Welcome to Brazil

Welcome to Brazil! One thing that I noticed right away is that Brazil is very colorful and full of music. My first stop on my Brazil adventure was Salvador da Bahia. Known for its amazing carneval in February and the colorful houses of the old town Pelourinho as well as lots of pretty beaches. I stayed in Salvador for 3 days.
But.. Salvador is also known for pickpockets and the lack of security when you walk around! At all times I had to make sure I would not use my phone on the streets and be aware of all my valuables - even the uber driver that picked me up from the airport told me this right away.
What I did not know about Salvador is that this city has more churches than days of the year, people hardly speak any english even at the airport and it is really difficult to buy SIM cards or bustickets without a cpf (tax identification number) which is apparently more important than the passport. Nevertheless, the people of Salvador despite the lack of english were just wonderful. Everyone was friendly, helpful and open - traits tourists from other parts of Brazil also mentioned. Salvador and Bahia (the region) in general has a strong african influence which you can definitely taste, see and feel.
And even though I’m not able to experience the carneval here it definitely showed me how carnaval could be. Loud, colorful and full of music. Everywhere in the streets of the old town you could hear drums playing. And thanks to our wonderful „free walking tour“ guide we were even able to experience a true Brazilian futbol game. At the match you could truly feel the energy in the air. So much that you get the feeling that the people are only there for the music and not so much for the actual match! Definitely a great experience I will never forget. Can‘t wait to see what Brazil has to offer next!Lue lisää