Salvador

Ok - I'll add a little to the comments about Relax: I recall the price as $R120 - 150 (the higher price was because a taxi driver brought me there). It's not easy to find so try these instructions: from the bottom of the driveway of the Bahia Othon Palace walk down the hill, cross the street as soon as possible and when the you come to a fork bear left (this is about 2 or 3 blocks) then at the first intersection turn left. The entrance to Relax is maybe 50 - 100 feet on your left.

Hey, I will be in Salvador Bahia, I dont see pics in the Salvador Barra, anybody has any?

Tom

Hello all,

I need your help:

I really would like be the in Salvador during the carnival season. But all the airfaires I see are outside this world (£800 return from London to Salvador via Lisbon!).

So my question:

Do you know any affordable way to get to Salvador ( via somewhere...) from London/Europe?

Thanks a lot.

Yao.

You can fly each Thursday from Frankfurt with condor.

See [url]www.condor.com[/url]

I would not go during Carnival to Salvador, hotels are double the regular price and also the girls think that their money-maker has at least the double value during this time.
At present time TAP (Portuguese Airlines) have a special fare of € 690 round trip to Salvador from anywhere in Europe.
I will be in Salvador next week for business and I have bought a ticket for this price out of Lisboa.

Carlos

[QUOTE=Carlos Primeros]I would not go during Carnival to Salvador, hotels are double the regular price and also the girls think that their money-maker has at least the double value during this time.
Carlos[/QUOTE]
A decent hotel or apartment in a good location in Barra cost more or less 800 reais during the Carnaval. The pro's in Salvador have a hard time finding customers during the Carnaval, because of the large availibility of regular girls. The Carnival week in Salvador offers lots of opportunities to easily pick up regular girls. Locals as well as tourist girls from the rest of Brazil.

with all due respect to you I have to disagree.

Now in the off-season I pay 220 R$ at the Blue Tree Tower/night. During Carnival the minimum rental period is 5 days at 440 R$/night. Other 5 star hotels are charging even more. I do not know a decent 4 star or 3 star hotel which carges you 800 R$ a week during Carnival. My personel experience with GDPs was the same, double the price during Carnival with all the foreigners there inflating the demand.

Please accept that this is my experience during 3 years of Carnival in Salvador between 1995 and 2004.

Carlos

[QUOTE=Carlos Primeros]with all due respect to you I have to disagree.
Now in the off-season I pay 220 R$ at the Blue Tree Tower/night. During Carnival the minimum rental period is 5 days at 440 R$/night. Other 5 star hotels are charging even more. I do not know a decent 4 star or 3 star hotel which carges you 800 R$ a week during Carnival. My personel experience with GDPs was the same, double the price during Carnival with all the foreigners there inflating the demand.
Please accept that this is my experience during 3 years of Carnival in Salvador between 1995 and 2004.
Carlos[/QUOTE]
You're right about the 5 stars hotel charges much more than R$ 800 for the whole Carnaval. When I speak about decent hotels charging R$ 800 it ain't 4 or 5 star hotels. A decent hotel for me is a hotel with clean rooms, A/C, TV and frigobar. If you look around in Barra the days before the Carnaval (Tuesday, Wednesday) you'll find several options. Most hotels lower the prices for the Carnaval package as they ain't fully booked.

Also there are a lot of apartments located in Barra that you can rent at bargain prices just before the Carnaval. Personally I prefer an apartment during the Carnaval to avoid hassle when bringing up girls.

IMHO it's a waste to go with pro's in the Salvador Carnaval as there are so many regular girls wanting to have fun. Even my friends that normally only goes with pro's find the regular girls very easy to pick up (or rather they pick you up).

Please accept that this is my experience during 13 years of Carnival in Salvador between 1991 and 2005. ;)

[QUOTE=Member #3016]Hello all,
I need your help:

I really would like be the in Salvador during the carnival season. But all the airfaires I see are outside this world (£800 return from London to Salvador via Lisbon!).

So my question:

Do you know any affordable way to get to Salvador ( via somewhere...) from London/Europe?

Thanks a lot. Yao.[/QUOTE]

Nothing is cheap in Brazil during Carnaval, ESPECIALLY airfares and hotels!

There are people who make reservations for Carnaval a YEAR in advance. If you haven't gotten tickets by mid-December, you are not going to get any. If you didn't get them by August, then you aregoing to pay through the nose for flight tickets.

Carnaval is not something you decide to do at the last minute. Brazilians start preparing their costumes and dances for the next Carnaval RIGHT AFTER the last one ends!

Listen to George :

I arrive in Salvador five days after Carnival always. The price decreases by 60% everywhere once Carnival is over.

This is not a last minute thing. You have to start planning for Carnival in April and May of every year.

I have friends that pay over $1900 for that one week.

[QUOTE=Liucio]Listen to George :This is not a last minute thing. You have to start planning for Carnival in April and May of every year. [/QUOTE]
It's a good idea to book your flight-ticket well in advance.

The rest, hotel/apartment, abadá for blocos etc there are really no need to plan a long time before. Also it will be much cheaper if you wait until the Carnaval-week starts, unless you have the need for a high-class hotel or don't mind overpaying.

Have you attended 13 Carnivals?
I can not afford one.

1 Carnival is equivalent to 3 of my visits

[QUOTE=Liucio]Have you attended 13 Carnivals?
I can not afford one.
1 Carnival is equivalent to 3 of my visits[/QUOTE]
Thirteen in Salvador/Bahia and two in Rio.
Actually the Carnaval week in Salvador isn't expensive for me. In contrast to the Rio Carnaval which can be very expensive, and IMHO quite boring.

Except for the cost for an apartment I have very few expenses in the Salvador Carnaval. Basically I only spend money for beer and food. The girls are for free.

Of course if you want to join a bloco or a camarote it can cost you a lot. Personally I prefer being a pipoca.

Hello,

I will arrive in Salvador next week and want a not-overly-dingy and fairly inexpensive room near Pelhourino. What do you suggest?

Afterward, I will monger my way down the coast (Praia do Forte, Morro de Sao Paulo, Itacaré, Porto Seguro, Vitoria, Buzios, Rio) -- 3 weeks in all. Any specific suggestions for mongering (as well as suggestions for hotels, beaches and sightseeing, etc) would be appreciated. I'm traveling alone.

Yankee

Yankee,
I was in Itacare for 7 days about one year ago. I was staying there with my regular Brazilian girlfriend (well educated, perfect English!). So it was not P4P, and as she has a good job with a decent income, we even shared the cost for this week :-)
Therefore I don't know about the mongering scene in Itacare, and I couldn't see any obvious garotas de programa.
When you go there you will most probably stay in a part of the village where all the pousadas for the tourists are. That's what we did, and I was never in the center of Itacare.
Gorgeous beaches, feeling of paradise, but you should bring a girl with you!

By the way, you should check out [url]http://www.itacare.com.br/[/url].
We were staying in Pousada Atlantica, nice room, good breakfast, nice garden with pool.

Sorry, no explicit infos for you...

Pyjama