After participating in the crazy street party that was Carnival on Saturday evening we decided to take it easy yesterday and just spent the day on the beach. The weather was gorgeous with just one small rain shower and the sea was lovely and warm.

In the evening we just went for a little stroll around the streets near the hotel and then had some diner. The restaurant we went to was not the best – they didn’t have a lot of the dishes on the menu and when we did get our food each dish was probably enough to feed three people!

We met some guys all dressed in the old Salvador traditional costume and they are part of a large group that follow the traditions of Ghandi – love and no violence.

We had a fairly early night and got up early so we could go sightseeing.

We walked the 4km from Barra to the old part of Salvador- Pelourinha. We passed Forte San Diego and Forte San Antonia and walked along a bit of a dodgy road.

Once we got to the old part of town we took the Elevator Lacerda from the bottom to the top of the city – it travels 72m in 30 seconds.

Once at the top we were at the main square- the majority of churches and museums are shut because of carnival and the tatues and fountains are all fenced off too.

See if you can spot me in the Salvador photo above!

We wandered around the old town for a bit – it’s really beautiful with the old colonial houses. We managed to find a Carmalite church that was open so we went in and had a look and it was pretty amazing – and it had free water and a clean toilet!

We popped into a little cafe for lunch and met an English guy from Essex – Jake, so we sat and chatted over a couple of beers.

We then visited the Mercado Modelo which is a large indoor market selling handicrafts – it used to be where the slave market was held.

On the way home we ran into the two other carnival routes so had to take lots of detours. We got a bit lost but managed to find our way back to the hotel in the end. We got soaking wet too as we had a couple of heavy showers- but it’s warm so it feels ok.

After eventually making it back to the hotel we just chilled for a bit. We went for some snacks and beer at our favourite restaurant so far – Portal do Mar – and just sat and people watched.

After snacks we walked down to Barra Lighthouse where there was a massive outdoor party going on – it felt just like a festival! We danced on the street for about an hour or so and then headed for home!