El Salvador ( The Savior )

Forcing ourselves away from the comforts of Antigua, we headed for the border with El Salvador.

Crossing the Ria Paz at the Las Chinamas Frontier, we had a good feeling. I don't think we have ever had a warmer, more friendly reception at a Border. They appeared to be genuinely happy to see tourists coming into their country. The lovely immigration lady, having stamped our passports, gave us a slip of paper with a handwritten list of places she recommended. 

Just a few years ago, travellers rarely ventured into El Salvador as it had a reputation for lawlessness, gang-related crime and Cartel wars. It had been declared as a "No Go" area by the British Foreign Office for many Years.

However, all this has changed.

In March 2022, after a particularly brutal Cartel war, the president, Nayibe Bukele,  declared a state of Emergency and a war against the gangs.

This declaration enabled the authorities to indefinitely detain anyone whom they perceived to be an active gang member. To date, over 91,000 alleged gang members have been imprisoned. 

Although seen by outsiders as a very controversial act with many Human Rights issues,  it has, without doubt, changed the entire country. 

El Salvador is not only beautiful, with its green, rugged landscape, but its people now feel free. Everyone is happy with their new country and they welcome tourists with open arms. 

Its a beautiful country full of warm friendly wonderful  people.

Our first stop, just over the border, was the town of Ahuachapan, camping on the shore of Lagune Del Llano

Although, not the prettiest town, Ahuachapan is famous for its many hot springs. It would be wrong to miss out on this.

Ahuachapan is also the start of "La Ruta De Las Flores" It 36 km long route through the highlands, connects six colourful towns known for their coffee, murals, artisan culture and food festivals. The towns of Juayua and Apaneca are on this route.   

El Salvador isn't a particularly large country. It has an area of 20,779 square km, which is about the size of Wales in the UK. This means it's never too far to your next destination. On this occasion, it was the remote Volcanic crater known as Laguna Verde. 

The drive up to the Laguna was very steep and tested our low gears. Coming back down should have been straight forward. However, a dispute as to which road to take resulted chosing the wrong one. The unpaved, overgrown, steep dirt road wasn't one of my best choices. Oncoming traffic had lots of fun getting past us. 

The small, pretty town of Apeneca gave us an opportunity to try El Salvador's famous Pupusas for the first time.

Puposas are made from Cornmeal and Rice flour, you can get them with just about any filling.

Our next destination was the town of Juayua. At weekends the centre of turn is turned into a street food based festival. 

The parish Church of Santa Lucia in Juayua is famous for its images and statues of " Cristo Negro" . A black Jesus.

A nearby attraction is the area known as the Seven Cascades. It was very steep and very wet, but really enjoyable. 

Most of the walks and National Parks in El Salvador require you to employ a local guide. 

Pat arranged a one to one guide for me. His name was Julio Cesar. We set of early and had the whole place to ourselves. However, when exiting, we passed many large Groups of thirty plus heading into the cascades. I would imagine that by 10 am the queues for the sights would have been very long.

 

Geographically, the landscape is dominated by over 100 Volcanoes . Six are declared currently active.

The tallest, still active, is called Volcano Santa Ana and is 2382 m high.

With a bit of persuasion from Pat and our friends Sandie and Karsten, I climbed to the top.

This was a bit of an achievment for me as Im not exactly "Hiking Fit".

It's accurate to say that the Scenery in El Salvador is amazing. For too long, this country has been hidden from the rest of the world.

Pats research told us that there was only one way to get to our next destination. Our first attempt at getting to the camping area called Rancho Tajadas in the town of Sacacoyo came to an abrupt stop approximately 100m before the entrance. 

Half the  road had been dug up and a tree was leaning into the remaining half . Despite, the well meaning, locals measuring the road and our truck. Their suggestions that we run  half of our tyre tread overthe edge  the 2 meter deep hole were ruled out. 

We admitted defeat and apologised to the camp site. Pat had identified a nearby mirrador where it was possible for us to stay. The next morning Elly, the campground owner, was banging on our door. She told us that the road was now clear and we could come back. After a bit more investigation, we discovered that in order to accomodate us, the offending tree had been cut down.  Although it was done with good intention, we really were a bit horrified and sad  that the tree had gone.

The village of Sacacoyo was incredibly friendly. One afternoon, we ventured into the town for some local coffee and Pupusas. During the 500m walk , we must have been greeted with "Buenas Tardes over 50 times. Obviously, each one received a similar response. On the way back two hours later,  we were greeted by the same 50 people with the greeting Buenas Noche.

Pat entered into a lengthy chat with the Pupusa Ladies. I'm not sure how much was understood on each side, but there was a lot of laughing and mutual understanding.  

Whilst based in the beautiful gardens of Rancho Tajadas in the town of Sacacoyo, we ventured out on the motorcycle to the surrounding areas. 

Firstly to Lago De Coatepeque, a large flooded volcanic crater that sits in the shadow of Volcano Santa Ana.

A popular landmark is the Large rock outcrop at Penon just outside the town of Comasagua. 

The 45 km ride took us on winding roads with sharp bends every 100m or so. The views were incredible.

The roads were in pretty good condition right up until we entered the town of Comasagua. It then turned to cobbled streets with huge pot holes and sections of deep sand. We were still about 6km from our destination. 

Pat had spoken to a local guy about this last section and it was decided to leave the bike in town and get on the local chicken bus for the last bit.

The bus was full, or even overfull. Standing room only. For the next 30 minutes, we held the overhead grab rails for dear life whilst everyone was thrown around. It was a good call not to take the bike.

Despite the cramped conditions, everyone on the bus was incredibly friendly. They were telling us where to get off and which way to go. One even kindly offered us their seats. (which we didn't take)

We arrived at Penon Comoyagua at exactly midday. Only complete stupid fools would set off on a hike at this time of day with the temperatures hitting 30 plus degrees. 

The last 200 carved steps nearly finished me off

The Views were Stunning, you could even see the Pacific Ocean.

San Salvador ( Holy Saviour ) is the countries capital City , with a population of around 550,000.

We parked Cloud 9 in a quiet side street in the suberbs and opted to get a taxi into the centre.

The adjacent park had a great Organic Market and Yoga sessions on Sunday 

Like many Latin American cities, the main square is the centre of town and is always a good starting point.

Many of the Buildings had Classical European style colonial architecture. The National Theatre was a good example of this. 

The National Palace, which was built in 1911, sits on the site of a previous wooden palace that sadly burnt down in 1889.

Its design is very European, and many of the building materials were sourced in Europe both at the time of its construction and its subsequent renovations. It was the home of the Government up until 1974 . It has since been unoccupied and is simply a majestic state bulding on the main square. 

In some instances, El Salvador can teach the rest of us a lesson. In every public place we went to, there were well equipped, comfortable  , air conditioned stations. they even provided Tea and Coffee, fruit juice and wipes etc.

Even their health system seems to be quite advanced. A taxi driver told us that if he needs a doctor, he can get an online consultation quickly and if medication is needed then he is sent a QR code to show the chemist when he collects the drugs.

The new El Salvador is a fast developing country. It has received lots of outside investment for its roads, infrastructure, and buildings.

Non is more apparent than the New National Library, which towers over the main square.

Opened in 2023 by the President, the library was constructed with Chinese Investment. It has seven floors , each of which is dedicated to either a different age group or theme. 

President Bukele, has recognised that the future prosperity of his country lies in education. Under his direction, all children get free school uniform, a free computer.  In addition certain University courses that are deemed essential such as Information Technology,  AI and Finance are also free.

The library was very impressive.

As Bitcoin is one of their National Currencies, an Entire section of the Library was devoted to teaching Salvadorians how to use it 

The Library contained a very impressive and well presented collection of reference books for all ages and requirements.

It also offered other forms of education, with sensory zones, soft play areas, Building blocks , Lego   and computer and media areas. 

Small study areas, like mini classrooms, were also available for older students. 

The seventh floor, which was dedicated to art, also had a great Italian restaurant.

The City views from the roof top were amazing .

An interesting building in the city centre was the Iglesia El Rosario, also known as the Rainbow Church.

It was built between 1964 and 1971.

From the outside, it looks more like an indoor market or Train Station. However, inside was where the magic happened. The light was incredible.

The Somasca El Calvario Church offers more traditional Architecture .

In 2001, the national currency of El Salvador, the Colon, was replaced by the US dollar. 

At the same it became the first country in the world to adopt the bitcoin as a national currency. 

Although Bitcoin is accepted in many places, local shops prefer the dollar. 

Like most Latin American cities, there are plenty of street traders trying to sell anything from Fruit to clothing. Everything seems to cost One Dollar and all you here is the constant street chorus  "One Dollar, One Dollar One Dollar." They are everywhere.

This lady was trying to sell "One Dollar" Bras to Pat. 

I think it was going to be a tough sale. Pat did  laugh with her.

Just north west of San Salvador is the Boqueron  National Park.  It centres around a dormant volcano    (Boqueron)  that has a 5km diameter Crater.

We have been in El Salvador for almost a month, and it's fair to say, we love it. 

The scenery is amazing, and the Salvadorian people could not be more welcoming and friendly.

We will be here for another couple of weeks, so I am sure that " El Salvador Part 2" blog is in the pipeline.

Hasta Luego