The following sentences were designed for 2 reasons. First, because one of the first questions we get at the hostel is "is Pelourinho dangerous?". Truthfully, if you pay attention and make yourself aware of the area, you won't have any problems. As a foreigner, you do not have free reign of every street and alley, and knowing what areas and people to avoid is key. The second reason is that I feel very strongly that we need to be concientious travelers. Pelourinho has been dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century, and this evolution has been for the benefit of tourists, not the locals. The future of the Pelourinho relies on a mutual respect between the people who live here and the visitors. Everyone will ask where you are from, and you can see that preconceptions have already been formed. It's up to you how you feed those. At the risk of sounding preachy, I'm now going to list my top Pelourinho commandments.
1) Don't take valuables (passport, watch, rolls of cash, Blackberry etc...) with you when wandering. If you don't have anything valuable on you, you have little to lose. Purses on women call attention, around here we just tuck the cash in our bra's. In case you haven't figured it out by the time you get to Salvador, name brand swag isn't worth shit here; it simply attracts unwanted attention.
2) Get oriented when you arrive, talk to us at the hostel and we will show you on the map what areas are best to stay in. There aren't many parts of the Pelo that you can't go to, but as a general rule, avoid streets where you don't see other tourists. The area behind the main square, Terreiro de Jesus, is the area most unchanged in the last 30 years. Getting mugged is pretty much a guarantee if you decide to wander those streets day or night. Don't ever go there. Also the commercial street of Baixa Sapateiros should be avoided after the stores close at 6, the same rule is also true for all of Cidade Baixa. These areas are commercial, not residential, so anyone left wandering the streets at night most likely live on the streets.
3) Don't give money or food or anything else to beggers. I know I'm going to open a proverbial can of worms with any bleeding-heart readers, but let me explain. The very real problem of crack affects 90% of the beggers you will see. You may meet a woman asking you to buy her milk for her baby, a kid will ask you to buy him a sandwich, but the very sad truth is that anything, from the milk, the tin it comes in, to your dinner leftovers can be traded for crack. So please, I can't urge you enough, don't get involved. Tourists support the drug problem here more than they will ever know. I always see tourists being taken to lunchonettes and loading to-go plates full of food for a very hungry looking boy outside. The truth is that he will go sell it, maybe for as little as R$2 for a plate that cost R$20 but it's enough for plenty of crack. If someone asks you for something, the best thing to say is nothing, just keep walking and don't engage. If you want to help, we have better ways to help the local community that we can tell you about at the hostel. (also see our Guide to Volunteering)
4) To piggyback on #3, I once read that 70% of Brazil's workforce is street-vendors. It's got to be one of the most tiresome and rewardless jobs on the planet, so please don't confuse the beggers with the vendors. The vendors are just doing their job so if someone offers you a cold bottle of water, if you're not interested just say "obrigado" and give the thumbs up. They don't want anything other than to make a sale.
5) Don't be so drunk that it shows, or at least pull it together when you're out in public. Drunks make the easiest targets. If you do decide to get drunk however, we like to do it at Cafe Alquimia for caipirinha's, or the house drink "Alquimista" made with cachaça, honey, and lime, afterwards you just have to make it up the stairs to your bed. We will still respect you in the morning.
6) Be careful of romantic advances. You can get stuck with an unwanted tab or worse. I'll leave it there.
7) Stay out of Reggae Bars! Unfortunately the peaceful message of reggae has a different connotation in the Pelourinho and Reggae bars have become synonymous with muggings.
There are much better places to go for the reggae/dub scene, like Zauber on Thursdays. Until 11 pm, ladies get in free and beer is 2 for the price of 1.
8) Don't use a 24 Hour ATM. This is true everywhere in Brazil. There are clever thieves that can get your card number and empty your account overnight. Make sure to use an ATM inside a bank. Take money out during the day. We can change money in the hostel for you.
9) Go out with friends. If you don't have any, make some. There are always people around the hostel who like to go out and enjoy all the great parties Salvador has.
10) Don't let any of this scare you. This is basic stuff that you can use anywhere in the world, and surely by the time you've made it to Salvador you've probably figured all this out anyway. Pelourinho is not a scary place, in fact the contrary is true. Just take care and keep your wits about you. Having a sort of streetwise trickery is considered an admirable trate here, no one could survive living on these streets without it, so outsmart anyone who thinks they can pull one on you, and like a good game of capoeira, dodge the blow and glide out of there.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
A Brief History of Pelourinho
A Brief History of Pelourinho also appears on Hostel Cobreu Blog
First a little background of Salvador's European/African history. Around 1510, Portuguese settlers arived in the area around what is now Rio Vermelho, and by 1540 a government was formed. By 1550 settlers began importing slaves from Africa. Salvador was the first capital of Brazil and remained so until 1763. The city of Salvador de Bahia, (São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, in English: "Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay") was divided by the upper city and the lower city. The upper city, which is where we are located, was the religeous and administrative area where most residents made their homes. The lower city, exactly as it is used today, was the financial district with ports and markets. The market São Joaquim is one of the oldest markets in Brazil and although it smells like it, it's also a facinating and worth the ensuing vegetarianism that often follows a trip there.
The vast majority of Salvadors population (80%) today has African roots from Salvadors devastating significance as the main port of entry for the slave trade. I've heard it said from many people who have traveled both continents that Salvador feels more like Africa than it does South America. Within this context is the picturesque colonial gem called the Pelourinho, which literally means "whipping post", which was where slaves were tied and tortured publicly. Pretty heavy. Especially considering the cobblestone streets are framed by some of the most beautiful churches in the New World. Pelourinho was once the wealthiest area of the city when Salvador was the country's capitol, and the wealthiest of the heavy-weights (sugar barons, slave traders, etc...) made their mansons here until an outbreak of cholera evacuated the wealthy and they abandonded their beautiful mansions. Anyone who was willing to live in a toxic atmosphere moved in.
The few visitors the Pelourinho received were seeking drugs or prostitutes, as it was cosidered too dangerous; desperate people lived short lives of suffering and despair. Although some capoeira academies were functioning in those days (Academy of Mestre Bimba was in the Pelourinho) history doesn't paint a very pretty picture of daily life. It's easy to imagine what sort of place the Pelourinho was as parts of it are still unchanged (please see our Pelourinho Survival Guide). In 1985 UNESCO declared Pelourinho a World Heritage site due to it's collection of colonial architecture trumping any other city in the world. In 1991, the renovations began.
Millions of dollars have been dumped into cleaning up the Pelourinho, making it now the 3rd most visited site in all of Brazil. Modern day Pelo is a magical and thrilling place. Kids can be seen rushing out of a noisy capoeira school, drum troops fill the streets with random parades for no special occasion, and at night theres no other part of the city that can even come close to the live music (usually free of charge). African culture and traditions that were oppressed for years are celebrated here in tireless homage. There are countless dance and capoeira schools, bars and restaurants, and more holidays than anyone can keep up with, and honestly, what better way to recover it's sad and tumultuous past than to live in a constant state of celebration?
First a little background of Salvador's European/African history. Around 1510, Portuguese settlers arived in the area around what is now Rio Vermelho, and by 1540 a government was formed. By 1550 settlers began importing slaves from Africa. Salvador was the first capital of Brazil and remained so until 1763. The city of Salvador de Bahia, (São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, in English: "Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay") was divided by the upper city and the lower city. The upper city, which is where we are located, was the religeous and administrative area where most residents made their homes. The lower city, exactly as it is used today, was the financial district with ports and markets. The market São Joaquim is one of the oldest markets in Brazil and although it smells like it, it's also a facinating and worth the ensuing vegetarianism that often follows a trip there.
The vast majority of Salvadors population (80%) today has African roots from Salvadors devastating significance as the main port of entry for the slave trade. I've heard it said from many people who have traveled both continents that Salvador feels more like Africa than it does South America. Within this context is the picturesque colonial gem called the Pelourinho, which literally means "whipping post", which was where slaves were tied and tortured publicly. Pretty heavy. Especially considering the cobblestone streets are framed by some of the most beautiful churches in the New World. Pelourinho was once the wealthiest area of the city when Salvador was the country's capitol, and the wealthiest of the heavy-weights (sugar barons, slave traders, etc...) made their mansons here until an outbreak of cholera evacuated the wealthy and they abandonded their beautiful mansions. Anyone who was willing to live in a toxic atmosphere moved in.
The few visitors the Pelourinho received were seeking drugs or prostitutes, as it was cosidered too dangerous; desperate people lived short lives of suffering and despair. Although some capoeira academies were functioning in those days (Academy of Mestre Bimba was in the Pelourinho) history doesn't paint a very pretty picture of daily life. It's easy to imagine what sort of place the Pelourinho was as parts of it are still unchanged (please see our Pelourinho Survival Guide). In 1985 UNESCO declared Pelourinho a World Heritage site due to it's collection of colonial architecture trumping any other city in the world. In 1991, the renovations began.
Millions of dollars have been dumped into cleaning up the Pelourinho, making it now the 3rd most visited site in all of Brazil. Modern day Pelo is a magical and thrilling place. Kids can be seen rushing out of a noisy capoeira school, drum troops fill the streets with random parades for no special occasion, and at night theres no other part of the city that can even come close to the live music (usually free of charge). African culture and traditions that were oppressed for years are celebrated here in tireless homage. There are countless dance and capoeira schools, bars and restaurants, and more holidays than anyone can keep up with, and honestly, what better way to recover it's sad and tumultuous past than to live in a constant state of celebration?
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