For our summer vacation, we decided to spend a week in Salvador, Bahia. This would be our first big trip in Brazil outside of the Federal District. We were fairly excited about making this trip and getting to play on the beach, but we received conflicting reports on Salvador. Nearly everyone commented on how beautiful and historic this city is, but it also has a problem with crime. They were especially worried when they found out that we were going to drive there.
Despite all the warnings of the terrible road conditions on Brazilian highways, especially during the rainy season, and having to share the roads with large trucks, and the lack of services on route, we chose to drive our minivan. For one thing, airplane tickets for eight were too expensive, and then we wouldn't get to see the country.
In preparation for the drive, we purchased a Brazilian travel guide called Guia Quatro Rodas. This book lists all the major cities and tourist towns with hotels, tourist sites and restaurant information, and it included a highway map. One of the most striking things about the map was the large amounts of empty space in Brazil. Between the suggestions in the book and on their website we choose to go a northern route through Bahia on the way to Salvador, and return by a southern route through Minas Gerais. Both are very large states.
The drive turned out be absolutely beautiful and lush with green plants. Road conditions were good to very good for most of the drive. They seem to have been repaved sometime during the last three years.
We left Brasilia early on Saturday morning and were able to catch sun rising over a misty valley below the dam of Lake Paranoa. As we drove through the north part of Goias state and into Bahia, the scenery of vast stretches of farmland with grass and tree covered hills dominated the view. We managed to take a few photos along the way from the car. The grass along side the road very tall, up to six feet at times, and it was sometimes difficult to see the fields beyond. Farms at this time of the year were mostly planted with soybeans and corn, and we saw a few banana plantations and managed eucalyptus forests as well.
Our destination for the first day of driving was to Seabra, Bahia, where I had made reservations at a pousada. The most difficult part about making hotel reservations at the family run hotels here is arranging for the 50% deposit. Bank transfer is the main way that people pay bills here, and this is the only reason that I maintain a local bank account.
Along the way, we passed through several small towns, some with very large gas stations and maybe a hotel or two. Along the highway, there are people with food stands and small diners or bars in addition to tire repair shops.
One of the funniest things we saw were signs in the restrooms at the truck stops giving instructions on how to use a toilet. There were variations on these signs, but they all pretty much ask that one not use the floor or the sink, and to be sure to throw trash in the garbage pail. At one of the gas stations we stopped at, I did see a young man urinating in the shower drain, so there does seem to be a need for instructions. There also seem to be a need for literacy.
We arrived at the Pousada Seabra around 5:30PM. It was about a 13 hour drive from Brasilia, and we managed to get there before the sun set. We also gained an hour when we entered Bahia. Seabra is a crossroads town called the gateway to the Diamontina National Park. It is probably the largest town on this stretch of highway, and there are several hotels. We found this one through its website, which is no longer functioning. It also happened to be the bus stop and ticket counter for several cross country bus lines. The restaurant here is self-serve traditional Brazilian food and quite tasty. The rooms could accommodate anywhere from 2 to 16 people.
When we had reserved our room, we had requested two adjoining rooms on the ground level. When we got there, they had one room saved for us on the ground level, and the other on the third floor. We told them that that would not work for us, so we go moved to two rooms that were near each other on the third floor.
One of the reasons we picked this hotel was because it had a parking area. With the cars of all the other guests, it was a little difficult to maneuver our van in, but we managed. I think I only crush one curb and a planter in the process. I also ended up parked next to the building with the wash rooms behind the kitchen used by the bus travelers. At night, the gate to the parking area was closed and locked, and there were other cars double parked in the aisle.
This was our first experience staying in an inn that middle class Brazilians would stay in. Our only other Brazilian hotel experience was at a four-star hotel paid for by United Airlines when we had to stay the night in Sao Paulo. The Pousada Seabra definitely lowered our expectations on what hotels in Brazil were like.
The first thing to remember about the hotels is to ask if sheets and towels were provided. Pousada Seabra did provide a top sheet, blanket and pillow for each bed. What was surprising is that not every bed had a mattress. In each of the two rooms, the queen-size beds had a pillow-top mattress cover stretched over a plywood box. We chose to use those beds for suitcases.
After the long drive, it was nice to just sit down and play some games. This lasted until we were too tired and annoyed with each other to do more. It was also about the time the music from the bars next door was shut off. None of us showered because didn't feel like cleaning the mold off the showerhead.
Our last surprise occurred during the night. We got a heavy rain shower and learned that the disadvantage of being on the top floor was being near the roof. It was noisy, but it also leaked. Fortunately, none of our stuff got very wet since it was on the plywood box beds. It was enough rain to leave significant puddles on the floors.
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