Departamento de San Vicente

We reluctantly left Playa San Diego and our sweet beach vacation bubble early the next morning to try to get some miles done before the heat really set in. We made good time to Zacatecoluca, ate pupusas (El Salvador's favourite dish of fried tortillas stuffed with cheese and beans or meat) and ice cream in the park and topped up water before we set off again. Our heat window had passed though and we were now riding into a hot headwind at 40 degrees or more and it was all we could do to make it 11 km to Rio Lempa at noon. With fingers crossed we descended to the river and were overjoyed to find it not only full of water, but populated by locals who were also struggling with the heat. We ditched our bikes and lay in the water for an hour before taking naps in the shade. The temperature had dropped sufficiently by 4 pm so we got back on our bikes and rode into Usulutan where we were welcomed to stay at one of the nicest fire stations we have seen all trip.Read more