Blogs from San Salvador, Central, El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 4

Keen to see some ‘typical’ Central American towns we drove with Bessy (and Morena another teacher also living at Bessy’s) out to Suchitoto, a very pretty town with a gleaming white church, cobbled square and low rise houses. The sun was scorching hot and as we ambled around the small town we came across an unusual little museum full of a random collection of plates. We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant with gorgeous views over Suchitoto Lake and the surrounding mountains. Having previously completed a walk around Boqueron volcano with dogs we thought we’d try it without the risk of being hauled over the edge. The scenery throughout El Salvador is dominated by volcanoes providing a dramatic back drop, with San Salvador nestled between a number it looks most impressive. On our walk we were lucky ... read more

Antigua, Guatemala The shuttle from El Salvador to Antigua was uneventful. We were the only two on the mini-bus and the journey only took around five hours. We arrived late in the evening and were fortunate to find a room for the night. Antigua is a very touristy city, with loads of ex-pats and a Spanish school on every corner. This is probably due to the fact the city is quite spectacular. Antigua is surrounded by three volcanoes, the colonial architecture is the finest we have seen to date, and the climate is not the stand-there- and-sweat environs we have become accustommed to. We spent a day wandering aimlessly through the city, finding that around every corner there was another interesting church or building. Antigua has a little cosmo feel to it too, with cafes everywhere ... read more

July 27 - I didn't sleep well at all last night, even with earplugs. I guess it was because I knew I had to get up so early in the morning and I kept checking my watch for the time. At 4am I was up and I left just a few minutes too early. The taxi got me to the Tica Bus at 4:50am, 10 minutes before the place opened. Luckily the cab driver sat with me for a few minutes, until another girl showed up. The place opened up a few minutes later. We got on the road at 6am and I thought I would sleep all the way, like yesterday. But no. Maybe because yesterday was so hot and today the bus had air conditioning (first one). Who knows? But no sleep to be ... read more

We arrived to San Salvador on Thursday, late afternoon. Arnold (our personal taxi driver we kept calling when we needed someone) dropped us off at the hotel (Hotel Tazumal House) just for enough time to check in, drop off our stuff, and then drove us to a nearby mall called Metro Centro. Driving through San Salvador, we kept mentioning how much better it seemed than Tegucigalpa (or "Tegucighetto" as we started calling it). The streets were lit, lines were painted on the roads, the roads were straight and neighbourhoods seemed organized. There was a difference between residential and commercial sections. The whole city just seemed planned and though-out, whereas Tegus is a sloppy mess of stuff just splattered everywhere. We were blown away by the mall too. It was SOOOOO big, there was no way we ... read more

We have now passed the halfway point of our one month visit to El Salvador as well as our halfway point of our 3 countries in 3 month part of our travels. Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador have an agreement where you can get a visa to pass between the countries for 90 days. We can only have the car in one country for 30 days, so we decided to try to cover 3 countries in the 90 days. After visiting Guatemala for 1 month and now in El Salvador for 2 weeks, we have 2 weeks left in El Salvador and then 30 days in Nicaragua. Halfway through and we’re about pooped out. We spent the first few days in San Salvador visiting malls, fast food and local tourist attractions. After getting our fill ... read more