Salvador de Bahia, Brazil is not in the top google searches for Salvador as it is beaten by Dali and Allende, which goes to show how overlooked it is.
Personally, it was one of my favourite places in Brazil and although it is a cliché it certainly does move to a different beat as it is heavily influenced by African culture.
It was the capital of Brazil for over 200 years from the mid 15th to the 17th century and the mix of cultures comes from the slave trade, as it was a sugar plantation colony.
The renaissance buildings have been well preserved, more so than the other colonial towns I visited. The people were friendly and it is beautiful. You still need to avoid the surrounding favelas though.
In our hostel, we had the TV to ourselves – a rare treat! We watched Before Sunrise, which I was really pleased about, as I’d watched Before Sunset before my trip. Both films are about relationships with all talking and very little action, my favourite kind.
In the historical centre, Steph bought a sandwich for a Brazilian lad and he gave her a ribbon bracelet from a church as a thank you.
The Church of Senhor do Bonfim is quite famous for granting miracles as I have seen it in documentaries since. The wish ribbon has three knots tied in it and is supposed to grant you three wishes once it falls off.
We got another insanely long bus journey back to Buenos Aires for Christmas and New Year.
Steph was near the back in the baño seats and next to a load of kids so that sucked for her. I had a kid next to me but he was happily playing games on his Nintendo so my journey was peaceful.
We needed our rest before finishing what we started in Buenos Aires.