Today we got up very late due to the previous night's fun and games, and went to see Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, Salvador's famous healing church. It was quite interesting, though the neighborhood around the church was actually more interesting... me and Sal had a wander after Jess and Dave decided to head back. We went down to the sea through a poor but fairly happy seeming area, then along the garbage infested rocky beach past a big jetty and then along by some pretty dodgy looking housing. After we started to get followed by a few kids, we noticed we were headed towards possibly the dodgiest looking favela area I've seen yet, so we decided to go back, after getting directions from one of the kids who approached us.

We then wandered a bit more and took in other bits of the neighborhoods around the church. The feeling on the beach was pretty strange, kind of like you're suddenly in a ghost town, especially with all the garbage on the beach and the favela looming ominously further up the beach. The rest of our wanders were a bit more normal though, and everyone seemed friendly or at least non-threatening!

Finished off the day by finally finding Salvador's funicular railway, which only cost 10c to go up! So was pretty chuffed with that, (slight underexaggeration there, he was wetting himself - Sal) then we got some fried chicken and chips (rice and beans are a lot more common here than chips) for dinner and are about to think about heading out somewhere, not sure where yet, but there's music and something going on at every hour here - and I mean every hour.

Heading up north again tomorrow or the day after, probably to Maceio, then maybe Recife and onwards up to Belem.  ¶ 5:17 PM