Blogs from El Salvador, Central America Caribbean

Off to La Libertad from San Benito, San Salvador 2016... read more

Getting from Copan Ruins in Honduras to Suchitoto took the entire day. I left at 8AM and took 5 different buses and a taxi, with a total wait time of about 10 minutes, since buses just wait till they're nearly full to leave, which doesn't take long at all. But the journeys were pretty slow-going since the buses stop to pick up anyone waiting on the side of the road. The border was easy since several Central American countries have an agreement to allow travelers a 90-day visa. The town of Suchitoto is a charming time capsule of cobblestone streets, fading pastels, and a bustling town square. This is all worth a visit, but aside from trying different restaurants and cafes, there isn't much to do there, aside from checking out Lake Suchitlán, the largest lake ... read more

Kaum in El Salvador angekommen, haben wir auch schon die lokale Spezialität Pupusas ausprobiert. Dies sind Teigfladen welche mit Käse, Bohnen oder für Nichtvegetarier auch mit Fleisch gefüllt werden. Diese waren wirklich sehr gut und extrem preiswert. Am nächsten Tag besuchten wir einen Wasserfall. Dies taten wir, wie dass die lokalen Einwohner auch tun, das heisst stehend, oder hockend auf der Ladefläche eines Pick Up Trucks. Dies ist für uns zwar ungewohnt, aber in El Salvador ganz normal und man sieht teils Pick Ups welche mit etwa 15 Personen besetzt sind. Nach kurzer Wanderung erreichten wir den schönen Wasserfall in welchem man auch baden konnte. Dies konnte man aber nicht wirklich lange tun, da das Wasser einfach viel zu kalt war. Danch waren wir dann auch schon wieder zurück im kleinen Städtchen namens Ataco. Hier fand ... read more

Getting across into El Salvador was as easy as passing through the borders of Europe (pre-Brexit) - we didn’t even need to inconvenience ourselves by leaving the bus as the immigration agent came on board to inspect our passports. The US dollar is the official currency of El Salvador, and we changed over our remaining Guatemalan Quatzales with a tout at the border - which proved to be very handy later on. As a result of the CA-4 agreement between Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, we were automatically issued with a 90-day visa that encompasses all four countries, and as we had already spent five weeks in Guatemala, the clock was ticking. El Salvador is the only Central American country that doesn’t have a Caribbean coast, but it does boast over 300km of Pacific coastline ... read more

Being in El Salvador feels a little like being in a modern day western. It seems as if every other person here is carrying a rifle or pistol and a belt of spare ammunition. The reason of course is the number of security staff employed here (even fast food restaurants here have guards), the vast majority of whom are armed. There’s also a visible army presence patrolling streets. Most of the soldiers are very young. Having said this, San Salvador is much more civilised than I had expected with new shopping centres, shiny fast food outlets and wide modern roads. Even the old centre isn’t too bad, though we don’t need to venture here in the evening as we are staying in the Los Heroes area. The main city sights (Metropolitan Cathedral, Theatre, National Palace and ... read more