Esther's Adventure

Dear blag,

Its pouring down with rain in Rio (21st Jan Louise's Birthday), M and i check out of Ipanema Beach House and head to main road towards the beach to find a bus to the Rodoviaria (bus station pronounced `hodoviaria´). Its 28 degrees and very wet. We´re both steaming. Finally the correct bus arrives after a number of failed attempts. Getting on a bus in Brasil with a backpack is difficult, you have to fit through and a really narrow turnstile. M and I look like beetles. We are gringo beetles. The backpack scenario is exhausting. I´m glad of my minimal packing and my smaller backpack, M is struggling with her´s and she´s slowly realising that YSL wooden platform shoes were probably best left at home. She´s basically carrying around a log. I´m very glad that I posted a box of sundries back home to ma and pa, including my perfume (which I now regret). So we´re on the bus going to not really sure where...I attempt in Portuguese to ask the bus conductor lady to tell us when we get to the Rodoviaria. She looks at me blankly. Rio is massive and it´s seven o´clock ish and getting dark. We´ve been told not to get on buses after dark. We both slightly on edge. M´s blond six footedness is a constant source of male interest, but as she points out she can look quite scary sometimes too. All of a sudden we seem to turn into a favela! Yikes! But then soon after we get to a very busy and very confusing Rodoviaria. All safe and sound and in plenty of time. We only realise this when we get to Trancoso much much later (18 hours) and are told that the clocks went back two days before (we´ve been on wrong time for three days!) Luckily the clocks didn´t go forward, we´d have missed the bus. So 18 hours on a bus full of Israelis and a smelly back loo. Mental note: sit at front of bus where ever possible. We set off and then stop again after about 30 mins. We wonder what ´àre we nearly there yet?´ is in Portuguese. We´ve both got our beer belly money belts on, not very comfy. Thanks to wonderful Claudine for providing Valium from Thailand. M and I take half each at about 10 pm (actually 9!)...We put on out BA eyemasks and crash out properly. During the night we are aware of bus stops and lots of very noisy people getting on and off the bus but we don´t really care...bliss! We tell our fellow travellers about the benefits of bus rides with Valium, but M keeps mistakenly refering to the Valium as Viagra. This also may explain why we get off the bus with swollen ankels?!

I wake slightly groggy but feeling generally ok after sleeping for about 14 hours! Quick brush of teeth and we meet Helena, a single girl from Amsterdam travelling on her own. She has a very cool American Apparel purple sweater (jealous!) and a diamond stuck on her tooth. It glints when she smiles. She tells us we really don´t want to be going to Porto Seguro or Arrial...its all Trance parties. Why don´t we follow her to Trancoso? So we do! Trancoso is like Ibiza Benirras beach on acid or Kho Phangan. Full of hippies from all over. So many cool tattoos! Its set round an idillic village square where you can sit and watch football ot eat or drink...its very quaint and M and I love it. Helena helps us finding a pousada on the square...white fluffy towels and our own room! We meet some guys whom Helena knows from before, we slowly realise that this place could slightly be like the Gambia and that H could be slightly like Shirley Valentine. But Ron (pronounced Hon) and black Max (forgotten his name but does look like little max but black!) are very sweet and sort out a few things for us whilst in Trancoso. Show us the ropes. Including Acai completo which is now my new favorite food.

The beach is beautiful and we can´t get enough of it. M is still on at me about the hither to unseen blog...I promise her I´ll start it soon. Its idyllic and very chilled and potentially dangerous. I mean in the sense that although there aren´t trance parties every night there still seems to be a ridiculous schedule of parties to choose from including on the eve of the 23rd, dj Bushwacka playing??! We have dinner at a kilo restaurant. Here you help yourself to a buffet and then weigh your plate. We sneak back to the pousada for a disco nap, before waking up at midnight...donning naughty outfits. Whilst in Rio, I mentioned our shopping before...M has purchased a blue all in one playsuit (shorts and boob tube joined in the middle) This is now affectionately known as the naughty Brazilian playsuit because of the antics it breeds. Last seen at funk party under the golden arches of Lapa in Rio. I have a naughty dress which comes out to play. We meet Helena (H) at the mobile cart bar just off the square. Caipirinha´s and passion fruit things. We also spy a hobo horse and her foal searching for coconuts in a dumpster (the animals here just sort of live with humans and go about as they please), and we meet the Aussies: Olly, Miro and Duncan and Jess who´s English. Bushwacka rocks and we party until dawn´s crack which we head down to the beach for sunrise. I get bitten to buggery by sand fleas and end up wearing all the African kickoys (cotton throws) at once and look like a sheik. M meets wonderful Bernardo (Dr Bernardo) at the party. The next day once we surface and head back to the beach we´re walking along minding our own business when we see someone, Bernardo bounding, almost breaking his legs, over to say hello. This man has an undentable ego and can´t believe that we were trying to ignore him...´are you shy???`is his question. M and i giggle at him, but he´s actually very sweet and makes a nice fuss of us.

I like the Aussies instantly as does M. They´re all from Sydney and are very chilled rather cute and all in their early 20´s. God we´re old! The weather starts being rather cloudy and overcast so perfect weather for starting my blog...which I do even when the Internet is crap in cloudy / rainy weather. The Aussies are really roughing it and staying in hammocks above the bar at their pousada. Apparently its fine except for the trance music which plays all night?! What is it with trance here? Still thinking about minimal techno and the Colombian from London. In fact I´m really missing London and my mates and my family already. I have the flat situation also loomimg in the background which is stressing me out. Can´t really be bothered to mention in here but suffice to say: bollocks why did i think they were a cool couple? I decide again that I´m a terrible judge of character.

M´s tummy proves that there´s not much else to think about in paradise, but the beach and what to eat next. M is convinced she was a t-rex in a previous life so Thursday night I´m dragged out to find Argentine steak. Which luckily we find in Trancoso. 50 real later (same price as our accommodation!) we´re stuffed full of delicious steak and freshly cut french fries. Almost as good if not better than Huis Istas in Brussels. I point out I´m on holiday with a tummy! Bernardo joins us at the restaurant (there´s no denting this ego!) Not really sure at what point this happens but H starts behaving rather weirdly with us. She is now officially a bit of a stalker who follows us to Salvador and keeps popping up. She´s had a thing with this guy Ron and now its obviously not going right. I´ll never know that whole story, but she´s definitely got her back up about something.

My tan is coming on beautifully until I forget to put sun lotion onto my chest (hung over!)...I have lobster chest and am very cross with myself, plus M points out how dangerous it is...anyway I end up wearing my tshirt backwards so it covers it up. After the morning of the sand fleas I now have attractive spotty bite legs, gross. I look like I have the plague (which I note still occurs in South America according to lonely planet?!). I have also bought myself a new pair or shades actually in Rio. I love them but over the last week the heat and sweat on my face is melting the painted (aka cheap) frames. Rubbish! They´re going straight back to the shop in Rio when we get back.

The last night in Trancoso is a Trance party (Bernardo tells us it´s going to be the best one evah) on the beach. It really isn´t, but we do meet up with some English and Swiss guys. One of them is the cousin of Caroline one of M´s good mates from London. Firstly they stand us up, but then show up at the Trance party, we forgive them. Well M does. We also say bye to Olly and Jess, hoping to meet them later in Salvador for carnival.

It´s Monday and definitely time to leave Trancoso. We leave on a bus trying to escape H, which we think we do until she also shows up at the Rodoviario in Porto Seguro, but luckily not on the same bus to Salvador. We also meet Felix the German whom we last saw in Rio at funk party in Lapa. Small world, small gringo world. M sits next to Felix for the journey so I sit next to singing Brazilian woman. Ipod drowns out most of it, and we have front row seats. So this time without the help of Viagra, I sleep most of the way in ipod shuffle world. We arrive in Salvador at 6.30 in the morning. We´ve secured a hostel in Barra (which is a district by the beach). Salvador is a bit scary?!

Points of interest:

MOG - dogs which look like mice ie big mouse ears.
Acai - acai berries frozenish pulp (supafood!) banana, granola and some honey mmmm
brazillianplaysuits.com - our new business idea.
Are you shy??! - what all Brasillian men think.
Pousada - hostel or inn, B and b etc.
I have finger nails!
Want a new tattoo...

Bye for now...xxxxx