Blogs from Western, El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Arriving in Juayua at about 5pm, in torrential rain (bringing the number of times rain has been annoying to the grand total of 2!) we made our way to Casa Mazeta to check in, and I instantly hopped into the shower to get the remaining gravel out of my arm. After ending biking on a high, nothing hurt too bad, but bruising is out in force now, a couple of days later - I think I might be pretty stiff and achy for a few days. The cuts and grazes on my arm are now joined by an impressive rainbow of bruising all over one leg and shoulder, but still - maybe it will be a fun conversation starter! It turns out that maybe Juayua might have been a better first stop, as at the weekend ... read more

It was time to leave Guatemala and head over to El Salvador. Many travellers skip over El Salvador and Honduras and jump straight to Nicaragua, however there is a lot of beauty and kindness in El Salvador. I didn't want to take a chicken bus so I booked a minibus to Guatemala City and then a proper pimped out bus to San Salvador the capital. I had no intention of going to San Salvador as I'm not a fan of cities and you don't get to see the beauty of a place staying in capital cities ... however it was easier to take this route and hop off early than to try getting across on multiple local buses and be stranded somewhere random (which would be a great adventure, yet I was unfortunately running out of ... read more

As I sit riding awake in a van that left our hostel at 3 am (it's now 430) listening to old pine by Ben Howard I can't help but reflect a little bit. As the continued to go on and hit it's last third I've been finding myself spending more time writing in a journal than writing a blog. I've always seen people do it, but every time I've started a journal I find myself writing a couple entries and it getting lost somewhere. To me, it's hard to write about specific memorable experiences like volcano boarding. Words don't do it justice, and the memory feels stronger than what's written on paper. I've found rather than putting down the specific memory, I've written on some people, certain experiences have opened up a little different thinking. As ... read more

Our Arrival The bus from La Libertard dropped us on the main road next to the entrance of the town. Cross over and walk through the barrier and you are on the road into town. Where We Stayed Casa Makoi - $20 for a double room with bathroom. Balconies, kitchen and hammocks. Small room but nice shower and we basically had a balcony to ourselves on the top floor. Where We Ate El Yate - On the corner of the road to the beach. Has a menu of pupusas to choose from (50 cent for non meat or $1 for meat), freshly cooked sauce and $2 litre Brahva beers. When you turn left from the hostel road towards town there is a lady cooking on the street. She was selling things that tasted like spring rolls ... read more

We had a few options for crossing into El Salvador from Guatemala but most involved returning to Antigua and were subsequently more expensive. The cheap option was to do what the locals do and take a lancha through the Mangroves to Avellana. We opted for this, it was cheaper and somewhat more comfortable than the tourist shuttle we could have taken from Antigua. At Avellana we were met by a local bus which took us halfway to Taxisco where we changed buses, we eventually arrived at the border after about two hours or so of travelling. The boat journey was fine and quite picturesque although at that time of the day there was little shelter from the sun. The buses on the other hand were quite another story. The local buses throughout Central America are affectionately ... read more