Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: October 2013: Click on the pics - they get much bigger, and you see much more. Click, click, click to scroll through them.

Valencia, small town near Morro de Sao Paulo, about 1 hour south of Salvador

Most of the pics below are taken from my seat in a bus while riding from Valencia to Camamu, on my way to the beach destination, Barra Grande.  This is neither cherry or rotten apple picking. This is what Bahia Brazil looks like for the 5 hours south of Brazil that I saw from Salvador all the way to Itacare.  I did see one nicer, non-tourist area on one side of Salvador. But other than the nice tourist spots, this is (below) what Brazil looks like to most Brazilians.   At least in this section of Bahia.