Easing through El Salvador, the warmest people yet, they´d remind you of Limerick folk.

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ACHUACHAPAN, APANECA & JUAYUA (Western El Salvador) - Mon 04/12 to Wed 06/12

We crossed the border into El Salvador at La Hachadura at approximately 5 PM and had no problems whatsoever, in fact we were in El Salvador & had to be called back by a lady border officer. We asked about getting a stamp in our passports but were disappointed to hear that Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragus had an EU type deal going on & when you entered one you entered them all, petty tourist thing I know but we all do love to look back at the passport stamps when we have a few minutes somewhere waiting for a plane. We knew it would be getting dark soon so we wanted to get on a bus to our destination as soon as possible, our destination being Tacuba. When we arrived we spoke to some people and realised the only way to get to Tacuba was to get a bus first to Sonsonate and then to Tacuba. Sonsonate was described by the loney planet as ´Hot and menacing, Sonsonate isn´t a fun place to stay.´ Considering this review in the lonely planet we decided against arriving there after dark and then having to find a bus to Tacuba.

We spoke to taxi drivers to get prices to go directly to Tacuba, $40 we were quoted, ´WHAT´, we said ´that´s crazy money´. After much debate the best we could get from the taxi driver was $35 so we took it. Maurice and I jumped into the back of the mini-bus and the driver said to Maurice, ´sure why don´t you come up here, you´ll see more´ so Maurice hopped into the front. Just as we were about to take off, the drivers friend hopped into the back of the mini-bus and sat behind me. I started to feel very uneasy at this, I could tell Maurice was feeling the same cause he kept looking around at me to make sure I was ok.

Anyway we set off and pulled up outside a house, the driver said he was checking if they had any diesel as he needed some but then he swiftly drove off without filling up on diesel. A short journey down the road, we pulled up at another petrol station, he asked Maurice if we would give him the money now so he could buy diesel, Maurice said yes but strangely, he didn´t take the money and again drove off without filling up on diesel. At this stage, it was getting dark, we were heading for the hills and I was not feeling very comfortable with the whole set up. I was taking glances at the friend in the back of the mini-bus to ensure everything was as it should be. We drove on for miles in the middle of nowhere and then the light came on the dash board indicating that we were nearly out of diesel. What is this guy playing at I thought, why hadn´t he filled up on Diesel when we pulled into the petrol station. So then I jumpd straight to the conclusion that he was driving us into the middle of nowhere, we would run out of diesel and they would rob us or worse. At that moment I subtly opened my moneybelt and took out one of the credit cards and some cash and hid it in my sock, I thought at least if they rob us we´ll still have some security if we have a credit card. Maurice told me later that at that point also he had taken his pen knife out and had it at the ready. The journey seemed to go on forever and I thought for sure the diesel will run out soon. By some grace of God, we started to come into civilisation and there was a petrol station up ahead, he pulled into it and filled up on Diesel. Once in the petrol station, Maurice jumped into the back of the mini-bus with me for the remainder of the journey & motioned that the driver´s buddy could take the front seat. We decided against Tacuba in the end as Ahuachapan was the next nearest town, we decided it would do us fine, anything to get out of that mini-bus.

We asked the taxi driver to drop us at a hotel, we went inside and two ladies apologised profusely that they didn´t have a room and took us out onto the street and got us a motortaxi to take us to another hotel - that was our first taste of the amazingly warm El Salvadorian people.

Ahuachapan was an ok town, where we stayed for 2 nights and took day trips down the Ruta de las Flores, as the name suggests a very colourful mountain route with both side of the road covered in flowers of all descriptions & then to two towns ' Juayua´and ´Apaneca´. We left Ahuachapan and headed for Metapan and had yet to see another pale faced foreigner in the country.

METAPAN & EL POY (North Western El Salvador) - Wed 06/12 to Thu 07/12

We set off for Metapan on yet another chicken bus, we had to change buses in Santa Ana, we were standing in the town looking at a map and looking a bit lost, a man and his son walked past us. They turned back and asked if they could help us which they kindly did, in fact they took us directly to the bus stop and waited with us for the bus to come and put us on it. Our skeptical hats were still firmly on our head from our Cuba experiences and we wondered what they were up to but the reality was that they really just wanted to help us out. Finally we arrived in Metapan, it seemed like quite a busy town and were walking down the street to find the ´Hotel California´(as recommended by the Lonely Planet). A security guard outside a shop shouted over to us, "hey welcome to Metapan, it´s a great town, where are you from" yet another affirmation that the El Salvadorians truely were lovely people.

We settled into our hotel, had a wander around the town and had some dinner and a few beers. We then took a visit to the local supermarket where we bought a few more beers and drank them in style in the hammock on our balcony (ours and 10 other people´s balcony - but ours nonetheless). We had an early night as we were going to be having a very early morning - 4.30am to catch the 5am bus to El Poy - a town at the border with Honduras.

We arose bright and early the next morning and waited at the top of the road for the bus, it was hard to believe the amount of locals that were up and about at 5am. The bus finally arrived and we hopped on - another chicken bus - we were growing to like them!! We were the only foreigners aboard and the locals made us feel very welcome, ensuring we had seats. As we chugged along the dirttrack to El Poy, the bus began to fill up and Maurice soon lost his seat to a lady with a child. The bus was filling up and filling up - 4 to every 2 person seat and mounds of people in the aisles, it soon became clear to us that there must be no Spanish for ´no sorry the bus is full´because the further we went the more full the bus got but the driver would still stop to squash more and more on. I looked over at Maurice at one point, he was standing on a tyre which meant he was too tall to stand up straight so his head was cocked to the side - this position lasted for about an hour of the journey. Something that struck me on that bus however, was the good will of the people, no matter how full the bus got, the people never complained, they would just shove up that little bit more to make room for the new comers - quite a contrast to buses and trains at home I felt.

We finally arrived in El Poy at 9 AM, 2 hours later than our scheduled arrival time, however, the scenery along the way was spectacular, El Salvador is quite a picturesque country. Maurice had been talking to a local on the bus who informed him that there was a Rodeo in El Poy that morning and that was the reason the bus was so full. Since we weren´t in any immediate rush we agreed to go to the rodeo for the laugh. We followed this guy to the field where it was due to take place only to learn that it wasn´t starting until 11am, we thought about hanging around but felt it was best to get moving on into Honduras. The friendly local walked us to the border and helped us to get a very fair exchange rate when changing our dollars into lempiras so we thanked him and headed on our merry way. Next stop Honduras...

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Comments

[Noel and Poina]

Limerick your a Lady!!!
So El Salvador reminds you of Limerick? I´ll say no more!!!!!! Where are you two now? How was the Galapagos? We´re sweltering in Iguazu at the moment, hopefully we can meet up soon....Enjoy the travels!! Noel and Poina

[guanaca]

Hometown "Metapan"
The mini taxis are the best idea the city has came up with in a while. The last time I visit, it was a very pleasant one, because it didn't require a whole lot f walking!!!! LOL

[Carolina Harboe]

I love El Salvador!
It was so nice to read your comments about my country! Yes, it's true, we really like tourists in El Salvador! Everybody is heartly welcome!

[g. treminio]

buscando solfataras de achuapan
Estoy buscando "solfataras de achuapan", pero me encotre su viaje turistico en ingles, no se si puede leer espanol. Yo vivo en Manitoba, Canada, pero me cuesta el ingles. Asi que si no podemos comunicarnos, seguire buscando. Lo que pasa es que mi menterepite desde hace 15 dias " solfataras de Achuapan, que crei era en Mexico, pero por su articulo me entero que es entre Guatemala y El Salvador, como un paso de frontera. Creo que con las lluvias y las inundaciones que han ocurrido en ese pais se me avisaba de ese suceso pero el nombre lugar sigue repitiendose. Asi me sucede con frecuencia. Ej. Sumatra, Java, USA Samoa, que ya son parte aterradora de una prediccion antes de que sucedieran los terremotos y sunamis. Saludes.

[sonia]

metapan!!
I am gladd you liked El Salvador, but there is so much to see, I hope next time you explore it a little more, places like Ataco and montecristo are beautyful.