Leaving El Salvador
We left the coast of El Salvador after 6 nights. We had found a great place to stay and really enjoyed meeting the Peace Corps volunteers and the Austrians, but the new crowd was becoming dumber by the minute. By the time we left we had actually wished we had left a day or two earlier since El Salvador has so much to see and we felt like we wasted a bit of our time hanging around a bunch of losers. One day I was sitting in the internet café next to two of the girls there and one says “I’m so fucking bored. Is anything going on in this town?” The other girl responded “No. And to be honest, I’ve never met anyone here that I would actually really want to hang out with.” And the first girl says “Yeah, that’s pretty much Central America.” Aside from this place and one other place, we’ve only meet interesting people. We were just on a different wavelength than these people and knew it was time to leave.
We left the coast and took a drive along the Ruta de Flores and over to Lago de Coatepeque where we spent one night. This supposedly beautiful route up into the mountains along coffee plantations was quite disappointing (probably due to the overcast weather), but the lake was spectacular. The lake is in the crater of a volcano that erupted long ago. It is almost perfectly round and you can see from the slope of the bank of the lake that you are in the middle of a volcanic crater. The lake has very clean turquoise water and there were no tourists. We only met two tourists at the lake, and they were only on a day trip from San Salvador. It was a very quiet and peaceful place.
Next we drove through the capitol San Salvador and onto Suchitoto. Suchitoto is a very charming city with cobblestone streets and a nice white church in the central square. Our Peace Corps friends gave us a recommendation for a good hotel and we ended up spending two nights there. We had great food and they had a swimming pool and lots of kids which was perfect for William and Julian.
We only spent about 9 days in El Salvador and I wish we had more time here. There are a bunch of other lakes and nature reserves I wish we had time to visit. Even though it is such a small, densely-populated country there is a lot to see. Aside from the surfers we only met 3 tourists in the entire week and a half. The roads are great which made driving easier. The people were so curious about us and friendly, too. The border crossing was easy, cheap and not-corrupt. Originally we thought we would not return on our way home, but we might have to re-think that. This country has been such a pleasant surprise and I hope we are able to return on our way home.
And almost the best thing about El Salvador is that they have the best ‘80’s music radio stations ever. I can’t remember the last time I heard Stevie Wonder 3 days in a row, or woke up to “Eye of the Tiger”. Guatemala was pretty good in that respect too, but El Salvador is even better.
Tags: El Salvador, Suchitoto, Travel
lotzbay
I’ve enjoyed reading your blogs regularly. Allison, you have a gift. Think of the memories 40 years from now. Everything and everyone is good here at SSC. BO will be having annual Thanksgiving lunchon on Fri. Stacey is making the turkey. Have Happy Holidays whereever you find yourselves.
Nice entry, enjoyed reading.
El Salvador is nice, but can be dangeruous, particulary after sunset.
Take care,
Glad you had a good time in El Salvador. I live in Suchitoto and am good friends with the owners of the place you stayed. I often take my kids there to eat and swim. If you ever decide to come back look me up on my web page http://www.gaesuchitoto.com or drop me a note at rpbroz@gmail.com. I always enjoy showing what Suchitoto has to offer.