El Salvador

UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN CENTRAL AMERICA

The beautiful volcanic caldera of Coatepeque

To complete the set of Central American countries I needed to make a special trip to El Salvador - this was the one country that Sara and I skipped on our 2002 round the world trip because we spent too long in Guatemala. Guatemala was fantastic in 2002, and well worth the extra time, but 2012 was the time of El Salvador. A solo trip over the Thanksgiving break to complete the set of all seven Central American countries.

San Salvador's airport is close to the town of Las Flores near the coast and about an hour south of the capital. I rented a car for my four day stay but the car they gave me was a manual transmission - which I had not driven in about 7-8 years. There were no other options so after confidently going over the paperwork with the Hertz attendant and hoping he would leave before pulling away (he didn't) I bunny-hopped my way out of the car rental parking lot, wrong way down a few one way roads to the airport exit. It was a very humbling experience and I stalled the car more than once on my way to the San Salvador Hilton. I used the GPS on my phone to find my way but I still made a few wrong turns before mercifully finding the underground lot at the Hilton. It was dark when I arrived but the following morning the view from my room was simply amazing. Volcanoes! I love volcanoes.

The view from the San Salvador Hilton

There are some wonderful sites in El Salvador and to get to them quickly you really need a car. I drove to Joya de Ceren, which is often referred to as the Pompeii of the Americas. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site uncovered as recently as 1979 but the site was apparently buried in 590. Further north is Coatepeque,a  beautiful lake in  a dormant volcanic cone. I had lunch overlooking the lake and due to a mis-communication with the waiter I ended up having my first beer for almost two months.

Further north in the town of Chalcuapa I stopped at the Casa Blanca complex to visit some excellent Maya pyramids. I felt like I was the only one there but the ruins were absolutely amazing and well worth the drive.

Casa Blanca in Chalcuapa

Casa Blanca in Chalcuapa

I drove through the Ruta las Flores on the way back to San Salvador and it was stunning. I couldn't believe the volcanoes and stunning landscape for the two hour drive back to the Hilton. I found myself stopping often to take photos or just soak up the views.

Ruta las Flores

On a separate day trip I drove to the town of Panchimalco to get the best view of the Devil's gate. I wasn't about to make the hike but I wanted to see it for myself. The last stop was El Boquerón, another huge dormant volcano but this one has a perfect cinder cone at the bottom. It's quite overgrown around the rim but there are a number of good vantage points to see the cone.

The Devil's gate

El Boquerón crater with a cinder cone at the bottom

One of the last things I wanted to do was take a look around the main square in San Salvador. I thought I had my route mapped out pretty well but I ended up driving right into a crowded market and pretty much ground to a halt for 30 minutes. At the far end of the market were the brothels but thankfully by the time I got there the traffic had thinned out and I finally found a parking space. I walked back to the market (not stopping at the brothels) and wandered around the market for a while but there was nothing much for the tourist shopper. I suspected most of the tourists were at the brothels?

San Salvador cathedral

El Salvador now complete, Central America is done but there are still lots of unexplored corners which I'll save for another time.