El Salvador by born2travel.it

excerpt from

06.01.2013 Ahuachapan (EL SALVADOR)

The first taste shows us a country totally different from the one we have just left behind. The traditional clothes have disappeared, the skin tone is lighter, there is no currency of its own (the American dollar is used); only the Spanish language unites them.

[Stefy]: "We have a coffee in a typical little bar in Plaza Concordia, warmed by the first rays of the sun, and from Ahuachapan, the starting point of the "Ruta de las Flores", we begin our exploration of the small villages of the area. We hop on and, climbing up mountain lanes, we reach Ataco, an old colonial village that nonetheless maintains a strong indigenous identity.

We find ourselves in the square of a church during a performance for Epiphany with dances, songs and masks typical of the Salvadoran tradition.

On the bus heading to Juayua we admire the "Ruta de las Flores", the winding 36-km road lined with coffee plantations and, of course, greenhouses of extremely colourful and vivid flowers. In the shade of the majestic 16th-century church with the "Cristo Negro", we lose ourselves among the stalls of the big food fair held every weekend and taste many local specialities, from yuca (a sweet potato) to pieces of pumpkin with honey!"

07.01.2013 Santa Ana (EL SALVADOR)

Santa Ana, the second-largest city in El Salvador after the capital. The historic centre is embellished by a beautiful white Gothic-style cathedral, an elegant theatre and an old colonial building that now houses the Town Hall.

We are guests of a friendly medical student named Roberto, who takes us a little out of town to Lake Coatepeque, a romantic lake formed millions of years ago inside the crater of a large volcano. We spend a few hours in complete relaxation chatting and admiring it from the top of a "mirador" while sipping a "Pilsener" beer.

In the evening we are joined by Cecilia, his girlfriend, to taste the best "pupusas" in Central America.

08.01.2013 Suchitoto (EL SALVADOR)

Roberto gives us a lift to the notorious San Salvador; we get only a fleeting taste of this city since our goal is the "Terminal d'Oriente" from where we will set off again towards the peaceful Suchitoto by chicken bus.

San Salvador appears to us very dirty, chaotic, abandoned to itself. As we drove through its streets Roberto told us about the times of the "guerrilla", the 2001 earthquake, Hurricane Mitch… how much this small and battered nation has had to endure.

The chicken bus is an experience that fascinates us every time! It is folkloric to see the driver "fighting" with the traffic and the broken roads; his assistant waving his arms, selling tickets, helping the old ladies get on; the street vendors of sachets of water or coloured juices, of peanuts or sweets, of freshly cut fruit or fried plantain; the preachers of the Gospel or the charlatans of diet or anti-cancer products!

10.01.2013 Suchitoto (EL SALVADOR)

[Stefy]: "These two days of relaxation in Suchitoto were just what we needed, above all to take stock ahead of the next stop: Honduras! We stay in a delightful little guesthouse "Villa Balanza", an old colonial house; we have a private little terrace, with two hammocks, overlooking Lake Suchitlan; the atmosphere is wonderful!

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