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El Salvador
El Salvador

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    • The Americas
      Day 38

      Good Friday Procession

      March 29 in El Salvador ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

      Alas as darkness fell the procession took to the streets, led by the stations of the cross and followed by the coffin of Jesus amongst other religious figures. We let the procession pass through the crowds before saying our goodbyes to San Salvador as we have a very early start in the morning as we move on!Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 134

      The vulcano ride

      January 19, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      What do we do when it's hot? Climb a mountain to get into nicer temperatures! Today, we decided to cycle to Volcano de Santa Ana. After some busy kilometres on the CA-1, the panamerican highway, we turned onto a smaller road that lead around Lake Coatepeque, a crater lake. The road was awesome: smooth asphalt and stunning views of the lake and the volcano.
      At the end of the crater rim road, we had to climb to Cerro Verde from where the hike started. That road was in a pretty bad condition, so the elevation gain of 1000m was tough work. At the top, we checked with some locals where we can start our hike. They told us that the next guided tour would start in about 15 minutes. We didn't want to hike in a group (worst case scenario for us), but they convinced us by saying that it's for security reasons and groups are accompanied by an armed security guard. Plus, other travellers had raved about the views from the summit.
      So we took part in a group hike with about 15 participants - and REALLY didn't like it. People just walked too slowly and stopped every few metres. Furthermore, our guide was a 20-year-old girl and no armed guard walked with us. Interesting security, more of a tourist scam I think. However, there were quite some armed officers based along the route, so they do take care of the visitors.
      Interestingly, our guide saw that we got impatient after stop number [stopped counting] and told us we may as well go on our own - which we did straight away. So hiking up got more fun! Until we got close to the top - that was when we saw those hundreds of people who had the same idea for their Sunday activity. No fun at all! Plus, when we got to the top, we saw: NOTHING! It was VERY windy as well as the clouds had come in. So we quickly took a photo and went back down - as fast as possible with hundreds of people on the way.
      Finally back on the bikes, we were happy to have escaped the masses. Downhill on the crappy road wasn't fun but at least quick. Then we were back on the amazing crater rim road which calmed us down. We didn't have enough time for a swim in the lake, but stopped for a cold coke and enjoyed the view before heading back to Santa Ana.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 135

      Ruta de las Flores

      January 20, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Today, we left Santa Ana to get to the Ruta de las Flores, a nice mountain road with several cute colonial villages. In order to get there, we headed West again. On the way, we detoured some 5km on a dirt road in order to swim in Salto Malacatiupan, hot spring waterfall, we had heard about. And what a great place! Apart from 2 friendly dogs, 4 goats and the family living there, no other people. The water was very warm and we went for a bath. Very relaxing, although with almost 30 degrees outside, a cold waterfall would have been ok as well 😉
      We then continued to Ataco, the first village on the Ruta de las Flores. Just after Ahuachapan, we saw a bad accident which had just happened. 2 guys on a motorcycle crashed into a car that came out of a smaller road. The guys didn't look good, but they were alive. As several people were already busy calling the ambulance and taking care of securing the scene, we quickly passed by and let them do their job.
      We then had to climb for about 900m in the middle of the day, so we sweat a lot. Ataco is a little touristy, but has colourful murals and colonial style houses. It's quite pretty and we stayed a while, mainly to sort out our local SIM card (we had found out that they had sold us one without credit before...) and buy food for dinner.
      Then we went on and climbed a little more until we got to a small hotel we had found on AirBnB. The place is owned by Dave (US) and Sonia (originally from El Salvador), who welcomed us warmly. We wanted to get something a little cheaper, but the 20$ we paid in the end were well worth it: a perfectly neat and clean room, a washing machine we could use for free, regional coffee in the room, a roof terrace, a kitchen we were alllowed to use and a great discussion on the Salvadorian culture.      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      1
      22
      Day 136

      Back at the Pacific Coast

      January 21, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      After a breakfast of good coffee, beans, bread, egg and lots of fruit, we cycled the second part of the Ruta de Las Flores. We stopped in all the little villages on the way: Apaneca, Juayua and Salcoatitan. In Nahuizalco, we decided to have our lunch and tried purpusas, the traditional street dish in El Salvador. These are basically filled tortillas, very yummy!
      Afterwards, we had a long downhill to the Pacific coast, taking CA12 before heading South onto CA2. The coastal route is very pretty, but as we are back at sea level, we have to fight with almost 40°C again. It's also not flat at all, lots of curves, hills and even tunnels. First, we stopped at a beach restaurant, but they didn't want to serve us for no reason. So we continued and stopped at a road side shop for coke. The guy who owns it, Omar, was very friendly and we stayed for a chat about cycletouring and his family.
      By about 4pm, we made it to Taquillo, a quiet surfer beachtown and went for a well deserved swim in the ocean. Unfortunately, there's pretty much nothing here, so we had to improvise our dinner a little with what we could get from the corner store: chicken soup with additional spaghetti, avocado tuna paste as a side, a banana and a beer. Plus some more purpusas, as the corner store was also a "purpuseria" 😉      Read more

    • Panamericana adventure
      Day 137

      Auto Hotel adventure

      January 22, 2020 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      As we couldn't get anything for a normal breakfast last night, we had bought some more purpusas for takeaway. We were also lucky as a young guy on a motorcycles past, selling: fresh French bread. Exactly what we needed and better and cheaper than in a bakery here. Love this service!
      The cycling day started as the last one ended. A rolling coastal route, lots of curves, beautiful ocean views. We made the 11000km after 1 hour of cycling.
      After about 25km, we stopped in San Blas for a swim as we would leave the road would go inland again. It was difficult to find a public access to the beach, so we just went to a restaurant, had a drink and could use their shower after the swim which was convenient.
      We continued via La Libertad, a harbour town which looked a little dodgy, so we just passed it. The road went inland and got relatively flat. We could see more volcanoes and many sugarcane fields. Other than that, the ride was uneventful. Even for lunch, we just stopped at a roadside shop which with a tyre shop next door. Nothing special...
      We were going to stop at a motel, but full night rates only started after 5pm (before you could only stay for some 3-4 hours). As it was before 4pm, we decided to go on for a while, bought some food for dinner and continued for another 20km.
      In Jiquilisco, we found another motel and wanted to stay. They looked a little confused, we are obviously not the standard visitors in this type of hotel. Anyways, we got our own garage to put the bikes in. From the garage, we could directly go into the room which had a condom on the table and a mattress surrounded by a layer of plastic. We cooked our dinner in the garage with the garage door open so we could look outside. This totally confused as the whole place is designed for coming and leaving completely anonymous.      Read more

    • thefrogandthebike in CA
      111132
      Day 40

      Feliz año nuevo in El Salvador

      December 27, 2022 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      El Salvador leaves us puzzled after a stay of one week. The small country in the Bitcoin bubble and sad former record holder in homicide rates has recently become a lot safer by the not uncontroversial measures against gangs. Like many other travellers, thefrogandthebike use the chance to pay a visit and ride the stunning mountain roads - among which is the Ruta de las flores - as well as the scenic coastal route.

      The roads are surprisingly good and speed bumps are not actual bumps here, just warning stripes painted on the surface of the road - a real contrast to the nasty tar topes in Guatemala. Along the road there`s restaurants with beautiful garden sites to dine in, more Volcano tours, numerous surf beaches, one can even watch turtles being released into the waves.

      Unsurprisingly, the balance of quality, price and availability of accommodations is currently not quite found. Yet, El Salvador is obviously getting on it`s way in building a foothold in tourism.      Read more

    • RTW Redux ... 2023
      1
      Day 25

      Acajutla, El Salvador

      January 5, 2023 in El Salvador ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

      A new-to-us port and country today … where we were greeted by folk dancers and lively music as passengers began to stream off around 8:00a.

      I had organized a private tour for four people to check out what we could of the Ruta de las Flores — the flower route … so named for all the white coffee plant flowers that decorate the area during the right season. Alas no flowers for us. Josue, our guide from El Salvador Positive, later told us that coffee is the number one export of the country … the USA being their number one importer of the same.

      Yesterday, another couple asked to join the tour, so we ended up being six people in a van that could have accommodated twice as many. We set out at 8:30a and headed up into the mountains. There was a light breeze and the elevation we were at — 4,000+ feet — offered us comfortable temperatures for our day of exploration.

      Our first stop was in Nahuizalco, a town of some 50,000 people. Tradition has it that it was founded by four families. We started off at the small museum, which Josue explained was founded by the local people to keep their history alive. From there, we walked across to the day market where locals bring their goods to sell. It was a colorful and lively market where we were made to feel most welcome even though we were not shopping.

      Next, we continued onto Concepcion de Ataco, a highland coffee village. On the outskirts of Ataco, we dropped off the two newcomers to our group at a coffee plantation for a mini tour and coffee tasting.

      Then, onward we went. The plan was for them to join us later. In the meantime, we would be taking a coffee break at a cafe recommended by David, the Toscana chef on Insignia, who hails from Ataco. Unfortunately, the place he recommended was closed. But Josue took us to Café Axul, where the coffee aficionados in our foursome delighted in tasting Salvadoran coffee … I can say that the peach smoothie I opted for was delicious. Josue also encouraged us to taste the Salvadoran version of a quesadilla … a sweet bread/cake.

      I was particularly keen on visiting this town because I had heard that there were a lot of murals to search out. I did find quite a few of them, but had we been on our own, I probably would have managed to find more. After taking a group photo in front of the Ataco village mural, we hopped in a trailer pulled by a 4WD vehicle, and went up to an overlook from where we enjoyed views of the village, with Cerro El Aguila (a volcano that spans the border of El Salvador and Guatemala) serving as a distant backdrop.

      By the time we came back into the downtown area, it was time to move on again. A short distance this time to Entre Nubes Café for a late lunch. Good, simple food … and a bit of time to relax and converse after our busy day of exploration.

      We were back on the ship shortly after 5:00p … well ahead of our scheduled 8:00p departure. The tour was longer than we planned … but none of us were complaining as we all had a delightful time. The best part of our day … all the wonderful, smiling, friendly Salvadorans we met in the streets of Nahuizalco and Ataco.      Read more

    • Around the World
      Day 13

      Flat World ???

      January 27, 2023 in El Salvador ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

      We are off to prove the World is NOT flat ... by "going around it". I know you have been waiting for Karen and I to solve this question. Forget gravity, solar problems, tectonic plates, and magnetic fields (I’m sure my sailor friends are scratching their heads right now as to why we think this is a question).

      Pythagoras (550BC) used math to prove it was round, Aristotle (350BC) provided arguments that the Earth was a sphere. Still, Columbus had trouble getting funding to do the trip. Finally, with advances in navigation (and ships), Magellan did not make it around the world, but he did discover the Straits of Magellan and the Pacific Ocean (it was calm). He died on the trip but his MATE, Juan Sebastian el Cano1522 finished the trip. Good thing there was a Mate.

      Note: Magellan made most of the trip and did discover the Straits of Magellan, crossed the Equator and found and named the Pacific because it was calm in 1521.

      “Unlike the Mediocre, Intrepid Spirits Seek Victory Over Those Things That Seem Impossible...it Is with an Iron Will That They Embark on the Most Daring of All Endeavors... to Meet the Shadowy Future Without Fear and Conquer the Unknown.” Magellan

      Now, once and for all we are off to prove it. Can you tell sunrise from sunset?      Read more

    • Weltreise 1.0
      4
      Day 139

      San Salvador

      March 21, 2023 in El Salvador ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

      am halbi drü am morgä irgendwo in nicaragua chämer in bus richtig el salvador istiegä. nach ca. 13 stund simmer in el salvador achu. dr reis isch eigentli länger agi gsi will 2 grenzä (Nicaragua-honduras und honduras-el salvador) durquerä musch, aber es isch alles viel schneller und iwandfri abgloffä als gedacht💪
      el salvador het immer nuch sehr en schlechtä ruäf. höchsti mordrate, gangs und drogä, aber grundsätzlich chunsch du als tourist im normalfall nöd in kontakt mit so sache. für üs isch irgendwiä vu afang ah klar gsi as mir dem land e chance gi wänd.
      und schu vum erstä moment ah bereud mirs nöd. es isch viel moderner und fortgschrittner als vieli anderi länder in lateinamerika. natürli hets diä typisch lateinamerikanischä eckä. gfährlich ischs am abed a gwüssä ort. mir hend üsers hostel anerä sehr sicherä und modernä gegend, also keis problem au nachem sunnäuntergang nu usä z gu. das isch aber a vielnä ort so in lima, rio, panama etc. hemmer überall gluägt as d gegend sicher isch. also kei grossä unterschied. mir hend üs fürnä free walking tour mit dr melissa entschiede. si söll üs das anderä el salavador zeigä und es isch definitiv so, dass el salavdor me z bütä het also nur schlechti sachä. es wird viel investiert in d bildig, id modernisirig und au i dr coronaziit sind alli unterstütz wordä. es gaht langsam, aber es gaht öppis. und sit ihrer chindheit wo elei usä ga zum mit andernä chind spielä keis thema gsi isch, het sich viel veränderet.
      aber au da gsehsch natürli d armuät und viel versuäched ihres glück i de usa.
      el salvador isch halb so gross we d schwiiz, aber het ca 6 mio iwohner. diä zweit währig nebed em us-doller isch bitcoin. du chasch überall mit dem zahlä.
      in el salvador hemmer au wiedrmal guät iheimischä gessä. z bestä poulet sit monatä mit choohl, ruäblisalat (kei riiis 😍😍🥳🥳) und chips 🤤      Read more

      See translation
    • Weltreise 1.0
      Day 142

      Playa el tunco

      March 24, 2023 in El Salvador ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

      don't skip el salavdor. ganz nach ihrer marketingkampagne chämer sägä: Jaa! mach das nöd. es isch e tolls land mit tollä lüt und toller natur. au wänns nöd überall ungfährlich isch, ischs keis problem dadurä z reisä. vorallem au sehr wenig touristä. diä letschtä paar täg hemmer am meer gnossä. mit wunderschönä sunnäuntergäng. mir wäred am liäbstä nu viel länger in el salvador blibä und hetted nu viel me agluägt. aber leider hemmer nu so viel vor und nümm so viel ziit in mittelamerika, aber ich glaub mir sind nöd z letschtmal da gsi. dankä el salvador du hesch au würgli super feins iheimischs essä. ein hoch auf pupusas🤤 tortilla mit chäsfüllig und z.b. jalapenos, fleisch etc.Read more

      See translation

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Republic of El Salvador, El Salvador, Ɛl Salvadɔ, ኤል ሳልቫዶር, السلفادور, Сальвадор, Ел Салвадор, Salivadɔr, এল সালভাদোর, ཨེལ། སཱལ་ཝ་ཌོར།, Salvador, El Salfador, El Salvadɔ nutome, Ελ Σαλβαδόρ, Salvadoro, السالوادور, El Salwador, An tSalvadóir, એલ સેલ્વાડોર, El Salbador, אל סלבדור, अल साल्वाडोर, Սալվադոր, Salvadoria, エルサルバドル, სალვადორი, Elsavado, អែលសាល់វ៉ាឌ័រ, ಎಲ್ ಸಾಲ್ವೇಡಾರ್, 엘살바도르, ئێلسالڤادۆر, Salvatoria, El salivado, Savadɔrɛ, ເອຊາວາດໍ, Salvadoras, Savadore, Salvadora, എല്‍ സാല്‍വദോര്‍, အယ်လ်ဆာဗေးဒိုး, Ersarbador, एल् साल्भाडोर, Lo Salvador, ଏଲ୍ ସାଲଭାଡୋର୍, Salwador, Ël Salvador, سالوېډور, Eli Saluvatori, एल-साल्वाडोर, Salvadöro, එල් සැල්වදෝරය, Salvadori, Салвадор, எல் சால்வடார், ఎల్ సాల్వడోర్, เอลซัลวาดอร์, ʻEle Salavatoa, ئەل سالۋادور, ال سلواڈور, Salvadorän, Orílẹ́ède Ẹẹsáfádò, 萨尔瓦多, i-El Salvador

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