Ruta de Las Flores and Santa Ana

In what seems like ages ago, we drove up from Costa de La Libertad into the mountains in western El Salvador to a winding road known as Ruta de Las Flores. It is a 36km road that connects a series of little colonial towns. For a few months a year the road is flanked by wild flowers (sadly not while we were there) and all year round there are lots of flower nurseries in the area.

The towns are a lot like Antigua Guatemala, minus the hordes of gringos and the ruins interspersed with the intact buildings. We spent the night in Juayua.
Without a map, we were at a loss for the location of the hotel we wanted. The solution was our standard one in El Salvador (well really anywhere, it just worked so well there), to pull over and ask a local. We asked two teenagers sitting in the plaza. At first they started giving us directions, then one hoped on his bike and said he would just show us. It wasn't far, but it is a great example of the hospitality and friendly spirit we encountered the whole time we were in El Salvador.

The higlight of Juayua, for me, was the pupusas. I love pupusas, and I hadn't been able to get any until Juayua. Pupusas are an evening food, and because we were on the beach without a restuarant, there were none to be had. But my routine of pupusas for dinner began in Juayua and continued through Suchitoto.

Pupusas are masa stuffed with beans or pork or squash or more creative fillings and cheese, then cooked on a grill-top. Two was always plenty to fill me up for the evening. With prices ranging from .40 to .60 usd each, pupusas are front runner for the best bang-for-my-buck of the trip.

Another highlight was the dairy shops. What's not to love? A whole store full of dairy with great signs.


The next morning we went to a series of waterfalls a few kilometers outside of town. If it wasn't for the open gash Dave had, we would have swam, instead we just waded around and enjoyed the scenery. It was a series of three sets waterfalls, all spilling straight out of the rocks. If you ever go, learn from my mistake-- take your swimsuit and leave your busted-headed boyfriend sitting on the edge while you enjoy the crystal-clear water.




After the waterfall we drove to Apaneca and Laguna Verde for a walk and a look at the pretty little green lagoon, then lunch on the square. The way to the lake is well signed, as is Las Vegas Blvd and a tribute to The King.
The roving reporter Dave brings you this update from Laguna Verde


We continued on to Ataco, the town furthest west on Ruta de Las Flores, and wished we wouldn't have eaten lunch in Apaneca. Ataco is a picturesque and quiet little town. The buildings are covered in bright colors and vibrant murals. We want to return on the weekend for a night, when things are hopping with the weekend visitors from San Salvador. I'm eying it as a stop on the return trip. In particular, this attractive little The Twins Pupuseria.

From Apaneca we headed to Santa Ana, old money seat of El Salvador. It was big, and our reason for stopping was sorbet without rival. At least that's what the sign said.
It was good icecream, and probably the best we had, technically. See the upcoming post on Suchitoto and the magical popsicles for why Sin Rivals wins on a technicality.

Fueled with icecream we undertook the task of finding what both of our tourist maps (one in LP guide, the other a free map we picked up along the way) showed to be a paved road running straight from Santa Ana to Suchitoto, where we wanted to spend the night. After asking for directions and following the signs we drove about 45 minutes without any other signs and felt like we were headed in the wrong way. So we pulled over to a police station on the side of the road and asked how to get to the town at the beginning of the road. The police sent us back in the direction we had come. Then after about an hour, we found ourselves back in Santa Ana! We looked at the round-about for an indicator, didn't see one, and voluntarily pulled into a police check point. It took three municipal police to explain to us that the road on our map didn't exist, and we had to go back the way we had originally gone, then north towards Suchitoto.

Two important lessons were learned during the wasted two and a half hours we spent driving in a circle:
1. Follow the signs, not the maps
2. In El Salvador, the sign will not be posted until you need it, so don't second guess and turn around just because you haven't seen a sign in an hour.