how to avoid beeing robbed in salvador

nachdem es nun immer klarer wird, dass ich meine urlaubspläne für ostasien begraben muss, schaue ich mich notgedrungen nach alternativen um.

hängematten tauglich muss es sein, sommer, strand, wassernahe palmen, gutes und günstiges lokales essen...

brasilien!

der billigflieger bietet den flug nach salvador - der drittgrößten stadt des landes - für 600 euro an. und was muss man in salvador beachten?


how to avoid beeing robbed and raped in salvador

One thing that helps is looking as little like a "gringo" as possible. Looking like a tourist is advertising that one is walking around with money in one's pocket. A few things you can do are:

Don't wear black (or dark) socks with shorts. NOBODY here does that, except for European gringos (you German and Scandinavian guys mostly). It's a dead giveaway.

The socks you do wear with shorts should not be pulled up high like a football (soccer) player. They should be pulled down loose around the ankles.

Hair is another dead giveaway. The guys here don't have hair that is spiky or sticks up or swooshes back. Anything between Johnny Rotten and James Dean means you're a definite out-of-towner. A baseball cap is a good idea. They are really common here, and they are also very practical under the glare of the strong tropical sun.

Dressing down doesn't make you look poor; it makes you look like, again, a gringo. Brazilians, even poor Brazilians, like to dress decently. Their clothes are clean and pressed, even t-shirts. I'm not saying not to wear what you like to wear (read: old, faded clothes with holes), but again, be aware that it sets you apart.

Oh, and you German guys (I swear I'm not picking on you) who like to show off your legs in those short jean cutoffs, if you wear them here everybody will think you're gay. Hey! If you are gay, or have no problems with being seen as such, no problem!


nun gut, und welche viertel sollte ich meiden?

The Cristo (the hill with the Christ statue just north of the beach at Farol da Barra) should definitely be avoided at night, as should walks around and behind the Farol (lighthouse). There have even been incidents at the Farol and the Forte Santa Maria (to the side of the beach at Porto da Barra) during the day lately, so conspicuous jewelry and display of expensive (or expensive looking) cameras should be avoided.

As for Pelourinho, heavy policing keeps the area generally very safe (though not free from constant entreaties to buy or give). There is, however, an area which should be off-limits to anybody who doesn't know what they could be getting into by entering it, and that is the area to the right of Praça da Sé as one enters the praça, and to right of Terreiro de Jesus as one enters from Praça da Sé. The first street parallel to Praça da Sé is okay during the day, it's the electronics shop district, but by night this street and certainly those deeper into this area should definitely be avoided.

The street that descends from the Igreja de São Francisco to the right as one faces the church, heading straight down to the infamous Rua 28 de Dezembro should be avoided. You definitely enter at your own risk!

Like most cities in the world, taking a taxi here is a gamble on the honesty of the driver, but there's one place where the odds are definitely stacked against passengers, and that's the Terreiro de Jesus, in Pelourinho.