil! After a hairy ride from the airport by radio taxi to our hotel, we were so pleased to arrive safe and sound - with all our belongings (yes, we brought way too much!) in Ipanema...
Our first and only hotel was a little out of our normal price range but great to have a nice comfortable apartamento or room at least, with ensuite, after 32 hours of plane travel.
Our hotel was situated about 30 metres from Ipanema beach and from a huge stage that was being set up for the cityīs birthday celebration that night. First thingsīs first - we headed out for a walk along the beach, marvelling at so many people (dressed in so little clothes!) scattered along the beach, the sidewalks and the road. The water is much more beautiful than I expected - very clear and still quite cool, despite the 36 degree air temperature.
Both the women and men here are very nice looking - beautiful skin. Tanyaīs brilliant exclamation last night was that if either of us were to have a Brazilian baby, theyīd be good looking because you just donīt see any babies that arenīt cute! (I explained that in any case, if either of us had kids theyīre destined to be drop-dead gorgeous anyway! Haha.) The kids are gorgeous though. Iīm really looking forward to our volunteering in Porto Allegre.
After our jet-lagged walk along the beach we headed back for a snooze then later rocked up for the beach concert that was just awesome! Crowds of people but somehow we managed to find ourselves amongst one of the loudest groups of guys who were nice - one who spoke some English was singing the songs out extra loud for us and explaining some of the Portuguese. The first artist Danni someone was a Brazilian Dido-style rock chick singing in a white tutu and singlet, songs from REM to Madonna to Oasis and GīnīR! Really good. Then Martina Hita was the local favourite who was a bit more cabaret style but pretty groovy too - we just couldnīt sing along as loud as we had to ad-lib the Portuguese.
That was our first day in Rio after such a long time arriving. Tanya happily said that she loved the place so much, she could return home immediately and feel content with having been there, and could also move here to live! Iīm not so sure about that - I am preferring the Buzios laid-back beach atmosphere right now. But thatīs my next entry...
January 18, 2005
On our way...
Only a few hours now and I'll be "leaving ... on a jet plane..." as the song goes. So I must go and pack my bag! Next stop is Rio de Janeiro! Woo-hoo!!
