Day 35

Drank way too much last night, and was punished for it this morning. The clincher, on reflection, was the ridiculous caipirinha we bought at the live samba bar, where I egged the barman on shouting "de nada, de nada, sos Inles!" (its nothing, its nothing, we're English) as he poured in more cachaca. Paid for it then (a steep R$6 a drink) and paid for it earlier as well. Still Joanna's pad is a good one to lie around in; cool and shady with a great little garden at the back, which like the house is full of home-made solutions to furniture problems. Found out we had to make a small change to our flight plans but its no problem.

Wolfed down a great chilli risotto Catarina cooked up, which made me feel a bit better but pretty much all day I just walked around in that hazy, booze-battered mood where you think and daydream all day about anything, but can't decide whether to get a glass of water or not.

Eventually made a group decision to wander and dawdled to a little cafeteria with a wide view of the bay. Had a pot of Twinings English Breakfast, first cup of tea in five weeks. Decided to get my hair cut and managed to get pretty much what I wanted, which isn't too bad considering the barber spoke no English. His shop was pretty much the corridor of a house with a door to the street, with the inhabitants wandering in and out as he worked, listening to The Fugees on his mobile phone.

In the evening we all dispersed around the town so I dropped into the salgados place on the corner 'La Dolce Vita' where a girl I met called Rafaela works. We just chatted for a while, practising English and Portuguese until the rest of the crew picked me up for dinner at 'Senak', a highly reputed buffet restaurant. Incredible food, rows of traditional Bahian food and fresh fruit for desert, especially appreciated after yesterday's snacking. It was our treat for Joanna as well and a great way to thank her for her hospitality.

Had a quiet evening with a few drinks in various places with everyone. This is a happy place to be and there is a happy group of people enjoying it. Alex and Cat are just loving being together again, its great to see.