Alegria and saudade, it's Carnaval!

Brazil: unspoilt beaches and places alongside frenzied cities, friendly and hospitable people in an environment that is often hostile despite the natural beauty it is set in. Salvador de Bahia: my first nine days pass among the alleys of the Pelourinho, the city's historic centre, and the paradise island of Morro de Sao Paulo, two hours away by boat. As soon as I arrive in Bahia I stay at a pousada in Itapoà, a long sandy beach with lively nightlife, but I soon realise that the poetry sung by Vinicius de Moraes and Caetano Veloso is no longer there, and I head for the city centre, where I hope to find the music and the atmosphere that made me choose Brazil as the destination of my overseas journey.

I follow the trail of the characters described by Jorge Amado in his novels and visit the museum dedicated to him; I see again those faces at the windows, taste again that cuisine and hear again that music that had made me travel with my imagination to this land, and I think about how beautiful it must have been to live here in the days of Dona Flor. Kids improvise Capoeira shows in the streets, and the sound of percussion is everywhere; the rhythms of mother Africa are the soundtrack of Bahia, and the festival of the sea goddess, Yemanjà, on the second of February, is a compendium of all the culture and folklore, as well as the religiosity, of this great Brazilian state. Bahia is a world of music and noise, celebration and sorrow, hard to forget; its bay, seen from the upper part of the city, often appears to me just by closing my eyes whenever I think back on it.

Porto Seguro: one night on a comfortable bus and I'm in Porto Seguro, I go on to Arrajal d'Ajuda, and there I stop for five days, which I will later judge to be too few. Here the beaches are truly enchanting; some of them, Trancoso and Caraiva, are reached after a few hours on dirt roads, and for this it's worth renting a dune buggy or an enduro motorbike, but it's really worth it. Arrajal is a quiet and delightful little place perched on a hill overlooking the beaches, with a lively nightlife and ethnic restaurants in excellent taste, souvenir and craft shops in a cosmopolitan setting. Ilheus: halfway to Salvador, the birthplace of Amado.

I arrive two weeks before the official Carnival, but in the evening along the seafront it's already Carnival in full swing, so loud you can't sleep at night; there's a queue below my hotel at the guarded entrance to the square where the floats and the masked groups parade. On Sunday morning it rains, and everything is closed, even the church opens at six in the evening, but in the evening the party erupts again. I'm on Rua Jorge Amado, in the Jorge Amado district, a few steps from the Bar Vesuvio, described by Jorge Amado, where I had dinner yesterday, a decadent air and no trace of Gabriela, the protagonist of the novel set here. Amado and Gabriela, however, appear in a mural at the Bar Vesuvio, but there's no scent of clove or cinnamon...

instead there are stalls and a funfair, samba and capoeira performances, rivers of caipirinha and beer entertaining the many people gathered on the road towards the port. I stay here two and a half days, then return to Salvador. Three more days in the capital of the state of Bahia to visit the churches of Sao Francisco and Ns Senhora do Bonfim and to bathe on the beaches of Boa Viagem and Itaparica, and to return to the venues in the centre and outside the city for some fantastic live music and to taste again the excellent Bahian cuisine. Olinda and Recife: the last part of my journey goes through the state of Pernambuco, in the colonial city of Olinda, resting on a hill with a view over the modern Recife.

I stay here until Carnival, with a couple of days in Porto de Galinhas in between, advertised as the most beautiful beach in Brazil, and in the end it's not so bad, especially for those who love surfing and aren't looking for much nightlife. Pernambuco will stay with me for its crazy and humble Carnival, a poor people's affair, the illusion of a people who, despite their hardships, take to the streets and there forget everything and drown in the joy of living.

For further information on the places visited, travel tips, transport, what to do, buy, eat, and anything else you'd like to ask me about Bahia and Pernambuco. Good Brazil to everyone. And a special greeting to all the friends I met along the way.