On to El Salvador

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After leaving Monterico, the fastest way to the El Salvador boarder was by ferry. We drove the truck onto a 40 ft, rickety, wooden boat and prayed it wouldn't sink. The boat ride was fun as we sat on top of the truck, listening to music as we cruised through the canals toward the boarder. Safely arriving on solid ground, we paid the ferry captain 75Q ($10) and drove the rest of the way to El Salvador. The boarder crossing was a slow process because we were stuck behind a long line of truckers. In total it took over three hours to get our needed paperwork, by far the longest boarder crossing yet. We were surprised that they didn't want to stamp our passports at the boarder, but we were assured that it wasn't needed. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua form a Central American trade agreement and travelers get one 90 day visa for all four countries.

Back on the road, we headed toward Parque Imposible for some camping and hiking. We were stopped at a couple police check points just after the boarder crossing where they wanted to inspect the truck and see our documents before letting us return to the road. After opening the back of the truck, they would stare at the jumble of camping gear, food, pots, pans and surfboards for a moment before dismissing us as tourists. Very rarely would they ever touch or move anything, not wanting to disturb the thin film of dirt covering our stuff. We missed the turnoff for parque imposible and decided to continue on to la ruta el las flores, a picturesque drive through the mountains. We stopped for the evening in Apaneca, El Salvador's highest mountain town where we found a charming little hostel run by a nice family. The daughter, a small, adorable child ran around the property with a smile on her face laughing and playing. Tera wanted to steal her and taker her back to the states but we managed to talk her out of it. They had a nice courtyard lined with tropical plants and flowers where we put some dinner on the stove then walked around town. Over the rooftops we could see the setting sun illuminate the cloudy sky. There was a christian band playing loud music in the streets that we watched for a little while.

The next day the storm resumed and having a nice place to stay we decided to wait out the weather, read, play cards, relax and use the Internet. Nestled within the clouds we enjoyed the pitter patter of rain, the fresh scent of clean, mountain air while staying warm and dry.

The following day the storm had passed, so we went exploring for some crater lakes. The first lake, lago verde, was easily found following a nice road leading to its shores. A few locals were fishing and washing clothes along the shore and beautiful white lilies floated in the green water. The second lake, lago de las nimfas was more difficult to find. Twice we got lost, taking the more traveled road, which is usually a good strategy, but not when the road you need is a small dilapidated road that challenged the 4-wheel drive of the truck. We finally made it and relaxed in the solitude of the swampy, reed filled lake. There were tons of colorful insects that shone with a metalic hue and we had some good talks about life.

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Comments

[Ben]

write more
You will need to write more about El Salvador. I am a Salvadorean and I have been gone from my country for like 10 years. So with your writing I can find out how much the country has changed. Please be safe and try to leave our land better than the way you found it. Adios.