Well we are saying goodbye to our Hippy hostel today, goodbye to our chilled out environment and heading to Barra district for another different experience of Salvador Carnival. There are three main areas to Salvador Carnival, Historical center which is more about small group parades or performing on stages, Campo Grande which I believe is the original so therefore more locals attend the massive street parades and Barra the area we are heading to which is Gringo territory with beautiful beaches and a massive street parade everyday!

After some lovely street food, i'm (Becki) not feeling too great so we stock up in the pharmacy after some very funny charades and head to the bus unsure of what awaits us. We know that the roads are closed and the parties have begun so we are unsure where the bus will drop us.

On the bus you could feel the tension and uncertainty between us but at the same time adrenaline and excitement we are about to join the worlds biggest party. We hear a shout from the front and its the bus driver telling us to get off now, so as good girls we do as we are told and step outside....... WOW there are thousands of people everywhere, people queuing like crazy to get into the supermarket all leaving with crates and crates of beer which they take straight to the roadside and fill up their polystyrene boxes and sell to the drunken crowds. There are food stalls everywhere selling the best "meat on sticks", people with spare t-shirts trying to sell them for the up coming floats known as boca's (although we are still unaware of any of the acts! So they just look like crazy colourful t-shirts to us) and there is a stall for any item that you may be missing for carnival. We wander around a little lost, a little confused and trying to take in so much and decide to follow the crowds and hope for the best. With our little scrap of paper with a scribbled address we find a police station and hope that they will be able to assist, they did and being extremely nice they walk us through the Gringo Mall (a shopping centre that all Gringos go to as it has fast food stalls we know and love, all the shops we recognise and best of all its AIR CON!!!) and took us to the main street. Walking through the 40 degree sunshine was great with our backpacks and made even more fun when you are tackling the crowds that spilled into the road stopping any moving traffic, cars no longer had authority man had taken over! We soon realised why no cars seemed to move through this street, for ahead of us where tens of touts all selling different coloured t-shirts, we had found the black market! Holding onto our belongings a little tighter we filtered our way through without being harassed too much and made it through and just before we could start to complain we found our Hostel... Hostel Brasil!!!

When we arrived to are hostel there were people everywhere some arriving some leaving (no idea why you would leave when carnival began!) it had a great atmosphere. We argued a little when we werent in the same room and they managed to change things but we had to sleep on the top of a three bunk bed!! But we had air con so I was pleased (Becki is air coned obsessed!)

Later that evening we sat in the lounge with our slightly warm Skol beers and made friends with two great guys, Andy and Jo. We played cards and we taught each other new games. We cooked some tuna pasta and set about getting ready to head to carnival. We were watching it unfold on the TV and were getting very excited. We played some bad drinking games and as 11pm approached we set off to find there friends apartment. Totally lost a random Brazilian stopped to help us, leaving his friends behind he came with us asking for directions and stopping traffic for us. It took us awhile to notice but he was wearing a Boca t-shirt (these are the t-shirts you buy so that you can dance in a protect section around your chosen bands float, they are expensive and are new friend Lee paid 200pounds for one!), we had been speaking to our Hostel and they warned us about a group who as they said "played angry music" and low and behold this guy followed this band. He was friendly to us and he would keep everyone else away from us! We found the apartment but didnt stay for long before we were back on the streets and finding more beer for only 80p!! We asked our friend Lee to take us to the serious party section. After 5 mins walk we were there standing on the main strip with everyone, watching these hugh trucks that have been converted into one big giant speakers passing by. Each one has a main singer and a large band who play music the whole way, sometimes banging on massive samba drums we were in ore of their stamina and strength amazed in itself. We partied on through the night watching a number of trucks passing by singing where we could and dancing with the locals enjoying a few extra beers from the local people who for that week were acting street sellers.

We surfaced the following morning a little worse for wear and gutted we had missed breakfast it was passed lunch but we ventured out for some grub and enjoyed a lazy around day preparing ourselves for another night on the town. However our evening grub meal turned into a disaster that I think made everyone in the hostel laugh at us, we were cooking pizza a nice simple dish you would think but oh no not for us we had to improvise and placed the pizzas on glass plates that dont like to be cooked for too long in the oven and one completely shattered when we removed it destroying not only the plate but our pizza too! We rescued the other three and still had a reasonable dinner, but we dont want to fill our stomachs too much now!!

We started as usual with the normal card games that soon developed into drinking games until....... the familiar cries of our lost friends from the salt flats came screaming in! Cat & George had returned and we were our four with our added boyfriends and couple from our Hostel Brasil. They soon got settled in and were joining us in the lounge on a serious catch up mode. We were all soon ready to start the partying again on the streets, it was passed 12pm but that never mattered. We walked out onto the packed streets and followed the crowds towards the main street, passing 'meat on stick' sellers and obviously indulging ourselves before some more dancing and partying. Again we found ourselves positioned in a perfect place right next to the ropes and laughed and cheered all the floats pass. Then a float that we managed in our best Portuguese to translate into 'against violence towards women', we scared to them all but finally one saw we were friendly and they gave us all high fives.

Partying on the streets didnt last too long before the major water baby of the group Cat wanted to go for a swim in the sea. We headed to the beach which was just below the main road, so even on the beach you could still hear the music and see the tops of the floats however, it was so much quieter and you had plenty of room to move! It wasnt long before we were all enjoying the sea waves some voluntarily joined in others had to have some slight persuading. After a few hours of playing around we decided that the night had come to an end and it was time to stumble back to our beds. We fought our way through the party that was still continuing and headed to our hostel but not before some more meat on a stick stops.

When we arrived back at the hostel we had forgot that there had been problems with our beds and that George and Cat had to share my bed (the third bunkbed) while I slept on a mattress that had just been left on the floor! Not that I minded too much it was always a nightmare to climb those steps at night! Dont ask why we did it that way round its just how it happened.

We awoke earlier enough the next day to miss breakfast but not feeling as bad ready to head to the carnival in daylight. We knew the first float left at 3pm so as our group of 6 we wondered down soaking up the party atmosphere. Lots of people wearing there brightly coloured t-shirts heading to there elected Boca. We walked down to the light house where it all begins and grabbed some carnival sunnies (these are cheap fakes that can be trashed or stolen and no one cares) and some more Skol ready for the Carnival. In true style it all ran according to time.....NOT but that didn't bother us it gave us time to run to the loo, sneaking into a hotel and pretended to be guested, got our bodies painted with white paint avoiding the ones who make you pay we stuck to the locals just out to have fun and seduced the Ganji guys dressed up to give us some of there beads. When the first float took off we were unaware of the importance of their t-shirts and the band until a later date when we saw the same band playing for MJ on his video 'they dont really care about us', we are so excited we saw the best Samba band for Salvador Carnival. We danced and danced with the locals, we are starting to understand the tunes and the way to dance now. We screamed at the floats when we saw that they were throwing free inflatables into the crowd, I think we caught the attention of one who loved that us Gringos were getting so into it that he managed to throw us all one! We enjoyed then hitting each other with them. Words cant really describe the atmosphere, the fact that everyone comes together whether you are rich or poor to enjoy a hugh party that is for everyone. There is always such a buzz in the air and I loved watching devoted fans wear there t-shirts with pride and enjoy dancing for at least 5 hours behind their float.

We left as the sun went down to go and grab some food and start some more pre drinking with the others, as tonight we have some new arrival friends coming from the old side who want to party with us in Barra. As usual Cat and I left George and Hana to find the essentials in the supermarket, we admired the thousands of crates of Skol that had been crammed into every small space in this no bigger than a Tesco express. We brought our good old £3 bottle of vodka plus mixer and some Skol to start it steady. Back at the Hostel George and Hana went for a little lie down while Cat and I made lots random conversations, speaking to lots of random people and learning lots about Brazil and Carnival. A group of men came in all dressed in blue and white outfits with turbans on their heads made out of towels, these guys were dressed like this as they were followers of the float Gandgi the peace guy. They were fun guys and sprayed us with their perfume a blessing in itself (when traveling you don't have the simple pleasure of perfume!) gave us squirts of their vodka and even blessed us with their blue and white beads! Finally everyone had returned from their seisters and were ready to partying again, poor Cat and I we had to just keep going... and we did! We changed our location and sat in the entrance which brought us to the attention of everyone and lucky for us it made it easy for Cat & George's friends to see us when they arrived. We had now increased our group again to include two lovely Canadian girls Gill and Pam. Again they lived up to our perception of Canadians absolutely lovely people!

As you can probably guess we went out late and enjoyed some more serious partying, it was impressive how we kept the group together but we did. This time with a little help from a very drunk local lady who had fun with the boys too! However this night we were shown the reason why you still have to keep your whits about you, I was standing on a concrete divider when all of a sudden I saw the crowds clearing. I noticed why and shouted to the group to get back ASAP, someone had caused trouble with one of the Boca and as expected the bodyguards there to protect the Boca people were kicking and punching before asking questions. It was a scary reminder that bad things do happen but everyone was fine and no one got hurt and we continued on to the street. We never had any trouble not even with the army security, we were friendly Gringos all out to have a good time and not cause any trouble, so if anything we made people laugh and love us. Tonight however we went home in stages and in our different little groups for some much needed sleep I think.

Another late rise, another breakfast missed paying all this money on accommodation and I still cant master enough energy in the morning to make it for free breakfast I blame the fact I have to be up before 10am!!! To treat ourselves during what is not only an expensive time in Brazil but Brazil in itself is a very expensive country not much cheaper than UK we went to a cheap resturant for lunch. It is a strange set up its like an all you can eat buffet but you pay by weight, so you fill your plate up weight and then if you want more you go back and repeat until you our finished and pay! You learn quickly what is filling for less weight! After this we spent another day just chilling and relaxing, this time we venture out of the hostel and head down to the beaches of Salvador. We hired some chairs and just relaxed in the sun listening to the party above. The beaches are packed with locals and tourists, with hundreds of beach sellers. You could buy anything, we though of a nasty dare and a probably true fact that anyone could turn up to the beach naked and return home by the end of the day fully clothed and prepared for any beach day out! We must try this one day I feel, im not voluntary thou!!

After a very lazy day we decide that tonight we needed not only a change of scenery but a lower key venue, being that Hana & I have visited Old city area already we lead the group back for a different carnival all together. We jumped on the bus and it took ages with all the traffic and there were a lot of people that had been drinking far more than us, I think the carnival had taken its toll on most of us and within seconds we were all dosing on the local bus unaware of all the noise around us. We finally arrived and jumped on the lift to take us up to the main area. As the doors retracted everyone got another burst of energy and we jumped out onto the streets. This area was much more concentrated on stage areas, it also had much more of a family feel to it! We watched the street parade which was a lot like we imagined the whole Carnival to be, lots of people dressed in bright coloured outfits dancing in the street with the odd float. Then we watch some contemporary dance.....boring!! We met up with Vin a guy from our hippy hostel and he took us to the best stage, we danced in front of the speakers on the cobbled streets! All around the buildings were brightly coloured it was amazing to see the transformation from when we had been there 4 days before. If you want to get a feel of what it truly was like then "you tube" Micheal Jacksons video "they dont really care about us" in brazil! The end shots are the excat spot we were partying but at night! We stuck to keeping this a low profile night as tomorrow is the final one and that has to be the big one. So we had our few beers and street food headed back for the bus and finally made it back to bed before 1am!

However even with our early night it was still impossible to rise for breakfast, never mind we raided the local supermarket for a fest for lunch. Headed back down to the beach and chilled in the beautiful sunshine. The party had already began but we were keeping it a quite day ready for the evening, the final day was the nig one as this was the Carnival bank holiday...this was the day the locals really went to down.

The night started much like any night, we played a Aussie card game which made a change but increased our group size again. Tonight was the final one so everyone was there … Andy, Jo, Cat, George, Pam, Gill, Harry, Grace, Victoria, Tom & Harry! The carnival didnt seem much different but there were less locals selling so I assume they were partying with us. We got down to the main street and it was packed, we tried to push pass a float trying hard not to angry the bodyguards but in the tight crapped spaces I realised that carnival is dangerous. A guy pushed right behind me and managed to unzipped my pockets and pushed both his hands in, I was quick to react and elbowed him in the stomach before turning round to hit him and grab whatever he had just tried to pickpocket me. We all were always very smart and never had anything important in our pockets so unlike for this guy he got nothing more than a few bruises, my money tucked in my bra and nothing but free stuff in my pockets I had nothing to offer. Tourist 1 : Thieves 0!!

Some how and I dont real know why or how, but as a float was passing by a nice old guy asked Grace and myself if we would like to party on top of the float. Now this is a chance in a lifetime and one I couldn't give up, so I screamed yes and followed up. Climbed the stairs to this hugh bus on top of the speakers and looking back at the crowds I screamed and screamed down to the others! It was a crazy sight to be seen, everyone looked so small and you got a real idea of the scale of this party. There were just thousands and thousands of people all brightly coloured and smiling dance away! It was a very so real moment and once the others had noticed they were following the float looking up and dancing with us, we tried to switch us all around but they soon said no and we were left to party the night on the streets.

Again we found ourselves escaping the hoards of people and venturing down to the beach, Hana and I got separated into two groups, I spent the night dancing and partying away on the beach playing in the sea until I finally realised the sun was shining and ventured off to find Hana. When I found Hana she was walking back down the street, the parade had finished and the clean up crew was already out. Hana had just followed the last float up the street and too the end, she had spent some time on the beach with the Aussie boys who had been chatted up by the local old ladies. We decided to walk back up to the finishing point and had our pictures taken enjoying the sunshine, we spent our last moments of carnival at the finishing point of the parade a perfect moment.

As we stumbled back to our hostel at 9am, it was crazy to see the clean up. I dont think Salvador is as clean as it is then. They were shampooing the roads and washing everything down, probably best we had not only seen but also contributed to the desperate loo stops! Cans were not a problem to clear up here thou, as the homeless people collected then free of charge I believe if they hand them in at a recycling point they receive money so they were always waiting ready for you to finish your drinks. We finally made it back to base and all k'od, the only reason people rose this day was to book there tickets out of Salvador and prepare to move on. In the evening everyone had their onwards plans and so therefore it was a subdued evening, we had all become really good friends and now we would be departing. We all said our goodbyes that night knowing we all were leaving at different times and wondered off to bed nice and earlier.

Morning rose and we collect our belongings and joined Cat & George to chill out and relax in Ilha Grande. We checked out and luckily saved some pennies by not paying our last night, made up for missing breakfast! Jumped in our taxi and prepared ourselves for our 28hour bus journey to Rio de Janiero! Oh well at least we know it wouldn't be on a Bolivian bus!!!