Day 15/16 - The journey to Arraial d'Ajuda

If long distance bus journeys have taught me anything, it's that air conditioning is the enemy. What I used to see as a helpful piece of technology now prevents sleep on the 19 hour bus journey we have just made; no fun for anyone as you can well imagine! Enough of the moaning though, as we were lucky to be able to catch that bus at all. After our failed attempt last week to book a direct bus to Porto Seguro (see blog post titled Day 4) we arrived at the Rodoviario or station back in Novo Rio with the hope we could get tickets. Max had pre-empted me of the bus station as when he had been there four years ago it had been quite suspect. But it turns out there was absolutely nothing to worry about: shops, food outlets and Internet cafes sit beside the bus company kiosks and there is a military presence in the backgrounds to keep the order. Typically it turns out the bus to Porto Seguro was full, so with out best broken Portuguese, Spanish and English, Maria the very helpful lady at the bus company was able to book us tickets to Eunopolis to then get a connecting bus to Arraial d'Ajuda. (Porto Seguro is the biggest town close to AdA so I have referenced it as that before if there is any confusion). So 24 hours after we left Ilha Grande, a boat, a bus and a taxi later, we arrived at the hostel to find a quirky interior decorated with Carnaval masks and floral garlands and... A POOL! I'm also in a girls only dormitory which is a relief from sleeping in a room with 8 snoring stinky men for the last 4 nights! Needless to say, Arraial d'Ajuda has made a good impression already :)