Santa Tecla to Parquin, El Salvador 190 miles
We both woke up after a good nights rest. It’s amazing how very tiring some of the days on the road are. Between the new roads, dangers, and the abundance of new things to absorb during the day, you can get completely exhausted. It was refreshing to wake up in a clean hotel room revitalized.
Our first leg of the trip was through San Salvador, we knew it would be a hassle as all big cities are, and that did hold true. It seems that every big city has a main road, which most of the traffic follows, but then it disappears and you end up at a dead end or some back alley. No matter how much you try to follow the flow of the traffic to get through town, you end up where you don’t want to. This time we weaved through until hitting the center of the city; what a mess! There were thousands of vendors selling all sorts of things from belts, watches, cd’s and DVDs, all lined up taking about half of the roadway. The other half consisted of busses, trucks and the traffic just trying to get through. It was slammed packed, wall to wall vehicles and at times were not moving. Trucks would just stop and unload their goods, etc. Madness, but we made it out safely, surprising considering the drivers! I almost felt I was in Rome for a while as the roads do not have lines in them, and going quick down a three way wide highway means insanity!
We made our way to a little town called Suchitoto, which was supposed to resemble what Antigua used to be. We arrived around noon to find a very small town with a nice white church perched in the middle; not much else to see. It is obvious from what we have seen that El Salvador does not receive many tourists. There are very few hotels, traveler friendly shops, restaurants or cafes. We stopped at a little café for a beverage and to take in the little bit of El Salvador that we could, and decided to hit the road again to near the Hondorus border in preparation for tomorrow’s day across the entire country.
The countryside was enjoyable, but not spectacular, at least from what we have seen on the road thus far. The weather went from very hot and humid to slightly showering; on and off all day. There are plenty of poverty stricken people, just like the rest of Latin America has been, but there also seems to be quite a bit of wealth here as well.
After a couple more hours on the road we hit a fork in which we could continue to the Honduras border, or veer off and up into the Mountains where we read was a nice lodge run and owned by an American guy. We decided to treat ourselves right and headed up into the mountains as it was only 2pm and we didn’t want to cross the border into Honduras late in the afternoon. It was a good choice. The drive up here was beautiful, some of the nicest scenery yet in El Salvador. As we climbed the mountain, the air got cooler and we started to spot Pine trees lining the hilltops. The people all smile as you drive by and the kids stare in amazement; a nice atmosphere. The lodge was well worth the drive as well, it sits on top of a mountain, you can get your own cabin for $50/night or a room for $30/night including breakfast. We got a room, which has the nicest warm shower I’ve been in since the US (obviously built by someone from the US), nice comfy bed and a great hammock on the front porch to lay in and relax. There is also a great big restaurant which served us a nice lunch. Mike had Pupusa which is an El Salvadorian dish; resembled a corn quesadilla.
We are debating whether we stay here another night and enjoy a day or rest as well as check out the local museum as this was the FMLN headquarters in the 1980’s. You can supposedly check out the old bunkers, and even have a veteran Guerilla guide you around. We haven’t decided yet. Either we stay another night or we’re off through Honduras and in Nicaragua tomorrow; Leon!
It is our one month Anniversary on the trip. It feels like ages ago that we were in Baja cruising along the road with Keith and Michael. It feels like even more time since I woke up in my own house and said good morning to Max and Vince. My job has become something of the distant past. Although given that perspective the time has flown by. I am surprised that we have already been on the road a month. One tenth of the trip is behind us; two countries down. What we have seen already has been amazing and almost overwhelming, I still cannot fathom continuing at this pace through many more countries, and different cultures.
Our first leg of the trip was through San Salvador, we knew it would be a hassle as all big cities are, and that did hold true. It seems that every big city has a main road, which most of the traffic follows, but then it disappears and you end up at a dead end or some back alley. No matter how much you try to follow the flow of the traffic to get through town, you end up where you don’t want to. This time we weaved through until hitting the center of the city; what a mess! There were thousands of vendors selling all sorts of things from belts, watches, cd’s and DVDs, all lined up taking about half of the roadway. The other half consisted of busses, trucks and the traffic just trying to get through. It was slammed packed, wall to wall vehicles and at times were not moving. Trucks would just stop and unload their goods, etc. Madness, but we made it out safely, surprising considering the drivers! I almost felt I was in Rome for a while as the roads do not have lines in them, and going quick down a three way wide highway means insanity!
We made our way to a little town called Suchitoto, which was supposed to resemble what Antigua used to be. We arrived around noon to find a very small town with a nice white church perched in the middle; not much else to see. It is obvious from what we have seen that El Salvador does not receive many tourists. There are very few hotels, traveler friendly shops, restaurants or cafes. We stopped at a little café for a beverage and to take in the little bit of El Salvador that we could, and decided to hit the road again to near the Hondorus border in preparation for tomorrow’s day across the entire country.
The countryside was enjoyable, but not spectacular, at least from what we have seen on the road thus far. The weather went from very hot and humid to slightly showering; on and off all day. There are plenty of poverty stricken people, just like the rest of Latin America has been, but there also seems to be quite a bit of wealth here as well.
After a couple more hours on the road we hit a fork in which we could continue to the Honduras border, or veer off and up into the Mountains where we read was a nice lodge run and owned by an American guy. We decided to treat ourselves right and headed up into the mountains as it was only 2pm and we didn’t want to cross the border into Honduras late in the afternoon. It was a good choice. The drive up here was beautiful, some of the nicest scenery yet in El Salvador. As we climbed the mountain, the air got cooler and we started to spot Pine trees lining the hilltops. The people all smile as you drive by and the kids stare in amazement; a nice atmosphere. The lodge was well worth the drive as well, it sits on top of a mountain, you can get your own cabin for $50/night or a room for $30/night including breakfast. We got a room, which has the nicest warm shower I’ve been in since the US (obviously built by someone from the US), nice comfy bed and a great hammock on the front porch to lay in and relax. There is also a great big restaurant which served us a nice lunch. Mike had Pupusa which is an El Salvadorian dish; resembled a corn quesadilla.
We are debating whether we stay here another night and enjoy a day or rest as well as check out the local museum as this was the FMLN headquarters in the 1980’s. You can supposedly check out the old bunkers, and even have a veteran Guerilla guide you around. We haven’t decided yet. Either we stay another night or we’re off through Honduras and in Nicaragua tomorrow; Leon!
It is our one month Anniversary on the trip. It feels like ages ago that we were in Baja cruising along the road with Keith and Michael. It feels like even more time since I woke up in my own house and said good morning to Max and Vince. My job has become something of the distant past. Although given that perspective the time has flown by. I am surprised that we have already been on the road a month. One tenth of the trip is behind us; two countries down. What we have seen already has been amazing and almost overwhelming, I still cannot fathom continuing at this pace through many more countries, and different cultures.
Packed up and ready to go!
Check out the sweet rear reflector
All the women here carry things on their head
Igesia de El Salvador
Postcard-esque
Mike is smiling because we have a NICE room for the night (and he didn't wipe out on the road up)
posted by Pedro and Maria at 2:45 PM
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