=========================================================
Sent from Salvador, Brazil on Fri, 9 Dec 2005 

Subject: Circling Brazil by Bus; Anatomy of a Bus Robbery;
Hello from Salvador de Bahia 

Let me start with the robbery first, as it happened at the
start of my bus tour from Belem (at the mouth of the Amazon
River´s southern Delta, in contrast to the more complex
northern Delta) to Fortaleza, Brazil´s 5th largest city
and the next large city south on the Atlantic coast.  By
the way, I am typing this at the Internet Cafe at the Bus
Station (2nd floor) in Recife, in Recife, on my way to
Salvador--24 hours--shortly.

Bus to Fortaleza.  Paid 155 Local for it, about $70,
about half the fare in Mexico or Turkey, for this 24-28-hour
trip (which turned out to 33 hours due to a robbery of bus).

1.  Anatomy of a Bus Robbery.  The sun had set already at
6:30pm or so and it was dark.  13 hours into the what was
supposed to have been a 24 to 28-hour ride, I was dozing on
and off.  Something, call it a vibe, but NOT premonition of
things to come, made me take off my travel jacket, fold it,
and without much thought shove it against the wall behind
the foot rest, a large rectangular contraption in front of
every seat, that one pulled down against the seat to give
the lower legs a milder incline than straight down.  We
were also given blankets and pillows.  I stashed away mine
in the overhead stowage, but spread the blanket so as to
cover myself but especially the foot rest with pieces of my
jacket sticking out.  Then I dozed off again.

My travel jacket is my primary travel companion.  It weighs
about 15 pounds with all the things I have stashed away in
its about a dozen pockets, including Dollars for emergency
(in 2 separate pockets), my passport and travel documents,
ticket, maps and travel books, some medicine, my cell
phone, camera, spare batteries, a razor, tooth brush and
paste, and several other items, sometimes a rain gear too. 
I can check in my luggage and take a (say) 3-day excursion
just with my jacket.

The next thing I heard was angry loud voices in the cabin. 
I opened my eyes and saw two guys right in front of me,
slightly to my right.  It was 9:30pm,; I had dozed off no
more than 20 minutes.  For a split second, I thought
something had happened to the bus and we were given
instructions as to what next.  Then I noticed that both
guys were waving away guns at our faces while also talking
with their hands.  It dawned on me what was happening. 
Both seemed cheap Saturday Night specials, about 38
caliber, one black the other shiny metallic.  Casually I
moved my left arm with my watch behind my head, seemingly
to lift my head slightly to listen better, though I
maintained a studied sleepy look, so as to (also) hide the
fact that I was a foreigner, the only one on board, and did
not understand a word they were saying.  I also stole a
quick look at my feet if the jacket was still inconspicuous
in its place.  A little piece on the right, towards the
guys, stuck out.  So I moved my feet to allow the blanket
drop over that piece.

I had Seat #2, the isle seat to the left of the isle. 
Since the isle was narrow, the 2 were standing partially
blocking each other.  I was the nearest person to them,
which also put my feet away from their direct view.  Then
one guy walked to the back of the bus, the other remained
where he was, almost touching my feet.  He produced a blue
plastic bag from somewhere--must have been on the floor
while they were talking--and put it on my lap/tummy. 
People began emptying their pockets and taking off
valuables on them some, in panic, also adding stuff
they might have kept.  I was wearing shorts, with about
$200 and 2 credit cards folded in my left pocket, and local
currency, about 150 ($75), in my right pocket, as I always
do when I travel.

Next to me was an Iranian guy who had migrated to Brazil in
1979, now living in Suriname.  He had been also my
translator for things I needed to know.  I waited for him
to give away his things, which the guy examined briefly
before dumping them into the bag on my tummy.  I lifted my
right hip slightly to get into my right pocket, thus also
taking away attention from the left side, and gave him the
local currency, glad that the folded bunch contained
smaller bills in the middle, surrounded by 10s, so as to
make the bundle thick.  I handed over my contribution.  He
asked me if I had a cell phone, of which I understood only
the word cellular.  I shook my head no and shoved the
blanket down to expose my hips.  For the first 3 rows, he
brought back the booty and put it in the bag on my tummy,
amusing if the situation was not so surrealistic.

They were done in about (very slow) 15 minutes.  Then said
something else, got off the bus, climbed into a car and
took off.  This is when I noticed that we were not on the
main highway--I was already wondering why there was no
traffic at all.  The Iranian told me what had happened. 
The road was bad overall, some parts really bad, the driver
trying to avoid bathtub-size potholes everywhere.  So on a
particularly bad stretch, when the driver had slowed down
almost to a stop, this small car had passed the bus and
stopped in front of it, forcing our driver to stop too.  3
guys with guns had sprung out of the car and waving their
pistols forced our driver to open the door.  Once inside,
one guy went back to the car drove in some deserted
direction (on an already relatively deserted highway), the
2 in the bus telling our driver to follow, why we were in
the middle of nowhere, surrounded by bushes and trees. 
Just before they left, the 2 had also barked to the driver
not to move the bus until 2am, that they might come back,
the Iranian translated to me, as we sat in pitch dark.

2 guys in the bus produced flashlights, but no one dared to
move.  I told the Iranian that the 2 bandits just wanted to
give themselves ample time to change states, that they
would not be back.  I decided to get on my feet, then lit a
cigarette, against an avalanche of outcry.  The Iranian
explained to them my theory, and that they could not just
sit there idle.  A few other guys got on their feet and
induced the panic-stricken driver to move onto his seat. 
This is when we found out that the bandits had also taken
away the key to the bus.  The guys began looking for it in
the brush.  I asked the Iranian to ask if someone on board
could hot-wire the bus.  One guy with the flashlight worked
several minutes on this and the bus started.  Too tight to
turn around, we backed off for 1/4km and then turned around
to reach the highway.  Within about 30 min we saw a state
highway car, gave a report to them, after which they guided
us for another 20 minutes to a shack-office of federal
police.  A few sharp-eyed passengers had recognized 2 of
the bandits from the last rest stop at about 8pm, and
indeed, looking thru 6 volumes of photos, they found the
pictures of 2 of them.

By then, delayed by 5 hours due to this incident, we
arrived in Fortaleza at midnight, all of us looking like
zombies.  Although we had given a report about our losses,
we knew we would not be compensated for them, so I did not
even report mine, ditto several others.  Alas, some people
had lost not only everything on them, the bandits had also
taken away some of the luggage in the luggage compartment,
several of them complaining of great loss.  And indeed,
several of them asked me what had induced me to hide away
my jacket so well, some wistfully adding why I had not
warned them...  I had no answer.

2. Brazil Info.  Brazil is slightly smaller than the USA,
about the size of Australia--depending on what fringes are
counted in both.  The people are some of the friendliest
and most leisurely culture I have met.  Alas, almost none
speak English, so travel in these parts is arduous, despite
relatively well-organized infrastructure all around.  And
if Churchill´s definition of courage--dignity under
duress--holds, they are also among the most courageous. 
Many are dirt poor, yet seemingly genuinely happy despite
their lot.  4 days on-board with very simple people, I did
not once catch an unfriendly look or any sign of animosity,
someone on ego trip.  And I suggest that they are also the
cleanest people I met anywhere, especially in view of their
very tight circumstances on board.  Guys in shorts
frequented the showers on deck, women the more private
enclosed ones.  People brushed their teeth frequently, food
or no food.  The women, some VERY attractive native and
black girls, looked delicious in their simple mix-and-match
outfits, with none of the studied modeling of the Slavic
women, and none of their demure and aloof demeanor.  I
decided I like the Brazilian culture.  This said, Brazil
also has little of the sophistication of Argentina, even
Chile.  These are earthy people who seem genuinely
friendly.  This may be less so in the cities, particularly
among the well-to-do, but it was so among the common people
with whom I shared my journey on the boat and in several
buses.

3. The countryside.  I covered huge distances getting from
the cities of Belem to Fortaleza to Natal to Recife to
Salvador, all large cities (and state capitals) on the
Atlantic.  In Salvador, I will turn inland to Belo
Horizante to Brazilia to the Pantanal region, landscape
like Florida Everglades, that occupies a large chunk of the
far (central) west of Brazil.  This too will cover huge
distances, all the way to Cuiaba in the State of Mato
Grosso (MG), then south to Campo Grande in MG-South.  Talk
about the boondocks, I will be in it several days just
getting to the Pantanal, and out.  I was going to do also
the parts south of Sao Paulo and Rio, actually 3 stops
there, Curitiba, Florianopolis, and Puerto Allegre, but
they would add another huge chunk of distance with
diminishing returns, as the south is more industrialized and
less natural.  Besides the beauty of the beaches to Salvador
is what attracts even the locals to the areas I already
covered.  The rest is to get to the world-famous Pantanal,
then Foz Iguazu on my way to the Itaipu Dam and Paraguay. 
By then, I will have crossed 18 of the 27 states of Brazil,
but the most important landscape.  This is enough for me.

I should add that once you leave the Amazon fauna (so
south) and away from the Atlantic, many settlements are very
much like places in Malawi, etc., including many mud houses
with thatch roofs.  That is, the northeast of Brazil is
particularly poor.  And as I pointed out for Africa, there
are too many babies also here.  The promiscuity among the
young people here may even surpass that in Africa, in view
of lesser worry here about AIDS.  The bush country in
Brazil, for example arriving inland from Fortaleza to
Natal, is often impenetrable--even with machetes; burning
or bulldozing seem the only options.  Other parts are like
the bush in much of Africa, with some spaces, or even in
American Southwest, in the Mojave or Sonora deserts.

4. Distances.  24-28 hours Belem to Fortaleza, 8.5 hours to
Natal, 4.5 hours to Recife, 12 hours to Bahia.

5. Suggested Itinerary in Brazil for YOU.  As I had
mentioned there are cheap flights to Brazil from several
European countries, England, France, Holland among them. 
And, from what I hear, they fly directly to say Manaus,
whereas from USA all flights got first to Sao Paulo or Rio.

Varig has passes for flights to
Brazilian destinations.  I believe coupons for 4 flights go
for $450 or so, BUT only if you arrive in Brazil by Varig. 
If I were you, a) fly first to RIO to see its rare
geography (carnival or not), b) then start your Brazilian
tour of 4: 1) Manaus, b) ship to Belem, 2) Salvador, 3)
Pantanal, 4) Back to Rio.  Do not take a bus.  Distances
are huge, the roads are bad in parts, connections arduous .
. . exhausting if you are not used to such.

1) MANAUS must be included in
your itinerary.  It is unique, in view of the beginnings of
the Amazon river.  Be sure to take a jungle and river tour
with ECO Planet, rather than booked to an expensive lodge
in the jungle.  2) BOAT to Belem is also a must, though you
might fly from Manaus to SANTAREM at midway and do the trip
from there to Belem in less than 2 days.  Consider
seriously a cabin, not hammock.  3) Flight over the Delta. 
You might want to do this.  (By the way, the Amazon carries
12 times the water volume of the Mississippi.)  4)  there
are many very beautiful beaches all around the cities I
passed, especially up to 3 hours before and after
Fortaleza, all along the Atlantic, and (I am told) cities
like Florianopolis, etc. also offer beautiful colonial
architecture.  BUT, from my reading, you can combine all
the latter best, and some, in the city of SALVADOR,
Brazil´s 3rd largest city, where I am heading, which will
mark 1/2 of my entire bus tour. 



Sirman