New Year 2010-2011

Happy New Year!

Last night we were on the phone to Andy and he reminded me that in my last post (2nd to last) I mention that I will keep posting. Months have rolled by and there has been one update and it was brief.

So here is whats been going on since then.

After Redemption; World Tour

We arrived in Rio with had a week or so before our “After Redemption World Tour*” was to commence. Our plan was to fly to Sao Paulo for a few days, then up to Honduras for 8 days diving, then off to London, for near 4 weeks on the continent, and finally back through Singapore Malaysia to New Zealand. It was all booked and paid for.

* The “After Redemption World Tour” didn’t have that title then, I just now made that up

The last few months of our ride through Brazil had seen WL putting together CVs and Cover Letters for jobs in Melbourne. At some point we had decided that if we ever reached Rio we would quite like to live and work in Melbourne for a time. Arriving in Rio coincided with the Melbourne Hospitals contacting those applicants that would then be interviewed. This was one of the things we had been working and waiting for (the other being our finishing 14months of cycling).

Fortune smiled on the enormous amount of hard work that WL put into getting a job while riding along the highways and byways of the Brazilian North-East. She was emailed to say she would be interviewed by 1 hospital and others were not far behind. The plan was to have phone interviews. The plan was hastily reviewed when that first hospital said they wouldn’t do a phone interview.

The new plan, hashed out over-night in Rio with conference calls to NZ, was to abandon 8 days diving on a Caribbean Island off Honduras in order to more fully support the dream of working in Melbourne. Tickets were canceled, new tickets were purchased, friends were called, dive companies in beautiful Caribbean islands were let down gently.

So it was that we flew to Melbourne  after a wonderful week in Rio. At least it was wonderful for me, WLs week while wonderful also involved allot a crash revision course on how is needed to know to be employable.

Melbourne was decidedly cold after warm Rio de Janeiro. We got colds, maybe from the crowded plane, maybe from cold Mebourne. WL got a few extra interviews and around 12hours after touching down in cold Melbourne WL stumbled into the interview room. She emerged traumatised and thankful that the next interview was a few days away. That first interview was a shambles.

They got better. Results would have to wait till the interview season was over. Our plans interrupted as they were required only a flight to London to continue. After 8 days in Melbourne we were back on a plane flying now for London.

Europe In Around 4 Weeks

We were greeted at Heathrow my Hin and Colin. Arriving in a new place is good; arriving to be greeted by family is great.

I really liked London which would indicate that I am not yet tired of life. Our first full day there we left London to seek out Stone Henge wedged between to highways. On our way to Bath, Hin’s trusty GPS navigated us to the White Horse of Westbury then on over to Bath. Since Oxford was just off the motorway back we arrived in time to miss going inside the famous old churches and things. There was a nice vege restaurant there though called the Pink Elephant.

The very next day was Nottinghill Carnival which was fun and for many others very boozy.

The next days were in London going to amazing museums, walking in famous parks, seeking out vege restaurants, and a series of excursions to nearby places. We went punting in Cambridge, just missed the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle, and went to a West End Musical. We caught up with friends and recovered from the cold from cold Melbourn

Then it was on-board a train to catch a ferry to Ireland. We arrived in the afternoon and got dropped off outside a cafe in downtown Dublin. Anne found us there and we were soon heading out of Dublin towards Wicklow. Domnhal arrived home not long after we and so began a couple of days in Ireland though mostly stretched between Wicklow, the Wicklow Hills, and Dublin.

A morning later we were crammed in the car with our stuff to make a mid afternoon sailing from Rosslare (southern point of Ireland) aboard a big sleep-aboard ferry heading for France. We arrived early the next morning in Cherbourg and while French is like Spanish a Romance Language we understood naught but a little of what was said. The exception being when the French rather generously spoke english, which was rather often. Anyhow, Domnhal parle français. We celebrated with Crepes.

That night had us camped near Mont St Michel, a monastery which is also the most spectacular of castles. We visited the next morning before relocating to a forest south of Paris where we stayed the night. The next day we made it to a campground in Geishouse high in the hills with a view up to Le Gran Ballon. The next day we were further north, still in the Vosges, at Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg. A once functional castle it has marvelous views out over the Alsace with its wine all on vines.

Colmar for dinner and to see the smaller Statue of Liberty built in Bartholdi’s home town.

We cut the corner of Ssitzerland and Austria on our way to Barvaria. Our destination was Neuschwanstein, another castle and one which supposedly inspired Walt-Disney. It also inspired the people of Barvaria to depose their mad king for building it. Never a defensive structure it is a castle made to match the fantastic imagry of Wagners Operas. It is wonderful.

Also wonderful was a to spend those 2 weeks on a camping road-trip with friends.

Once we had a taste of Bavaria, well at least the vege parts, we headed back to the Alsace for more wine on vines and golden light pouring over charming old villages with winding cobbled streets over arched by colored and quaint old buildings. We also resumed our diet of baguettes and cheese.

With logistics determining our next step we returned to Paris. A whirlwind nighttime tour took us past all the sights and had us home to our campsight before dawn. The next morning we said our farewells and took the train back into Paris. The whole morning was spent finding somewhere to leave our luggage. We eventually found a place and return to the streets for one day in Paris minus the morning. There was very obviously more to do in Paris than an afternoon afoot could accommodate.

We arrived back in London the next morning having traveled throughout the night aboard a bus that went aboard a train to go beneath the channel to England. With a couple of days before we flew to Singapore we were lucky enough to join the London Skyride. An annual event that closes many central London roads so that cyclists in costume in some cases can ride a 14km loop along the Themes and through the central city. More than 85,000! cyclists and us on our Barclays Cycle Hire Bikes riding for 25min then finding a docking station, waiting a 5min cool down then riding on for another 25. It was great fun.

Here are some links:

Journeys Under 30min Are Free

The Skyride click on the video link to the right… awesome

We also managed to catch-up with a few more friends and see the Tower of London. Now for a plane ride to Singapore.

Singapore and Malaysia

Having watched very few films in the last year the opportunity afforded by all the flights to watch films was not to be passed up. Rather than worry about jet-lag and sleep we watched as many films as we could. Divide 18 hours by 3 and you get… 6. Typically I would manage 4 maybe 5 and WL would be one less. I found it harder to sleep and so watched an extra one.

We have many Uncles and Aunts in Malaysia and were lucky enough to visit with most of them. Uncle Kenny picked us up at the airport and after a breakfast dropped us off on the bus too Melaka in Malaysia. We were picked up by Mum and Dad and spent a few days finding all the new vege restaurants in Melaka, trying the old favourites, and catching up with cousins.

We caught a bus to KL to go to the bookshop and a chance to hang out with Elaine and Drupa. we all drove back down the next day for a look around Melaka and then we were back on a bus for Singapore.

An evening catching up with uncles was topped with a dinner and then early the next morning we were flying back home. The end…

….well the end of the After Redemption World Tour.

Round Taupo

I am cycling around Taupo tomorrow. Its a change of pace and a few months since we were last riding intensively.

Here is the link.
http://www.cyclechallenge.com/

Cycling New Horizons

We made it to Melbourne!

That was a week ago. We have been hard at work working on our next adventure. I will talk about that in another post sometime. I will keep posting for awhile on this blog I think. At least until we make it back to New Zealand for good (well until the next adventure)!

So this is about some more cycling. We are staying with our friends Peter, Renee, Sophia, and Jobe. Peter is a mad keen cyclist of the ride roads fast sub-species. Over the weekend he and I managed to go out for 2 rides on road bikes and the photos below show us at the top of Mt Dandenong which was the high point of the ride.

Panorama of Bikes

I can not beleive how fast a road bike can go! Still a hill is a hill and I was crawling up the wall en-route to the top of the mountain. It was also alot more fun than I expected! We have good cycling legs now it turns out.

Uri

The view from the top

The Other Bikes

The bikes and Christian

Rises

Peter

Panorama of Bikes

Mt D

Me, Peter, Christian, Uri

I liked this sign but the time it took to take was enough for the pack to vanish around a corner.

Christian

Arrival to the carpark

Redemption

Redemption

Redemption, we made it! We loaded with breakfast and rode to redemption. We went with a friend who is also a cycle-tourist, recently back from China/Nepal/India. I think it is very good to have a guide on way to redemption, especially the last part, which is difficult. The hardest thing of this last day, which we have known for a week already, is that once we reach redemption, that is the end.

Redemption is like liberty, it is a kind of freedom. “Liberty” is the freedom to be free. “Redemption”, the freedom of the end. For us it is the end of the journey.

So, now that we are free we notice that nothing has stopped. Only that we no longer travel towards “Redemption”.

Cristo de Redemptor

As you can see it was a misty day. Our destination was an island inside a cloud, just us and Christ, and the other ascended tourists. In this way there was a connection to Lady Liberty who also chose to met under a grey sky, with wind, with rain.

There is another connection between the Lady and Christ. Both are enormous French gifts, given around the same time to the respective nations. I did not know this till yesterday, when Johki told me.

There now, here we are.

Johki and Me

Wei Ling and Christ

We all arrive in Rio

Our Arrival In Rio

Together to Redemption

RIO

We made it!

Happy Fathers Day Brazil and Happy Brazilian Fathers Day Dad!

A beautiful day that started crisp and cold and cold. We kept a 21km average all the way to Rio. Just a few stops, one at a fancy German Kiosk place with good but expensive drinks. We got our first view of Christ as the road came down to the habour. Lots of homemade kites flying today.

As the bridge is not ridable by cyclists we headed for the Niteroi Ferry. It was a short habour cruise that we spent taking pictures, lots of pictures. We continued with the pictures as we swept along an empty motorway. They close the whole road on sundays and holidays. Today was both.

We are almost finished, the final destination, our redemption, waits on the hill above our hostel.

1000km to Rio

After a year on the road we were still not in Rio, we were 1000km from it.

At the time of this writing it is 4pm and the sun is slanting down through the long row of apartment buildings that line the beach that stretches south from Vila Velha. We are going for a swim in one of the sunny patches of beach, already the shadows of the buildings stretch out over the water.

This is our first day off the bikes in almost 2 weeks. Some days were long and others short. We have travelled through forests and hills.

The south of Bahia has generally poor road, though some parts are reasonable. It is tiring to always be looking over your shoulder. An oncoming truck is no pleasant surprise. When we crossed to Espirto Santo the road immediately improved and the police officer we talked with on the boarder as we sucked down a litre of packet mix juice and demolished a pack of biscuits, well the officer told us the road to rio would now be flatter than in Bahia and that the shoulder goes all the way down. Strange thing is I believed him and so far he has been right.

In the south of Bahia we stayed in some town called Itabela. That morning it was misty rainy and all these giant snails were escaping the sodden verge for the uncertain safety of the road. The shoulder vanished for good, first under a thick cover of sugar cane, then just gone, no shoulder!

Our last night in Bahia we stayed a night on the edge of the city of Teixeira de Freitas. It was a generally pleasant room with Air-con and an army of mosquitoes. When we started this trip I would let a mosquito take its fill and wish it a good and pleasant day. Now, we sealed the room, “chalked the gaps” (thats a nautical expression I think…), and commenced to hunt them to extinction! Huzzah! No Quarter!

Espirto Santo is beautiful. It has clear cool skies of blue, roads of good seal with generous shoulders, the hotels are modern and expensive, and pousadas are boutique affairs. The hills lack incline but offering changing vistas of bare rock slopes and terraced forest.

We met a Brazilian Cycle-tourist  in Pedro Canario. We were checking the pousadas, looking for the best mix of price and comfort, he was sussing out an unused forecourt to the side of a hotel. His bike was rough looking, he did not have german pannier systems, he may not have had any systems at all. He was very friendly and relaxed, he had left Rio and toured round the south a bit and was now going north. We didn´t speak for long but it left an impression.

We had a very nice pousada in Sao Mateus by the name of Ipiranga that had everything we needed. Those things are:

• a balcony to cook on, play guitar on, and too watch people from
• a small table to eat off, cut on, set the laptop on to watch “House”
• a TV that we never use and don´t need
• a good price, 40R for the both of us
• 2 coat racks on the walls
• a petrol station of the same name right outside, if we needed gas
• a supermarket, a nice one too, just round the corner
• internete (its pronounced in-ter-neh-chi) very fast as well!
• breakfast, and not a bad one neither, a buffet

I was able to call my sister and wish her a happy birthday, it was still her birthday in Brazil.

We passed through two reserves on  our way to Linhares. We saw signs for animals but saw no animals but the common lizard. Well I have been seeing his cousins since Venezuela when he supplanted the common lizard of Central America and Columbia, which by that stage had acquired two colours a bright front and slightly less garish rear end. The new common lizard is brown and prone to obesity.

Linhares was pricey, 10R more for a smaller room, abet containing a table, chairs and coffee table, in addition to the bed. We set up the portable cooker on the window sill while video conferencing with Wei Lings brother in London. Hotel rooms in Brazil do not have fire alarms and the folk waiting for the bus across the street either didn’t see the flames or were not overly concerned.

Shaved off my Mo.

Out from Linhares it was genuinely flat for the first few hours. Our 1^st hour we held a 21av! The 2^nd around 20 and in the 4^th and final we were somewhere in the 19s. After that first hour the hills began but a good road and allot of momentum kept us flying along. We got a puncture by a railway among steep sided hills. It was beautiful country between Linhares and Vitória.

A nice morning ride down from Fundáo through the rocky hills to Serra. Serra is the outer limit of Greater Vitória. It was simple enough getting in, often big cities can be trouble, however as the capital of a state with good roads they have not neglected the roads and cycle-paths leading into Vitória. There was one nice section where they made a cycle lane wind down the parkway between the two directions of traffic. It was 4 lanes each way with shoulder and us gliding down the centre between palms and shade trees.

Closer to centro we followed a local guy on a bike who wove in and out finding all the best bike friendly bits. He took as all the way to 3° Ponte (Third Bridge).

3° Ponte is a steep sweeping curve over from Vitória to Vila Velha (another part of the Greater Vitória). We were unable to ride over and having concluded that conversation a man pulled up in a pick-up (or ute if you prefer) and gave us a lift over the bridge, down the beach a ways, to the dining table of his apartment. We ate lunch with him and his wife while his three boys, the daughters on the way, ate lunch in front of the TV. Lunch in front of the TV is a Sunday treat. For us it was a Sunday treat to share a meal with their family.

After a long and social lunch we headed out to find a pousada and 12.5km later we ended up just down the road from their apartment.

A Day in Vila Velha

We slept in, that was nice, better than nice. The breakfast was a bit disappointing, being too small, however the bread was very good. Bread in Portuguese is Pão, there is another word Pao, which is one of those words that if you say it by mistake you will feel quite embarrassed. To avoid such embarrassment it is important to pronounce the “ã” (the swiggle is a tilde). A tilde in Portuguese indicates a nasal sound.  So remember when asking for more bread to say Pão, rather than Pao.

We caught the bus. That is another phrase you need to know how to say, however in this case in Español. If you literally translate it, we did something rather naughty to the bus and quite ridiculous. You take buses in Spanish.

We arrived at the convent having climbed a very steep and shaded path of rough stone. It is called the “stairs of perdition” or something like that. O Convento da Penha stands out white atop a forested hill of green. It has spectacular views out over Vila Velha the on the other side of the river over Vitória. The things I liked most was the stone of the hill, hidden under the forested sides and open on the top where it meets the white of the convent. I also liked the cool breeze that blows over the Convent which was perfectly indescribable, however if I had to try I have said cool and would add fresh. The last thing was seeing a submarine pass below.

We found they vegetarian restaurant to be a short walk from the base of the hill. After a delicious meal we hit a super and then walked some distance to find a bus to take us the rest of the way.

The first 12km of Vila Velha’s beach are fronted by apartments, they begin so dense that the beach sits in shade through the afternoon and thin out till they are like fence posts and the last rays of sun filter through the gaps. We were down about half way where the apartments are generally one row deep. We are back from our swim now and the sun has dropped behind the hills that rise behind the city as the apartments rise behind the beach.

2 Days of 100 and then 1 Day of Waiting

After we left Vila Velha we made two good days of 100km each. Today we are in Campos Dos Goytacazes and spent the day waiting to get our visa exteneded. All done.

We just passed 17,000km and on Sunday (Monday in NZ) we will be in Rio!

Bahia: the future

Part 3

The Italics are Wei Ling.

Leaving Salvador.

Our journey to Rio began today and already at the end of it I feel a long way from Salvador. I can see Salvador from where I am though, so I know exactly how far from Salvador I am.

We have wound up at Pousada Sambolé and our luck is running strong that we found our way here. It is way too nice for us, it´s gorgeous. Pousada often means cheap accommodation, a budget hotel kind of place, it can as well mean a boutique collection of rooms on a private section. That´s where we are now, in a character room that looks across a good space of grass and coconut trees to the beach, over the surf and over the waves of the Baía de Todos Os Santos is Salvador. With binoculars we would be able to see our hotel in Barra (a suburb of Salvador).

Our distance for the day is perhaps 20 to 30km, they included a ride through the streets of Salvador, which went quite well, a quick visit of Mercado Modelo (a craft and touristy knick-knack market of some size), a boat trip that threaded through the anchored cargo freighters of the bay, and a nice ride on the nice road that runs the length of Ilha de Itaparica. People are friendly and the weather, it didn´t rain on us, though it did rain on the hotel earlier today…

ACANNE are having their event on the island today as well. They arrived here around 9am, we got here around 2. We heard some loud drumming and berimbau as we cycled up out of Mar Grande, where the ferry disembarks. I think it was them.

It be da nexkt da’

It be the evening of the next day in truth. Today was more than twice yesterday but that´s just a round about way of saying we did bout’ 50km. Wei Ling asked if I wrote that the sun was shining and that that was the universe´s way of having a joke. I said I would.

It´s true too, it rained all day and stopped when we did.

We didn’t leave till late on account the weather bearing straight off the water and right to our room. It came like the waves with a rhythm pounded out on the tile roof. We didn’t wake till near seven neither on account of the bed so compfy. So, when I pushed past the door into the wind, tached past the window, held strong across the porch, then abandoning the reach to run straight down to the breakfast table, I was delighted by spread and a might embarrassed.

The evening before we had been long in talking with Nicole and her family, part of the conversation had been to organise breakfast for 6. The squall that swept me to the breakfast table was at 6 somewhere out over the bay of all saints, that being my translation of Baía de Todos Os Santos. It had most likely crossed the beach as I checked the time, it was then 6.42 and at 6.43 It caught me as I opened the door.

So it was that I was a might embarrassed, we had laid plans with our Swiss hostess and then were not punctual about meeting them. Luckily, Nicole is lovely, forgiving, and a 9 year veteran of the Brazilian war on punctuality.

Her parents were visiting from Switzerland and as we were the only guests the night before our time at the pousada was more like a homestay. Have I mentioned how nice the rooms were.

Well we then went to..

After pousada de Nicole we rode a rainy day to the charming little town of Nazare. There is no shortage of charming little towns in and along the coast south of Salvador. They are all non-uniformly cobbled with charming old blocky buildings and irregular streets.  Often there are beautiful old churches with broad steps leading steeply up to the arched door. Broad yet narrow steps just begging for you struggle up them on your knees, perhaps during some scared celebration or at the end of some long pilgrimage. I wish I had seen something of the like, but I only read about it in my guidebook.

The next day was to Ituberá which had a nice waterfall, then on to Ubaitaba which had a wealth of pousadas, and then to Buerarema which was a small town.

Hills and Overheard Conversation

Bits of conversation are often overheard, the ear catches some words easier than others, the word bicicleta is an example of a word often heard, what else was said, I have no idea.

Here is another from Ubaitaba: I was waiting with the bikes and WL had just headed up to scout out the pousada. 3 kids of mixed age and height walked past and hearing us speak were discussing our talking.

One say to another “fala ingles… “ the dots are the bits I didn´t pickup.

So I says “ Sim, ingles”, which got their attention, so I followed with, “Fala Ingles?”

The tallest one caught in the headlights of my question uttered “Nao”.

So I says “Fala Portuguese”

The tall one still reeling from the first question uttered “Nao”.

His uptake was a jab in the ribs slower than his companions, gathering his wits he managed “eu falo Portuguese” as his friends laughed. It was mighty funny that was.

That was the end of the day, 15km earlier we had been atop a hill at a pousada and restaurant combo place. They wanted 100R for a room and 70R without Café da Mananha, Ridiculous!

That hill was notable for its outrageous pousada but it was keeping company with a great many other hills that we had climbed over the day. Atop that hill our average was somewhere down in the 13s, that’s slow, 15km later we had brought it up into the mid 14s, that’s still slow.

The hills began when we turned at the cobble streeted town of Cumara and headed inland to meet the BR-101. It is a 44km stretch of forested hills, generally good road and very steep hills. We climbed to just over 400m at our highest but that was incidental to the number of times we climbed. Anyone who likes hills should immediately book passage and all others should take a moment to appreciate the wondrous lack of incline they currently enjoy.

I wish I had counted the rises, so as to furnish some fantastic statistic, to further impress upon you the hilliness.

At one point I thought I was going to pass out from hyperventilation riding and puffing up the steep steep hill.

We have been for the last number of days since Nazaré been riding the “Costa de Dendé” The junction with the BR-101 marks the end of that coast. I am mostly sure another coast begins promptly where that one ends.

Dendé is used in the cuisine of Bahia, food which is quite famous in Brazil and abroad. It is a local kind of Palm Oil and riding along its namesake coast you can see piles of those palm thingies that contain the palm nuts that go to make the oil. Some are empty of palm nuts and others hold their orange fruit and await collection. All across the Brazil that we have ridden you can find bottles of Dendé oil, it seperates out to form 2 layers in the bottle, a clearer orange on top and murky brown on the bottom.

The Trouble with Pizza

The trouble with pizza is mosquitoes. This, while not immediately obvious, is the last act of the drama which is pizza. We had left Nazaré tolerably early and rode well through green grassy hills all up and down without anything much that could pass as flat. Reaching Valenca (that c is a cedilla not your regular garden c) it was raining like cats and dogs but close enough to lunch that we decided to grab a bite. We were gathering our bearings from underneath a large umbrella beside the river as the rain came down. Had we been riding well the rain would have re-wetted our clothes but being that there was the umbrella handy we joined some dry others to shelter awhile. The umbrella was one of several placed evenly along the white cobbled terrace that boarders the river or estuary, hard to know which. Facing across a rain drenched cobbled street was a pizza place and some other stores. The Pizza caught my eye, it would be a delicious thin crusted austere change from the noodles and rice we had been eating, the beans having meat cut through and therefore cut from the menu.

Unfortunately, the place wasn´t open till evening and so rather than give up the dream I immediately spotted 2 other signs for pizza. The first didn’t have pizza, not half what their menu offered. The next was pricey but alongside was a more reasonable “por quilo” that served pizza. The menu looked good, the price was not too high, Wei Ling opted for the “por kilo” and I the pizza. Wei Ling was polishing her plate trying very hard to eat slowly and like a ¨ lady¨ lady with the last grain of rice when the pizza arrived and its presentation was lacking. The taste was best augmented, or rather´ improved´ with quantities of mustard and the base was like bread, or cake. I finished it, even the olives.

Riding out from the town my stomach began to protest, I initially thought it was the olives, then the mustard, or mayo, or the cheese. Too many culprits and no way to prove which done wrong. We were rolling through plantations of palm, for dendé, and eventually I spotted a bus stop shelter that would serve for the rain coming down as well as a place to park my bike while I made my way in nature. It became one of those panic’d situations that follow bad food where I could set my bike straight, then the toilet paper was missing, then Wei Ling was determined to parcel out just the one roll, and my gloves were not coming off. I got through all that to run off amongst the undergrowth of the palm plantation.

Here is where the mosquitoes come to the situation. As I crouched there making things right the first mosquito slid sideways into view, unfortunately my business was not concluded that I could quit that grass spot hid from the road. The rain was misting down and the world seamed all over damp as several more mosquitoes waved into view. The attack began and I was fixed to the spot, retreat was not yet an option. My further struggles are best forgotten but that I returned to the bus shelter and Wei Ling with less faith in the world than before and had a hard time sitting comfortable for the afternoon.

Spanish Moss

Orange trees scattered spread across the forested hills, in places the trees tend to a dusty purple as smoke towards evening.

Sky Blue with Passing Clouds

Wei Ling figured before me that the TV advert was for a church. First It had b+w timelapse scenes of a city with words coming up… “Stress, Syndrome de Panico…” Then it switched to a blue sky with clouds rolling across and a message to the effect of “Where would you find relief…?”

Wei Ling guessed it with the blue sky; I just never imagined that a church would run a TV advert.

Well now, there be drama sure enough

So much has happened yesterday and partly today that there is drama sure enough. 

Yesterday I awoke feeling sprightly and was abed and not eating by dinnertime. Today, we rested in this most confusing of towns and I finished The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Dover Thrift Edition, Unabridged.

Andrew had another what appeared to be renal colic.  So our day was cut short to the next closest town. However the town is 7km off road, while on the map it appears to be very close to the main road we were on.  Well, that wasn´t the first time our ´trusted´ map has misled us…  Andrew had a puncture going into the town, and when we finally found a reasonably priced pousada to stay, we were told the only room left was on the FOURTH floor…

Oh and it was the first one year on the road anniversary sure enough, and we recently passed 16000km, finally we are but slightly more than 1000km from Rio de Janeiro.

Seems as there was more but it’s a done now.

Our One Year Anniversary

Due to inadequate accounting of days one tally had a surplus and the other a deficit of days. The net result was that we celebrated 2 anniversaries for the singular event of us having cycled for a year!

The first is mentioned concisely enough above. Oh and the being abed by dinnertime was hopefully the last kidney stone. Good riddance I say.

So on the second anniversary of the passing of one year on the bike we witnessed several phenomena that make this our favorite anniversary.

A Arcoiris Sobre A Lua

You just can not make this kind of stuff up.

After we had lugged our luggage down 4 flights of stairs and quit the curly city of Camacan our first stop was a roadside chocolate vendor. It was homemade chocolate made in the home using coco grown on the premises and complimented by a cold coconut.

It was mostly hills all day but we managed 100km none the less and after the first hour it was mostly all farm land. That first hour was forest and acai plantations. Towards the end of the second hour we crossed a river and climbed an enormous hill. Atop that hill was a small but perfectly stocked town.

We set down beneath a shadey tree next to the circus and had a staring match with a horse. The horse had blinkers and we never stood a chance. Beneath us leafcutter ants carried away the better part of the tree. I wonder how they can store so much leaf in their caverns burrowed into the ground for the line of ants is long and each carries a leaf. Muting the noise of passing traffic was an artisans stand full of pleasantly rough wooden bowls and small berimbau, which would be berimbauinha I guess.

We elected not to take on provisions in the small well stocked town atop an enormous hill and took our bearings by the map which showed another small settlement not 8km distant.

Much later we found that place and had lunch on the top floor of a lovely pousada strewn with rose petals and little red love hearts. We didn’t stay though there was an afternoon still and that was all time to be riding.  Andrew hardly ate his lunch that day.  I don´t blame him, as it was the standard feijaos, macarraos, arroiz, e ensaladas.  But I was just stoked that they had feijaos not cooked with meat! So I ga… down my share pretty quickly.

After a series of hills we dropped down and down to a river that was damned but a kilometer from the bridge, I but glanced it as we passed due to the construction work being done on the bridge which had us riding towards a line of oncoming trucks. The construction workers pulled aside the red road cones at the last moment as we took shelter behind the cordon as the rigs rolled by. They were making or fixing a large hole in one side of the bridge.

The sun was turning golden to better appreciate the lateness of the day. Up from the river the road eased off a mite to allow a view towards the ridge it crested some kilometers away. The road ran out all the way to that lofty horizon. We were rolling along so slow that it was hard not to appreciate the way the golden light made precious every clump of grass grown tall beside the road. When we reached the ridge line we entered into the shadow of the cutting and passed over.

The far side was beautiful and everything ran down hill, the road ran down and we ran down, the hill sloped down and the sun came down. Everything was going down and it was glorious. A sign said we had but 3 km to go, then later it said one kilometer. It turned out to be but a “posto”, and the man there said the town was another 3km down the road.

As we rolled that last little way the day reached its zenith when a rainbow went over the moon. The moon which had made an early appearance low over a forest hill was then placed beneath a rainbow that arched over the hill the moon and most the rest of creation. The trees of the hill were made golden by the low evening light. The day was complete but still we had a few meters to ride.

In the town we found a pousada rather nicer than what we usually find. They wanted a sum rather nicer than we usually paid as well though Wei Ling made the price the much nicer and so found ourselves a room with character to spend our 365^th night on the road.

All in all it was a fittingly celebratory day and our thanks goes to all the parts that over a year or more came together to make this a wonderful year. To the moon a special thanks. To the small drops of condensation that broke the light of the evening sun, we honor you here. To the hills that rose up over millennia that we might roll down them and appreciate those moments, we owe you a debt of gratitude. To all of you that have made this year wonderful, we thank you.

For Zybna

A few photos for Zybna

Bahia: Present in Salvador

Part 2

Once again I do not wish to trouble those with limited time with a plague of tangential and extraneous information. Therefore, here is the précis of our stay in Salvador.

• We stayed with at friends friends parents house, it was good but far away
• Staying with us was the very lovely Huasae of Japan and Capoeira
• Wei Ling organised for us to study at Idioma Portuguese School, it was awesome
• I trained Capoeira with Mestre Rene of ACANNE, Huasae as well.
• Mestre Rene showed us an incredible vegetarian restaurant
• We moved to a hotel in Barra which was closer to the school
• We watched the “Balé de Folklorico”, very cool
• We attended The Opening Roda of the ACANNE event
• We met a bunch of very cool people

Two weeks in Salvador was never going to be enough time to see all that could or should be seen. It is a city with an actual real vibrant culture that is different from anywhere else. A city with energy, all kinds of energy, sometimes joyous and other times “cuidado”.

We arrived in Salvador in low spirits and the result was the city was not so welcoming, or perhaps the cheers and fireworks of Brazils final world cup match were for us and the guy that took my head scarf was just playing around.

When you are tired, rundown, and maybe on the edge of sickness, well I think you can find the worst in anyplace. Still, talking to some others, I don’t think its uncommon for Salvador to be a bit daunting first time round, it grows on you.

So, we did tolerably well then, seeing as many of the above conditions were true for us. We found our way to Andrés parents’ house and the rain did only just begin. Brazil was at that time 1 goal ahead of whoever they ended up losing too. The room was carved out of the loft with temporary walls, the loft was at the top of the house as is proper for lofts and it was a very tall and narrow house. The house sits on the side of the hill very near to the top. When I use house I am talking about a building with 4 floors that is entirely residential and is just for the family mostly. It fills a space between two streets having a door to each. Any and all windows facing out over the hill have magnificent views down the way and over the big intersection that sits beneath. We only saw this view the day we left for the loft does not have such windows.

To get to the loft there is a narrow spiral stair that climbs up 4 floors, then a narrow corridor leads down to a door and that opens to the loft. The kitchen is right there as you arrive and the shower and toilet are alongside, the rooms then begin and we had the first 2 rooms on the left. André, away in Germany, has the room down the back on the right. The last room on the left is that of another André and his wife.

It was all quite a circus when we first arrived and we, fragile creatures that we were, felt a bit shaken by the spectacle.

After Brazil had done and lost its game and some time after that even, we ventured out into the streets for our first look around Salvador. All old buildings and cobbled streets is what it is. It was on that outing that my headscarf was grabbed and I had to step up and get it back. I contrasted the word please with as dark an expression as a week of bad weather and tens of thousands kilometres could furnish. I think it was the please that got him to return my headscarf, I cannot glower worth any countries cent.

Huasae was cooking when we returned to “Andrés Parents house”. “Andrés Parents house” is what we called it, or home, which is where you lay your head, the heart being technically where it belongs or metaphorically with me wife, so in that sense, it was also home for those 5 days.

To reduce the burden of writing “Andrés Parents house” as often as I will need to use it I will refer to it as the “Loft”, a title it has just now earned as we never called it such in Salvador. Fuasae was staying in Andrés room (back corner on the right).

Back to Fuasae who by now had made a wonderful first impression. We talked for awhile in Portuguese, that being the language we have in common and Salvador began to feel less grim, less trying. We could see now that the darkness that comes with Brazilian Futebol Defeats and a week of riding through rain would soon give way.

Before The Week Starts

We had two days, that being how many days there are in a Brazilian weekend, before we were to begin class. We had many tasks to accomplish, a list outlining them, a pen, and so we set to box ticking.

Here is a rough of that list:

1. Visit the language school down in Barra
2. Check out other accommodation options
3. Check out somewhere to train Capoeira
4. Find some good vege lunch

Wei Ling finds all the best language schools, she is very good. Idioma was chosen based on its nice website and good price (a good price is a low price). We had decided, as it was quite far from The Loft,  to go scope out the school.

I wanted some Capoeira while in Salvador (“the home of Capoeira”), and as Huasae is a Capoeista (a player of Capoeira), and had been studing with Mestre Rene (of ACANNE), and as Huasae was heading down to visit Mestre Rene (at the ACANNE academy), we decided to tag along as the academy was on the way to the school.

We walked out of “Santo Antonio” through “Pelourinho” to “Centro”. Salvador is built over several ridges that make a peninsular separating the Baía Dos Todos Santos  from the Atlantic. The inward side has all the famous bits and is on a ridge looking out over towards Ilha Itaparica, the largest of the bays islands.

Santo Antonio is the barrio (neighbourhood) where you can find “Andrés Parents house”. It is up from Pelourinho (the famous part) and is mostly indistinguishable from it except that it is regarded as safer and nicer. It is named after the Fort, Forte Santo Antonio. Salvador has plenty of forts and for every fort it has plenty more churches. Apparently all the forts are connected by secret passageways! Or, perhaps that is the churches?

Pelourinho is, by the standards of Central/South American colonial cities, very cool. Built atop the ridge but dripping off the sides with steep cobbled streets, stairs, elevators, and has “churches with plazas” everywhere. The buildings are built “one becomes the next” and are brightly painted. The 3 or so stories of each seem to lean in, for seemingly narrow streets. It is picturesque. It even has a reputation for petty crime to keep you alert and looking.

Further down the ridge is “centro” or “Commercial” which has less for the tourist and more for the local. Starting from “Praça de Se” it is also home to cobbled streets, churches and the like, but they share with office buildings and shops here. The ACANNE academy and Mestre Rene is off down a side street (see the Pelourinho paragraph above for a description of the street, but remove the bright paint, and add the term gritty).

After meeting up with Mestre Rene at the academy and organising to do some training, he showed us a good place for lunch and even now the thought of it makes my mouth water. Called Happy Valley Brazil or the African Place…

After lunch we braved the public transport to find our way down past Barra, then back to Barra. Barra is the neighbourhood at the very end of the ridge and the peninsular where the bay opens out to the sea. It is named after the lighthouse fort, “Barra de Farol”. There are several other forts scattered around the neighbourhood. Once upon a time the bay was an extremely wealthy sugar producing region for the Portuguese, the forts kept the bay safe. Now it is more upmarket residential and shopping area. On a rainy Saturday in place was lonesome and dreary. Luckily I have seen the place in good weather since. It has lovely promenades along the beaches and with the forts and churches and things, its lovely. However that first time with the rain blowing in… dreary.

We didn’t find anywhere to stay, we couldn’t even find anywhere, we found one but it was closed! We gave up on those dreary rain swept streets, returned to the loft and ventured no further that weekend.

Week 1

Wei Ling was in a different class from I. She began right away with Book 2, where we were on Book 1. Book 1 is nicer, so that was fine by me. Our teachers were awesome, my teacher was Kelly.

The commute had been something of an adventure. We caught the bus without difficultly but had trouble getting much past the ticket vendor as the bus was over full. We squeezed down the isle a few rows then turned to face the window for an hour. Every stop while people squeezed down the isle behind us we continued to stare out the window, that being what everyone does on the crowded buses of Salvador.

That night I went to my first Capoeira Training. I had been thinking of this for all the duration of the past year and before. To train Capoeira in Salvador!

It went well.

The next day I could barely move, I was so stiff and sore. I hobbled down to catch the bus behind Wei Ling. The following day was worse. I didn’t ease up till the weekend.

I had thought that a year of cycling would make me fit; that my poorly defined 6 pack was proof of my condition. The truth is, I was fit. I was “Cycling Fit” and I while that is, no question, a kind of fitness, it is not the same as “Capoeira Fit”. The next day I could barely move, I wasn’t that tired, just very sore and inflexible.

That next day, after class, we went to look for accommodation. We found it at the top of 3 flights of stairs!

The next morning we loaded up the bikes and were moved in before class. The thing was, cycling was no trouble, and I was fine to cycle. Walking was the problem. As a side note going up stairs was also fine. Going down, Agony!

A 3 Day Head Cold

Well that was that really. I recovered for the weekend. Wei Ling went through a bad spell not long after. Being a guy I took it the worse of the two of us.

Time Flies By

The weekend was great with us meeting friends from school Magnus and Jasmine, by chance as we headed back to the vege place. We took in a movie, went to a show, all on the same night! Wei Ling worked on her applications, I read Tom Sawyer. The second and last week started.

There were social lunches, capoeira trainings, Portuguese learned; Salvador was friendly, lovely, not so rainy. Yes, all in all it was a wonderful week.

The Last Day

The last day was a farewell to new friends, the school, and a Roda. Two weeks is long enough to make new friends, to begin to feel that you can speak a language.

That evening we returned to ACANNE for the weekly Roda. A Roda is the name given to the making of Capoeira. It involves people making music and song, people making a circle and singing, and the people making movement and playing in the circle. Roda means circle.

This Roda was also the Opening Roda for the ACANNE event, an event that was to last for 2 weeks. I would have liked to be there for it all; however, I want to reach Rio the more and now time is limited.

It was a great big roda with the room full of people and all kinds of people. More Mestres of Capoeira than I have ever seen in a place and everyone making great music and movement.

After the Capoeira there was Samba de Roda, similar to Capoeira, but more dance and less game.

After that it just became a party.

Saturday Morning

After two weeks in Salvador, I hope to return one day, maybe many times.

We packed the bags, took them down to the bikes, took the bikes to the port, and took a boat to the island.