Juayúa, El Salvador

How long: 4 Nights
Stayed: Casa Mazeta
Travelling with: Solo and Tom

Beautiful trip along the coast to Sonsonate. So many stunning beaches. Easy change in Sonsonate and on to Juayua on the hottest chicken bus in the world. Mashed in beside a poor little old man who I was sweating all over. Great chats and he offered to take me out driving following day and show me the countryside. Asked if I had friends in Juayua and when I said no that I was alone, I corrected me and said I had him as he was now my friend. So nice :)
Arrived at Casa Mazeta early evening and met the only two other guests...Erin who I had shared a dorm with in El Tunco, and Kane...both Aussies. Lovely homely hostel....just like a cosy house share. Cooked for the first time in weeks (months) and spent the evening watching movies with my housemates. Kane was planning to do the waterfall tour next day so decided to jump in with him ....despite the lingering cold.
Set off at 8am with Kane and our guide Elmer and Billie the dog from the hostel. Picked up out second guide Jose and 2 more dogs at his house and off we went. What a wonderful day! Hiking through coffee finca first and then through stunning rain forest to the first of the 7 waterfalls I the day. Elemer was very informative about the landscape and particularly the coffee finca. He's been guiding for 12 years....despite looking like he was still 12. For the next 5 hours we walked through stunning hills and waterfalls and even got to grapple down one which was great fun. At the last one the boys made us a delicious lunch and then we headed for home. Probably one of the most enjoyable hikes of my trip so far!!
Flaked on the couch after a little walk around town to check out Juayua. My cold definitely catching up with me. Was still on the couch when Tom arrived a few hours later. Had a little wander with him and then back to the hostel to cook and slob some more.
Next day headed off on the chicken bus with Tom to check out more of the towns on the Ruta. Beautiful drive through the countryside, unfortunately the flowers that give this route it's name are not in bloom at the moment. It's still very beautiful but i'd say when they are in bloom it is something else. First stop was Ataco. Beautiful little town about 30 mins from Juayua. Much more touristy but like so much of El Sal there were no gringos in sight...apart from us of course. We spent the next few hours wandering around and checking out all the beautiful murals. Small cobbled streets and colourful houses abound. Had lunch in a little garden place that I think was Italian and was bizarrely playing Christmas songs in Italian...Andrea Bottelli Christmas compilation is my guess. Very funny. Bit more wandering and souvenir buying and then jumped back on the chicken bus and made our way to Apanece.
Much smaller and less cute than Ataco but still nice. Not much to attract the tourists so it was quiet. Had a quick lap of the town and then back on the bus for home. Juayua was bustling and people set up for the weekend food festival. Back to the hostel and the evening bus deposited 3 Irish (Eoin, Majella & Eilis) to Casa Mazeta. Yay...people to watch the match with :)
Up at 7 next morning to watch poor Ireland getting hammered by Belgium. 4 very subdued Irish on the couch by the end. Then onto the rugby...more disappointment . Had planned to move to suchitoto but really couldn't manage to drag myself away from the home comforts of Casa Mazeta so decided to stay another night. Went to check out the food festival with the Irish and Tom in the afternoon and later that night roused ourselves from our laziness and headed out with Susanna (who jointly owns the hostel) and some of her friends. Live music and good company led to a fun night and of course bitter end Roche stayed on with the two local boys when the others very sensibly went home(the Irish were hiking next day so they called it a night at a very sensible hour). Had great Spanglish chats with Cesar and his brother Diego and then they walked me back to the hostel after we had exhausted all options to find some Bachata....me of course.
Needless to say my plan to be up and out by 8am for the long trip to Suchitoto went out the window next morning. Finally got on the road by 10....long day and 5 chicken busses ahead.Read more