Mercure Salvador

... ever been to. We undressed and ran into the warm beach waters, bathing in the crystal clear waters and floating from the salt. It was so refreshing but warm and clam. Then Mark and I ate a plate of freshly fried shrimp each and we all lazed on the sand feeling like the luckiest people in the world to be there. Hopping back into the boat a couple of hours later we arrived at Itapuia. There I had a delicious ice cream while the others ate Buffet. I walked the length of the beach. It was no ...

... the tunes of the band who are playing live on top. The truck is surrounded by hundreds of marshals holding a rope protecting the procession of excited party goers wearing the same polyester T-shirt. The truck probably only moved 150 metres every half an hour so everyone in the Bloco was dancing, drinking and generally going mental. The people outside the Bloco in the grandstands and beside the road were going mental too dancing to their favourite bands as they slowly rolled ...

... dream that I knew all the orixas dances and this morning in my sleep I actually heard myself singing their songs. I did my lesson with Mestre king today and he didn~t teach us the dances - he just played the rhythms and sang their songs and I knew them... how is that! I actually knew them and danced them! It was joyous and I think he knew because he smiled and laughed and made jokes about the estrangeira ...

... but I noted that something must have gone and then come back for him - ir e voltar. Because he was so happy to see me so happy to just spend time together. I was happy to just let him have his process, whatever it is. We talked and laughed a lot and did a bit of afoxe to the passing bands outside, as the music filled my room. We listened a bit for the blocos practicing as they passed my pousada. My balcony looks out onto all the action... So cool! Then we couldnŽt resist anymore ...

... him, but they did do some self-hypnosis (or sham) trancing and moving while in gaucho costumes and smoking cigars, so I guess it qualifies to be as goofy as any other religion, except Scientology of course. They win hands down. That said, I would have got more spirtiual enlightenment from my time and my $36 if I had spent it on the local moonshine. So, with that, I am off to the conclusion of this trip in: Rio de Janiero, Brazil

... du Nordeste bresilien. Salvador de Bahia... Un nom qui a un pouvoir evoquateur aussi fort que celui de Rio de Janeiro. Salvador et sa Baia de Todos os Santos, ses couleurs chatoyantes, ses images de bahianaises en costumes traditionnels, ses eglises, ses ruelles etroites, ses batiments coloniaux colores... Et... sa MUSIQUE ! Le nom de Salvador de Bahia evoque la musique a tous les coins de rues, a tout instant de la ...

... grin on his face and perfect comic timing. Both myself and Jazzie were in tears of laughter because heŽd pause as we, and some of the shopkeepers, would laugh so much tears were coming out of our eyes, then as we stopped, heŽd breathe and return to his wrapping and singing (as I said perfect comic timing). The shop keepers loved it as my hoots of laughter drew in other customers, who spent more money. ....I was told again I had Žbem energiaŽwhich I ...

... be a support float with toilets, a bar etc and more people dancing. A bloco can stretch for easily a few hundred metres for a popular band or dj. Outside of the blocos, there is also the option of purchasing a place in a camarote which is a building that is along the route of the carnival but with a better view and cordoned off from the public - you usually get a T-shirt for a camarote too. Then there are the people who do not pay to attend the carnival called 'da ...

... the church possesses. I get back to the lower part of the city and I decide I need to buy a mirror as Amanda broke mine in Pipa. Now, a mirror may not seem like a big deal to you, but when you are as vain as I am, a mirror is as important to me as to the Queen in Snow White. I find this store with a bunch of random **** everywhere and the lady asks if she can help me. Man, I donŽt know the portuguese word for flippin mirror, ah, but I know it ...

... t really travel for ‘the sights’ so much. Mostly I want to know what it’s like to live in a place. So I go to supermarkets and cafes, just like I would anywhere, when I’m not sitting in my room typing out these messages in bottles… Brazil finally outlawed slavery in 1888, last in the Americas. Saudi Arabia finally got around to it in 1962, two years after Canada gave Native Americans the vote.