Antigua to El Salvador

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Left Antigua at about 9 in the morning.

Lucked out with the front seat in the micro bus to Guatemala City. Ended up costing more than I thought it would,because I made a mistake and went with the wrong company, but no worries it got me to where I wanted...the Tica bus station.

After about ten minutes in the micro bus, (this was still in Antigua), we pulled over to pick up some other westerners. My surprise to see Kevin, a guy a knew from Xela, and through the El Nahual volunteer program. After having a chat with Kevin, I couldn't help but laught as he (well I think he was), proceeded to chat up the girl from Austria sitting next to him. Classic lines were as follows, "So is Austria near Hungary?"(It used to be known as Austria-Hungary), "So your a nurse then...", very nice way to pass the forty minute journey to the bus Station.

Now I didn't see much of Guatemala city, (advised not to go there,). hence the need for a bus directly to the station. It looks quite run down, and everywhere is covered in barbed wire. But still the people in the station were friendly. I had 2-3 hours to kill in the small terminal, so I unpacked my guitar and had a little play, before watching the warm up of the Holland vs Uruguay match. I saw the first goal...what a beauty, but we left before the end of the first half, so I missed the rest, have since read that it was a classic match.

The scenery from Guatemala city to El Salvador is really interesting. It changes, but ever so gradually.

At the border crossing with El Salvador, nothing major, just a river to cross, I had to get my passport stamped. Now I've just had a look to see the stamps, and I only have one for leaving Guatemala, none for El Salvador or Honduras, and to be honest that was part of the reason that I took the bus.

Arrived in El Salvador in the early evening, and had no choice but to stay in a hotel, until 5 this morning. It cost 24 US dollars!, which is a lot, considering i was only just paying over that for a week in a shared house. It wasn't worth it, but it was secure.

I didn't realise but El Salvador use US dollars, so it was a bit strange using US money over there. The area that I was in was very secure, I was able to walk to the shops, and a fancy hotel with no problems. After speaking with the Security guard this morning, (in Spanish), he assured me that it is only in that area,where it is secure and expensive. Not a nice feeling, telling a fella how surprised I was at the cost of the area, when he probally only makes a couple of dollars a night, or less, especially when he was carrying a big shot gun for my protection!

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