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Published: July 26th 2006
The Streets of Downtown San Sal
This is not what all of downtown looks like; just the rough area around the Tica bus station.Crossing borders into El Salvador has brought a change in culture and ease of travel. Unlike Guatemala, this country is not as geared for tourism and thus takes a little more effort. The Spanish here is also slightly different making communication more challenging. A lot of travelers I have talked to skipped past El Sal because of these very reasons. But, I have also talked many who have been here and absolutely loved it. I only had a few days to spend here, so I decided to check out the surf beaches near Libertad. I set up my transportation through
Tica Bus who provides 1st class accommodations from capital to capital. The bus had A/C, comfortable seats, and played movies for our entertainment. They had to literally pry me from my seat when we had reached our destination. Note- You know your in a Third World country when the movie of choice for public transportation is “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. The total time from Antigua to San Salvador was 7 hours, but it was much easier travel than what I have been accustomed to. Border crossings are always fun with hoards of locals trying to get you to change currency through them.
They can sometimes be worse than taxi drivers, which is hard to believe. On the bus I got to know a couple of British fellows (James and Gary) that were on their way to Panama. We arrived in the center of San Salvador just before dark. This is the largest city in the country and not the place we wanted to be walking around at night. There are two major gangs (maras) operating in the country; Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha - aka. MS (I wore Mara 18’s street colors to hopefully blend in). There were only six gringos on the bus and we all decided to stick together. We found a nearby hotel and headed out to find some food and an ATM. By this time it was dark and there were Latino gangs and gunfire all around; well I’m exaggerating but it was very dark. After eating, the two Brits and I walked all over looking for an ATM that was compatible with our cards. We knew it was a little risky being in this area after dark, but they had no money to pay for the room and they were leaving at 5am for Managua. After an
hour of searching and three different machines, we finally found one that worked (note that El Sal uses the American dollar for its currency). We never ran into any trouble that night, except for rain. It may have been because all three of us had shaved heads and stood six feet, or maybe gangs just don’t like bad weather. I felt like I was in a Guy Ritchie movie with the English accents cussing about and each one of us carrying a blade. We spent the rest of the night listening to music and having mindless discussion. The next morning, all of my fellow travelers returned to Tica Bus and continued on out of El Salvador. This is when the real fun began. Lugging all of my stuff, I made my way to the area where all the buses pass and tried to figure out which one headed to the beach. In Guatemala, all you had to do was shout the name of your destination and people quickly directed you to the correct bus. Here it was a little more difficult. I was told I had to take bus 80 to get to Playa Sunzal, but soon found out that
Playa de Sunzal
The black sand beaches were bare and the Pacific waters were dark. I needed to make two different connections to get to that bus. To make a long story short, I spent 2 hours plus hopping three different buses to the beach. These buses here don’t have top racks, so I had to carry everything inside. This meant I was very cramped and had to pay for two people. Getting to the beach wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but that is what makes traveling interesting. Without a little challenge, things would get boring. When reaching Playa Sunzal, I stepped off the bus to two stores and three hotels along the highway. Now this was interesting; I thought I was going to a beach town. That is what I get for not researching better. I checked the hotel prices and quality of the rooms. Two of the hotels were totally buggered (that's for the Brits) and the third was nice but twice the price. I walked to the next town (Playa el Tucan) to see if it was any better. Along the way, I ran into a French traveler (Nico) who was looking for a place as well. Playa el Tucan was just the same as Sunzal, but further from the
good surf. We decided to return to Sunzal and split a room at the nicer hotel (I forgot the name). The place had a restaurant, pool (a bit tainted), and a hammock area with TV, DVD, and a nice selection of movies. This was perfect, because there was nothing to do but surf and bake in the sun. After settling in, Nico and I decided to rent some boards and hit the waves. For everyone's information I have never attempted surfing; but how hard could it be? Son of a biscuit!!! There were surfers all around me, the only board I could find to rent was way too small, and I had no clue what to look for in a wave. Pretty much, I floated there for two hours and got in everyone’s way. I felt like Johnny Utah in "Point Break". Although, towards the end I did catch one wave and rode it in on my knees. What an epic ride! I nearly plowed into a few people. Feeling like a true surfer dude, I yelled out "Stay off my wave man!" and then retired from a long day on the breaks. Now although there was no beach town,
the scenery was beautiful and the area was totally secluded and free from tourists. If you are a surfer, unlike me, you will really dig the long breaks and peaceful atmosphere.
Back at the hotel, Nico taught me the true art of yoga. I'm not talking about' your aerobic class stretching mumbo jumbo. This was a straight-up contortionist, balancing act. We controlled our breathing, drifted off into meditation, and became one with nature. Hummmm!!! Nico had been travelling for two years; one of which was in Asia. He studied under a Master of Yoga in India, so he wasn't messing around. Being that we were the only two at the hotel, we had a run of the place. We did the same routine for two days. Hit the beach after breakfast, took a dip in the pool, yoga, and then spent the night in our hammocks watching movies. Now, there was no internet access to be found, but that it probably a good thing since I am on the computer daily. As for the nights; boy are they humid. I just laid there on top of my sheets, stripped down my skimpies, and sweat off a good three pounds.
Then there were the mosquitoes that enjoyed me for dinner. Seeing that our room was open to the outside, they had no problem getting to me. But with all that aside, I must say that my time here was nice and relaxing and gave me a chance to just chill. I would have like to have seen more of El Salvador, but I have to head down to León, Nicaragua and check on some volunteer work.
The following day, we bused it back to San Sal and bought tickets for the Tica Bus to Managua, Nicaragua. Hey that's kinda fun to say; Managua, Nicaragua! Managua, Nicaragua! The bus didn't leave till 5am the next morning, so we had to stay the night in the city. We decided to sleep in a nicer area just on the out skirts, and take a taxi to the station. We got a bed at Ximena's Guest House near Bolevard de los Heroes, which is a nice stretch of road with restaurants and the Metro Centro Mall. We spent the day walking the mall and stuffing ourselves with food. That night I barely got any sleep. My roommates in the dorm style room stayed up talking and playing guitar till 1am and I had to be up at four. So yeah, let just say I was a little tired. The only thing that got me through it was thinking about that comfortable air-conditioned bus I was to be on in a few hours.
That is it for El Sal and I'm sorry the pictures were not so good this time. The weather wasn't the best for photos, but everyday can't be perfect. Now, there are little defining differences between the U.S and these countries I have visited that I have left out of my journals thus far. Some I have mentioned but some I have not. I am going to finish with a few of these tid bits that I have grown so accustomed to over the past 3 months. It is the small discomforts of life in a Third World country that I won't take for granted when I return home. The following are a few:
- Not being able to flush toilet paper because of the city's primitive sewage system. Everyone just fills up a nice little bucket beside the toilet.
- Having to save what I am typing every 5 minutes because of the frequent loss of power throughout the entire town.
- Trash everywhere! There are very few trash cans around, so it is just acceptable to throw trash on the ground. As you ride the bus, people are constantly throwing everything from bottles to plates of food out the window. When it starts to pile up on the street, they just set the heaps on fire. Chad, please stop crying!
- Hot water showers, toilet seats, and cold drinks are a 50/50 shot. I have gotten used to warm drinks, strengthened my legs for the hovering squat, but I still dread a cold shower.
- A/C is only a luxury for the big spenders.
- Stray dogs everywhere. They lay in the streets, sit by your table and watch you eat in a restaurant, and get it some gnarly fights with each other. Not to mention, a number of them have rabies. I was taught a trick though to scare off the mean ones. If they come at you; bend down quickly and act like you are grabbing a rock to throw, and they will scurry off and leave you alone.
A lot of the other ones I have mentioned before, such as fireworks, roosters, the insane driving, etc.., so I will leave you with that. Farewell for now and good day. Oh yeah I almost forgot! My Mom just decided last minute to buy a plane ticket and meet me in Costa Rica for a week. She arrives on May 24th, so I will spend the next month in Nicaragua until she arrives. I can't wait
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Juan Andres
non-member comment
Great Story
Hi my friend, im form El Salvador, i live in San Salvador and i got to tell you that the picture you put dosn't represent all the city. The downtown area is horrible, you can see it in the picture, but when you reach other parts of the city, you see everything changes. Malls (biggest in the region) can be found in many places, shopps, restaurants, luxury hotels, fast food, you can ind everything. One part of the city of San Salvador is seen as a nn European city because it is so developed and rich it is very urban. You would like our city if you visit other areas. I recommend all not to go to downtown, it is not pleasent! Have a nice day!