Jan 29, 2019. Hotel Perkin Lenca, Perquín, El Salvador.
Early morning short drive to Berlin, where I had my best cup of coffee in a long time at La Casa Mia. Couldn’t get any $$ from the cajero automático so decided to take a bit of a detour to the ATM’s in Chinameca: success! Then a stop at another chicken place in San Miguel, in a shopping center with oodles of ATMs - I even saw a sign for one at a gas station. Maybe it won’t be so difficult to get US dollars in this country after all.
Some observations: Much poorer than Guatemala; central parks much less lively; women wearing drab clothing; lots of overweight people, mainly women; trash everywhere; loud, repetitive music on buses, in restaurants, everywhere; guards with shotguns in front of almost every shop. Not really much to see or do; local food (pupusas) ok, but really nothing special; lots of ice cream shops (Sarita); no tourists; some nice primitive, colorful wall art. Loud, repetitive, horrible music on all buses, restaurants, some businesses. People often smile back. Children are really cute. Best snack: cut up mango in a plastic bag.
Staying at a place on a hill ($20) in a nice room with a view and a hammock. Seeing lots of downloaded Netflix and Amazon Prime videos. Reading lots, too. Only problem is my left leg begins to hurt after an hour or two of driving. Doing morning exercises every morning, and pushups every other day. I think they are helping.
The guidebooks discourage driving to Corinto (where the Cueva Del Espíritu Santo is located), so I may head back to San Miguel and take a bus instead. But where to leave my car? And it’s a hell of a bus ride. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.
OK, new plan: Perquín > El Mozote > San Miguel > Ilobasco > Cinquera > Suchitoto > Cerro El Pital > Cihuatan > San Andres Ruins & Museum > ...
Sonsonate > Nahuizalco > Salcoatitan > Juayúa > Apaneca > Concepcion de Ataco > Ahuachapán: Ruta de las Flores
