I was traveling in the city of Salvador, Brazil.

Salvador has two parts, the old town up on a cliff, and the port area below. Most of the hotels are in the old town, and that's where I stayed. There's an elevator that connects the two, and most people take that.

On my first day, I decided to check out the port, but instead of taking the elevator, I looked at the map and decided to walk down a winding road, it looked more interesting.

So I headed down, and along the way I came across a group of locals on the sidewalk hanging out and playing drums. I watched them for a while, chatted a bit, took some photos. As I was about to say goodbye and continue down the street, one of the young guys in the group told me, "Don't go down that street, it's dangerous. Follow me." He led me into the building that they were gathered in front of. At the moment I didn't think it strange that he would take me into a building when he knew I wanted to continue walking, presumably on a street, to the port area. But I went anyway.

From the bright late-morning sunshine we were plunged into the darkness of a dank, dark, hallway. The smell of mold and urine, stale alcohol. We went down a set of steps. There were people lying down on the floor in stairwell. As we passed nearly empty, unlit rooms, I saw shadows of people inside, probably doing drugs. At each landing, I thought, "This is it. His buddy is waiting around the next corner with a baseball bat, ready to bash my head and rob me." We passed three floors, then four floors, rounded another landing and then... a door. My guide opened it.

I was bathed in sunlight and lively crowds of people, as I found myself facing the plaza by the port. "Here we are. Have a good day!", the guy said. And I did!