March 15, 2007
Day 533
Nilton and I in the slave market.
Today I went back to the center of Salvador and met Nilton, another guy from Couchsurfing. He's a Salvador native who was eager to show me around his city. We walked through many plazas, churches (including one whose inside was made entirely of gold), and several interesting shops. Next we went to the hostel he was helping build. It's going to be a huge place in a prime location, so I don't think they'll have much trouble attracting customers.
We took the elevator (a bargain at 2.5 US cents) down to the lower city by the bay. There was a huge market with many African dolls, masks, and other souvenirs. Below the market was the old slave market, an eerily quiet place with walkways around many canals. The slaves who were up for sale were chained to the walls. When the water rose, many of the slaves drowned. It was an interesting place to visit that's not listed in my guidebook, another advantage of getting to know one of the locals.
The photo album for this entry is here.
