"Salvador" a Salvador da Bahia Travel Page by msp_ssa

This is where I spent the majority of my time in Brazil. This city is amazing. Salvador sometimes gets a bad rap for being provincial or too small town. The Southeast and South of Brazil definitely get the lion's share of media attention and buzz, but the Northeast of Brazil, where you'll find Salvador, is in my opinion where you'll also find Brazil's heart and soul.

The people are loving and approachable. During my time there I went out with some friends to a party at a coworkers house in the Roma neighborhood. My friend who was driving wasn't very familiar with the area and we couldn't find the street we needed. My friend rolled down her window and asked the people who were next to us in a Volkswagon Minibus where the street was. To my surprise the guy in the Minibus told us to follow him and he'd take us there. I was sure he was going to take us for a ride around the city and ditch us. Sure enough he lead us directly to where we were going and beeped his horn as he drove away. That's just one of many stories of Baianos who went out of their way to help me.

Baianos also get called lazy, but I found that not to hold true. Sometimes I think people confuse knowing how to enjoy life with being lazy. The work ethic that I saw was strong. People who work six days a week for next to nothing, doing something like collecting garbage, aren't lazy.

Salvador is filled with beautiful architecture. There are old churches, forts and houses all over the city and it feels like you're walking through a museum.

From this fort in Monte Serrat you have a beautiful view of Salvador. This area is worth visiting. Ribeira is nearby and is also worth a visit.

Here's the view of Salvador from Forte Monte Serrat