Suchitoto

We made it to El Salvador - this is a first for us since we had visited Guatemala and Honduras before, and so far things are very nice. We were cold in Santa Rosa de Copan even with our nice room and the comfortable beds - I didn´t find the extra blankets until we were getting ready to leave, but we managed without them.

After our "tipico" breakfast of scrambled eggs, beans, cheese and plantains, we had the woman of the B and B help us get a taxi which consisted of her taking us into the street and hailing a cab then negotiating the rate - only 24 lempira instead of the 40 we paid to get to her place. We got to the bus station about 8:15 but learned that the next bus to the border at Nueva Ocotepque would not be along until 9 or 9:30 so we settled in at the restaurant to read and wait. I had some of the worst coffee ever, god knows what they made it with - but certainly not the prime coffee they export. There were two other tourists in the restaurant waiting - two young men from Sweden whose packs were about three times bigger than ours. Ah, the young. They do need educating.

The bus arrived at 9:45, even later than expected but we were helped on and our bags stowed beneath because this was a real bus, not some old school bus converted to people carrier. The drive to Ocotopeque lasted over two hours, though spectacular mountain scenery, along twisting turning roads with only a couple of areas of avalanche (there had been more on the trip to Santa Rosa). The mountains are very numerous, if that´s not an odd thing to say. And sometimes the views into the valleys were dizzying.

We made it to Ocotepeque without incident and then were taken in hand by another passenger, a younger man who led us to the little shuttle that would take us to the border. And that was really easy to cross. We didn´t even have to check in with Honduras authorities, just walk up to the El Salvadorean guy, hand him our passport and then continue walking into the village of El Poy and the next bus station. The guy chatted us up as he went and we soon learned that he had lived in LA for a while, as an illegal alien, and then a year and a half in prison for drugs and could no longer go to the states, since he was no longer welcome there. My, my... We also asked him what he did in San Salvador where he was living and the answer was "Nothing". He didn´t need to work because other family were living and working in the states and sent money home so he didn´t need to work. A different view of how the leisure class developed...

The bus towards San Salvador, the capital of the country, left about 15 minutes after we arrived at the dirt lot where it was waiting. Here the buses are actually numbered and ply routes like they were city buses. No 119 was going all the way to the capital but we wanted to get off and transfer at a town called Aguilares, so depended on the bus conductor to let us know. As we left El Poy we started to take on more passengers - and yes this bus was a converted school bus, with an engine that needed a little work. But we didn´t have to share our kiddy seats with anyone else, even though the aisle of the bus filled up with passengers as we went. They actually cleared out after awhile and even though there were still standing passengers there weren´t that many.

As we passed though the town of La Palma we were very impressed with the decorations they have put on every building and even every light pole and electrical pole along the way. An artist (last name Llort) started painting in this primitive style then taught the villagers so that now every one paints everything, and they sell their wares around the country. The style is simple, with bright bold colours, depicting birds, village houses, animals, mountains, saints, village women. The electrical poles are painte up about 7 feet - as high as they can reach, and it is very charming. All the poles were decorated even a few kilometers outside the village, but when we passed out of their reach, the poles were still painted but only the colours of the flag with a political parties initials. Not nearly so pretty.

Again this drive was wonderful and we could see far ahead and below miles and miles away a huge lake, which we knew we were heading to. At Aguilaries we alighted and then asked a number of people where we would get the bus to Suchitoto and got a number of different answers. We decided we would walk the half kilometer to the intersection and wait there. It had gotten very very hot by this time - not at all like Santa Rosa. We waited under a tree with two women who were dressed much like ladies of the night, although they may have been ordinary citizens. After about 10 minutes a truck came by and picked up the two women and then the two guys in the truck asked if we wanted to climb in the back of the truck with the dogs since they were going through Suchitoto to their own destination. Of course we know all about accepting rides from strangers, but hey they were going to Suchitoto so we hopped in the back and joined the two scared looking dogs there. After a few minutes the women were dropped off at someone´s house so we got invited into the back seat of the truck which had delicious air conditioning. One of the guys turned out to be a Salvadorean who had just arrived recently from Chicago - he was there during the inauguration of Obama and talked about the excitement there. Don´t know if he was deported too.

So we arrived in Suchitoto in some style. We were let off at a service station and walked a couple of blocks uphill till we came to a little square. We wondered if it was the main square although it seemed a little less than busy, but since we were hot, we sat down in the shade of a building and rested. A mnute later three Tourist police bicycled by and a few minutes after that another one came out of a building nearby and introduced himself to us. He was very friendly, and asked all about us, where we were from, where we were going, welcomed us to El Salvador and then told us how to get to the real main square which was about five blocks away.

We made it there, and of course it was much busier than our little plaza with shops, restaurants, lots of people and even a little artisanal fair going on, since it was Sunday. Oh, wait, first we were met by a woman who wanted to show us her hotel, so dragged us about three blocks away. Her place was ok, with nice big rooms, but there was only one paltry little fan and we thought we would be uncomfortable so said no, even though she really really wanted us to stay. It would have only cost 14 dollars but...

So at the square we made for another hotel, where we looked at some tiny rooms, and even though the other woman´s place was probably better, took it because it had airconditioning. A blessed relief. The bed nearly fills the room but is only a double so we really were obviously desperate for air con. The bed is also very soft and squooshy, feels a bit like a water bed and the sheets slide off. But it has air con...and we used it. Today we almost decided to go to the other woman´s place since we had disappointed her so and the room was so much bigger, but air con won out again.ç

The square was quite busy yesterday since it was a weekend. The little stalls are sponsored by the town council and have the motto: "No solo a ciudad...una feria artesanal" or Not ony a city, but an artisan´s fair! The city fathers are obviously proud of the work they are doing to promote their city and the place is very clean too. And those tourist police.... Nice place. The buildings are all colonial in style with white adobe walls and roof beams that stick out with the tiled roofs extending to give some shade. There is also a lot of ornamental iron work decorating the doors and windows - seems they have that to beautify their homes rather than the painted walls of La Palma.

Today we walked out towards the lake and found a couple of places with stupendous views. The first was on the right side of the road and had a wonderful pool we could use, if we wanted, as well as a nice cool restaurant with lots of fans. The view there was of the lake far below and the distant hills. We had a cool drink there and then went a little further down the road to a restaurant on the other side of the road, and damned if they didn´t have a view of the lake too. Seems the hill we are on is between arms of the lake so both places can provide some beautiful scenery while one eats or drinks.

We´ve had a little nap now, in our cool air con place, and are out again in the heat. I´ll finish this off and call Geordie in to read it. In the meantime, thanks to the people who responded to our last message, It´s nice to get news from home and abroad, And you don´t have to worry about writing because of expense. Internet here is really cheap, probably a dollar an hour so we can afford to read your messages.

Take care all, and you´ll be hearing from us. We may well go into San Salvador tomorrow or the next day and then go out to travel towards La Ruta de las Flores, the route of the flowers to see some of the lovely villages along there before we head to the heat of the coast and some ocean breezes. Let´s hope the breezes are enough, although no doubt a little air con will be available. It had better be.