Let me just start by saying how much I love El Salvador. It has ancient civilizations, beautiful landscapes and scenery, wonderful food, fantastic people, a wide variety of breeds of cows and a terrible recent history that the locals are still suffering because of. I arrived by bus from Guatemala and climbed into my hostel bed. The following morning it became clear how different El Salvador is from the rest of Central America. I was the only foreigner in the hostel. The other occupants were local. The staff could only speak Spanish and I really can't. This is the most popular hostel in the capital city and realising I was the only tourist was unexpected. The National Museum of Art was close by so I went to take a look.
It was here that my love affair with the country started. Firstly, the museum was free! As I walked around, I entered a library section where I could see the curator working at her desk in a private staff only area. She immediately came out to talk to me. When it became clear I couldn't understand everything she was saying, she instructed me to wait while she went off. She came back with a young woman who could speak perfect English and the three of us then had a twenty minute conversation. I learnt about the history of the museum and the life of an important man who helped bring peace to the civil war. I got hints and tips on what to see and what to eat and at the end of the conversation I got hugs and kisses from the curator (and the young translator). Talk about a welcome to a new country!
Following the curator's advice, I went to the agricultural show down the road. It wasn't just cows, horses and tractors. I learnt about fish farming and the different plants you can grow on the mountainside. There were many many food stalls and lots of demonstrations to do with dairy food and chocolate. I ate so many samples of cheese and yoghurt and chocolate. Even got given a chocolate recipe book. It was a fun and unusual morning!
It was then time to move across town, to the fancy hotel were I was meeting my tour group. I was booked on an intrepid tour. They are a lot more upmarket than the overland groups and stay in fancy hotels as opposed to hostels. I was very surprised to learn that the group consisted of just three people. Myself, Irish couple Angela and Brian and our tour leader Fernando. The lady in the middle of the above photo is 80 year old Sister Peggy- more on her later.
Our first port of call was a taxi ride across town to pupusa alley. Pupusas are the national food of El Salvador. They are eaten every day by some and at least one a week (usually on a Sunday) by everyone else. They are patties made out of corn, stuffed with various fillings and griddled. They are eaten with mild pickled veg and a tomato sauce. They are totally delicious. I had mine stuffed with pumpkin and cheese with refried beans. Yum yum yum.
We then moved on to the pretty little town of Suchitoto, high in the mountains. It had a town square complete with church with cafes all around it. The square was full of locals enjoying life and generally being out and about in the sunshine. I would have been happy to spend a few days just walking up and down its cobbled streets. The town overlooks a man-made lake, 3 villages were flooded when the dam was created. Certainly not man made is the Cascada Los Tercios. This amazing rock formation is very similar to the Giants Causeway in Ireland. The almost square rocks were created due to a volcanic eruption under water and the rocks being cooled in a certain way. Scrambling over these rocks was difficult and unfortunately we couldn't get down to the bottom of the canyon to see the canyon wall in all its glory because it was too slippery and dangerous. When the rains arrive properly then a waterfall is created over the canyon wall - hence the name. In town, I also learnt that El Salvador used to be a global centre for indigo production and I learnt how the leaves of a small plant are eventually turned into a bright blue natural dye. Clothes made from indigo are a big part of El Salvador's tourist market. Unfortunately the world wide market for indigo no longer exists, neither does the market for El Salvadoran cigarettes. There is still one lady in Suchitoto who continues to hand roll cigars just as she has for the last 70 years. Doña Laura demonstrated how to make the cigars, then we all had a go. I'm not a natural! Sister Peggy was another inhabitant of Suchitoto that we met (in the photo at the top). She is an 80 year old American nun who has been in the country since the 1970s when she used to help the rebels hiding in the mountains. Since then she had built a peace centre trying to help both sides, especially the young child soldiers come to terms with life after war. She was a remarkable woman with some fascinating stories to tell.
El Salvador has ancient Mayan history and we were lucky that Fernando was a trained anthropologist who studied the Mayans. He had already taken us around the national museum explaining the artefacts and now we visited Joya De Ceren, one of the most important sites in the country, it is in fact the only UNESCO site in the country. Even better, Fernando had spent a year working here. It is a preserved Maya village. It is important because it is the only village that has been found, all other known sites are religious sites complete with temples. This village was abandoned due to a volcanic eruption. The people literally dropped tools and eating bowls and fled. The village was buried under ash but amazing nobody died, no bodies have been recovered. All the inhabitants made it to a neighbouring town. The archeologists have even managed to discover rows of corn growing in the fields. As well as houses, a witch's hut (the most important structure in the village) and a sauna have been discovered. A replica sauna has been built on site and after the initial crawl through a tunnel to get inside, it was rather roomy when you were in. On site, I even managed to photograph the national bird of El Salvador, the Mot Not. It has the most beautiful and unusual tail shape.
Then it was of to Tazumal. This Maya and Pepile site was at its busiest between 250-900 AD, although it was not abandoned until 1200. Some of the earliest metal tools in mesoamerica were found here (they dated to the 8th century). It was great to be able to walk up the pyramid. Getting down again was a different matter as we got caught in a very very heavy thunderstorm. Yet again, I was soaked through. Within half an hour, the rain had stopped and with the heat, the whole pyramid looked like it was steaming as the water evaporated away.
We toured around small mountain villages where a type of street art is becoming popular. These colourful murals are popping up everywhere and are bright, cheerful and cartoonist - in sharp contrast to the more realistic murals of Colombia. We went to a variety of markets were the indigenous ladies sell an interesting variety of goodies. The lady on her own in the photo sells a variety of fruit which is coated in a sugar syrup, almost like toffee apple coating. They are delicious. In fact most things in El Salvador seem to be covered in sugar. A number of these towns are becoming famous for the food festival they host. Alas, we were not there at the right time.
Our final stop was on the Pacific coast. We visited the beach resort of El Tunco. El Tunco means the pig. It is so called because that rock in the bay is supposed to look like a pig on its back with its feet in the air!
As you can see the beach is no longer sandy just full of stones. This is because it is rainy season and all the stones wash down river. The beach is no good for relaxing on at this time of year. The beach resort is still very popular as the high waves are great for experienced surfers - the town was full of them. As none of us were experienced surfers the beach did not hold any appeal. Instead we boarded this chicken bus and drove half an hour up the nearest mountain to a little town. Here we hiked through the forest to this amazing waterfall. Climbing back up the valley was far more strenuous but we did spot a snake in the middle of a road. Can you spot it in the photo?
Unfortunately, it was now my final night in El Salvador. The rain was pouring down again but it did not stop us going out. However, whilst we were at the restaurant, the rain became intense. The road we were on completely flooded. In order to get home, shoes and socks had to be removed and we all waded barefoot down the road which was now a shin high river! It was certainly a night to remember!
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