Our bus back to São Luís left Barreirinhas at around lunch time. From the bus station we were able to catch a local bus that went past a bridge on the outskirts of the main part of the city, and our pousada was just on the other side. We walked over the bridge, fearing slightly for our lives as we went, as the concrete blocks that formed the footpath were falling apart, and in between each one was quite a large gap looking straight down to the river below!

Our pousada was in a strange part of town with narrow streets, but was nice enough. For some reason they gave us a family room that had a double and 4 singles. After a google search it appeared there were quite a few restaurants nearby on the main road, but after walking along it for a while, we found only an ice cream shop that did some burgers, or a place called Giraffas, which was actually pretty good! They served a plate with rice, chips, tomato and onion salad, farofa, beans and meat for a good price.

We were catching a bus the next day but not until the evening, so we had a day to roam around São Luís and check it out. We made our way into the Centro Historico via the bridge then the foreshore. We passed a jetty where the boats were sitting on the sand waiting for the tide to come in so they could sail away, and could smell the nearby fish markets.

The centre itself didn't seem to have much going on. It was a Monday so museums etc. were closed, so we really just wandered the streets looking at buildings and were again left wondering why so many of them were in such a state of disrepair.

There was one place we wanted to try for lunch, run by a cooking school, but it was closed. Instead, we caught a bus to the northern side of town, the beach at Praia do Calhau. Here, we found a wide, flat and empty beach with a few restaurants perched along roads edge overlooking it all. This part of town was very different, with large high-rise hotels and apartment buildings, a lot still under construction.

We found a place for lunch after inspecting a few that were mostly overpriced, and shared a meal overlooking the beach, before walking along it for a while, then catching a bus back to our pousada to collect our bags. Our bus to Belém was a 13 hour journey overnight, spent in the clothes we had sweated in all day whilst walking through town. Lovely!

LAPFWT