Copan Ruinas

We crossed into Honduras at the eerily quiet border-crossing of El Poy. After paying 40 usd to bring the car in and showing our passports to the El Salvador officials who told us that the Honduras immigration guys were at lunch but to go on through, we were into Honduras.

We drove through the mountains and ranches to Gracias, Copan. Exhausted we enjoyed a business-traveler’s hotel and slept for a long time. In the morning we headed towards Copan Ruinas, with a stop at the hot springs near Gracias. They were warm springs and it was Sunday. This meant it was rather busy. In particular it was patronized by two little kids who loved to cannon-ball people. They got us, then set their sights on a group of three grandmother-aged women. We left quickly and headed to Copan Ruinas.

We stayed at Brisas de Copan the first night. A great little bargain of a hotel, one block from the square, with a little parking area, hot water showers, nice staff, and spotlessly clean. For 20 usd it was unbeatable, especially compared to the other 5 rooms we looked at around town.

The next morning we walked to the ruins. They are not large like other well known Mayan sites, but they are peaceful and picturesque, especially since we had them nearly to ourselves to explore.

Dave imitates Mayan sculpture surprisingly well.

That afternoon we got intouch with Dona Flavia. In addition to being the proprietress of the enchanted Hacienda San Lucas on hill above the valley, she is also the future-mother-in-law of the dear Sara Maunder, a friend from GGU. Sara put us in touch with Flavia. I can’t think of a better in-law pair; both are generous-of-spirit, vivacious, and simply lovely individuals. Flavia was the most gracious of hostesses and treated us like family.

Flavia invited us to dinner and to experience an evening up at the hacienda. It is a unique jewel of a place. On the land is Los Sapos, a small site that is part of the larger system of ruins throughout the valley. We enjoyed a late-afternoon, bird-song filled, walk to Los Sapos, and spotted a few birds along the way.

The evening at the Hacienda was illuminated with candle-light, further adding to the beauty and peacefulness. We had a macadamia-corn soup that was the most delicious dish we’ve eaten on the trip. It was creamy in consistency, but light on the palate, with finely ground macadamia nuts waiting on the bottom. The entire meal was delicious. For dinner we sat with a family from San Francisco. By total coincidence the dad works with Paul, Flavia’s son/ Sara’s fiancé, in San Francisco. The mom and dad were visiting Raphael, their son, who has been working in Trujillo for nearly two years as a Peace Corp volunteer. Their company was equal in quality with the meal.

Morning at Hacienda San Lucas


The next morning we enjoyed breakfast before walking back into town for the car. From there we were back on the road to San Pedro Sula to pick up Mom from the airport. It was an uneventful drive, except for the cattle drive in the road. Our original plan was to just wait for it to pass us, but a minibus came along and showed us how to handle it Honduras-style.

On Top of El Salvador

A little over 2700m high is Cerro El Pital, the highest point in El Salvador. It is very close to the Honduran border and the crossing at El Poy. We left Suchitoto and headed for the area, originally intending to stay in La Palma, which had been described as very picturesque with lots of local artisans. La Palma was cute, but after the enthusiasm we had for Suchitoto it was a bit of a let down, so we decided to head up to Cerro El Pital and camp.

There is a paved road that goes nearly all the way to the top, and a gravel road that takes you within spittin’ distance of the summit. It is a winding and severely steep road with beautiful views while you worry about on-coming traffic and over-heating the engine. Well very beautiful views for me, and Dave worrying about the vehicular concerns.

12 usd was entry to the park and camping for the night for the two of us. We found a cliff-side spot as the afternoon light faded towards a sunset.

Dave admires the view from our camping spot.


Then we set up to cook dinner and opened a bottle of wine. We enjoyed a glass of Tempranillo and watched the sun set into the clouds that were drifting in to surround us for the night.


The clouds made me pull on the most layers of clothes this whole trip.

We enjoyed dinner by lantern-light and had the company of the most amazing moth.

The picture fails to do it justice. The wings were neon blue and transparent only when it was very close to the lantern.

After cleaning up from dinner we made popcorn and crawled into the van to watch Milk. We both really enjoyed the movie. I won’t say more because I am at a loss for anything but clichés to describe my reaction, and the awards and reviews and publicity it received are widely available with a google search.

The next morning we headed for the very top, a whole 15 minutes walk. In the parking lot we saw a group of 10 to 15 Salvadorans holding a horn (think cow horn you can blow and make noise), wooden bow with wooden arrows, two small plastic swords, a bottle of wine, a bottle of oil, a couple of guitars and a few backpacks. They went one direction; we went the other and didn’t think anything of it. I assumed they were having a picnic.

We topped out El Salvador just as the clouds started to roll in, so there wasn’t much in the way of a view. Then we headed for the giant boulder that sticks out the side of the mountain just down from the summit. We took a trail through the cloud-forest of tall trees dripping bromilidads and coated with moss. Then we heard strange sounds: yelling, moaning, and guitar. We stopped and peered through the forest, listening and trying to decide what to do.

**Warning, this could be loud if you have your speakers turned up**


We could make out a few of the exclamations, including “Amen” “Hallelujah” “Power of Jesus Christ”. When the singing/chanting/yelling died down, we started moving down the trail and intersected with the group near the fallen tree that acts as a bridge to the boulder.

They were all very friendly and encouraged us to wait a few minutes until they were done crossing and then come across ourselves to check-out the rock. We said we didn’t want to interrupt, they assured us it was no problem, they just needed a few minutes first. So we stood back about 10 feet and tried not to feel like we were invading. They poured oil and wine on a spot on the tree, read some bible verses, talked about having power over sin and Satan, then started crossing over the spot. The ones with swords hit it with the swords and yelled at the spot. Others stomped on it before they crossed. All but one of the group went across. The woman that stayed was probably in her mid 60s. Before we crossed we talked to her just a little.

We crossed the tree-trunk, Dave more gracefully than I, and walked around the rock, but the clouds had engulfed it and we couldn’t see anything. So we headed back.

Dave returns via the tree-trunk bridge.


As we were headed back across the group was increasing their activity with more call-and-answer yelling, waving flags, and blowing the cow-horn. Once we were back on the other side, we started talking to the woman who had stayed behind, singing while she was alone, and found out a little more about her and the group.

They were an evangelical church group from Sonsonate (near the start of the Routa de Las Flores) and had come up for the day. She was a retired dentist. Her mother is 90 and lives in San Francisco. She goes to visit once a year, but her mother is coming back to El Salvador to visit later this year. She asked us about our travels. And after a little more conversation about the USA, El Salvador, and the van, she hugged and kissed us good-bye.

As we drove down we passed people walking up towards the grounds at Cerro El Pital from small town where the paved road ends and the buses drop-off. It looked like most were going to camp for the night as they were carrying lots of supplies. Nearly everyone waved hello. More than one person shouted a greeting in English or Spanish. We had a few surf references and one teenager sang a little bit of “California Dreaming” to us.

The remarkable thing about El Salvador is that the tourist industry is largely based on Salvadoran participation. The infrastructure is there, moderately priced hotels providing clean and friendly service, food, hiking trails, signage; but the majority of users is Salvadoran instead of hordes of gringos. I don’t want to mislead, there were other gringos in most places. With the exception of Cerro El Pital, we always saw a handful of other gringos. El Tunco was mainly gringos, but there were multiple private clubs on the beachfront that were obviously for wealth Salvadorans during weekends and holidays.

Best Popsicles, EVER

La Tienda de la Abuela on the square next to the church in Suchitoto sells a multitude of different popsicles, all made at the store with fresh ingredients. With over 30 flavors to choose from, the range was daunting. Choices varied from Cuban mojito to traditional fruits to orange with chili powder and even Cerveza.
Dave had a creamy pistachio, with pistachio pieces in the bottom and I had an icy Cuban mojito full of flecks of mint.
We sat in the square to enjoy them.

It was a afternoon for a popsicle. The sun was shining, the birds were singing...
Then disaster struck!

It was so sad. The only consolation was that we had already decided to come back the next morning before leaving town so we could try more.

The next day I had Mora, similar to blackberry, and Dave had chocolate. His was creamy, more like the best fudgsicle he had ever had than a popsicle. Mine was tart enough to know that it was real fruit, not flavoring and dye.

Suchitoto

You can do it all in Suchitoto; eat, sleep, and drink.
Our favorite stop of the trip.
Yes La Mizata was a great beach, and I just experienced world-class diving in Roatan, and Lago Atitlan was postcard-pretty, BUT Suchitoto stands as the best-yet.

Suchitoto is north of San Salvador, towards Honduras. It is a colonial town overlooking Lago Suchitlan, a large man-made lake. It is in the mountains, but not high, so it is hot. The streets are cobblestone and the buildings white-washed. The square has an imposing church with the only sacred heart I've ever seen ontop of a building,

and La Tienda de La Abuela, which sells the best popsicles Dave or I ever had.

The area is left-leaning and the surrounding mountains were a FMLN stronghold during the war. There is a Presidential election in a few days and when we were there we missed a FMLN fundraising party by one day. Technically we weren't allowed to go anyway, although it's common for extraneros to go as guests. We spent two nights there, and weren't ready to leave. We just wandered the town, talked to people, and took a walk to the edge of the lake. We are thinking about a prolonged stop there during the return trip. There is so much more we want to see in the area, and the locals told us it is even prettier during the rainy season.

Dave at an outlook over the lake.


One great thing in Suchitoto is El Gringo. Robert from California. He has dual citizenship and has been living in El Salvador for 15 years. He is now married with kids and step-kids and his family runs a small hostel and restaurant. He provides great local insight and is just fun.

There is a community campaign against domestic violence and violence against women. There were signs, painted light posts, and this stencil that was near the door of most homes.

There were also lots of art galleries and cafes. We were told on the weekend it really gets going. Hopefully we'll get to experience that in a few months. But Suchitoto isn't all staged and perfect. There are also houses waiting for a new coat of stucco.


Suchitoto also introduced me to the rice pupusas. In the northern part of El Salvador, rice flour instead of masa is sometimes used. The rice flour makes it a little lighter, better suited for the squash filling. The masa is heartier and more filling. I could never decide which I preferred, so ordering one of each was the obvious solution.

Within a few kilometers of town is a waterfall. This time of year it is not running, but still worth a visit because it is full of hexagonal basalt columns. It is a little drive outside of town, also walking distance, and well worth a visit.
Of course Dave had to climb it, an urge I did not share.

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.

I Wanted to Post, But...

I really have been meaning to post, but we've been so busy having fun!

Quick update...

We are on the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras. Did 9 fantastic dives with two great dive shops! Taking the 2pm ferry back to La Ceiba and headed towards San Pedro Sula to drop Mom back off at the airport. She has been here a week and flies home tomorrow.

Soon, very soon there will be pictures and more info! Take a look at Dave's blog for a little more info on what we've been doing...

La Mizata and the Costa de la Libertad

After leaving Antigua, we drove to the El Poy boarder crossing between Guatemala and El Salvador. It was about two hours from Antigua, on the best roads we saw in Guatemala. The drive was nice, a total change from the mountains I had gotten used to. We left the milpas and other steep fields and dropped down to the coastal plain. We drove past fields of sugarcane, and pastures grazed by sinewy cattle. The only peril on CA-2 was the sugarcane trucks. Semitrucks towing double trailers stacked precariously high with cane.

The crossing was uneventful and took about two hours. On the Guatemalan side I sat in the car. I noticed a calf wandering around right by the little office building. Gives you a sense of how laid-back it is, no one really minded or even noticed.

On the El Salvador side it was even quieter because the trucks parked separately. It was a lot of waiting, a little looking at paperwork, and not even a glimpse at our passports. There is a visa sharing agreement between E.S. Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. I guess the Salvadorians just let the Guatemaltecos take care of things when given the option. As soon as we started waiting on paperwork people wanted to chat with us and were very helpful. In Guatemala, people are happy to help if you ask, in El Salvador, people volunteer help when you have a puzzled look on your face. They might not always give you the correct answer, but they sure do try.

El Salvador had grazing goats instead of a wondering calf.


The first town after the boarder is Cara Sucia. Dirty Face. I'm still laughing. I hope you join me in a chuckle. The only map we had was the Lonely Planet. But there is only one major coastal road, CA-2, so we figured we would drive til we found a good beach. We tried to get to Los Cobanos, but LP has a HORRIBLE lack of driving directions in general, and the Waverider surf guide had one marker for the turn-off and we missed it. Because I am obsessed with reading all available guides, I knew that La Mizata was without lodging and supposedly a great surf break. About 40 miles after crossing the border, I saw a little Pilsner Beer sponsored sign that said "Restaurante Playa Mizata" with an arrow pointing down towards the water. Dave braked forcefully and we turned down a very steep driveway. At the bottom was a boarded up restaurant and a few palm trees and the beach. To our right was a perfectly groomed coconut grove with a house at the back and a palapa on the side furthest from us. A cactus fence separated it from us. Just as we were wondering how to get to it, a woman walked across the grove. She said it was 5 dollars a night to camp and she could feed us for extra. After a tight three-point-turn we went back up the hill, turned around, and headed back down taking the right-hand fork by the hand-lettered sign "Se Vende Cocos"

We pulled into the spot closest to the beach. Esmeralda was very excited.

It was perfection. We had the place to ourselves, not even anyone else on the whole beach. We set up the hammock, said we would like dinner after sunset, and started relaxing. About two hours later we were joined by Paul and Zach, two surfers from San Diego who have been traveling in their truck with a camper for the past two months. They were great company and we spent the next three days hanging out with them. The guys surfed in the mornings. I slept in, read books, journaled, and just perfected lounging in the hammock. We also talked to the family that owned the grove. The guys had a fan club of locals, males ages 5 to 21, who were hanging around from 6am til we turned in for the night. Starting the second day, the locals would be there when the guys woke up. Paul and Zach loaned a couple of them boards, and a few had their own. Then in the evenings they would show back up and hang out. Throughout the day if they didn't have anything else going on, and on the weekend, there was always one Salvadorian in a folding chair.

One day they were doing coconut tree maintenance. Climbing the trees, cutting off dying fronds, bringing down coconuts.


Paul, Zach, and Dave enjoy fresh coconuts while talking with the Abuelo of the family.

Friday Justin, one of the Canucks, drove us into Sonsonate to restock on food and water. It was fun riding in the open-top jeep down the coast. Sonsonate was hot and busy, but had a good market and a good grocery. The highlights were 5 dollar a bottle wine and a cord for Dave's camera.

We enjoyed the weekend. No more gringos but some Salvadorians who came in and hung out for the day, and about 20 more Salvadorians on the beach, but not in our little coconut grove.

Monday morning we were brought back to reality when Dave and his surfboard had a collision.
Eric, one of the local kids who hung out with us daily, was around and told us their was a clinic in the puebla.
Dave put on his shades

Then we walked ten minutes down the road to the clinic. The nurses shaved off the hair around the cut, cleaned it, and closed it with butterfly bandages after the doctor said it wasn't deep enough for stitches. I bet if we were somewhere else he would have gotten staples, but I doubt this clinic had any.


The clinic was nonprofit, largely funded by USAid. There were lots of mothers, pregnant women, and children. Dave always receives stares because he is tall and blond, but with blood dripping down his face he got even more startled looks.

The board was also in bad shape. He hit the back-end so hard he left hair.

But Dave is resilient, and once he was bandaged up, went about getting the water out of his board.


After packing up camp, we drove the hour east down the coast to La Libertad so we could check essentials online and Dave could get his board to the Hospital de Tablas (surfboard hospital). Then because Dave had a broken head, we checked into a little hotel right on the beach in El Tunco. A real shower was greatly appreciated, as was a queen-sized bed and a ceiling fan.

Sunset on Playa Tunco


After a leisurely morning we headed inland to La Ruta de Las Flores and on a quest to refill our propane tank. The way propane works here is that central plants fill the bottles, which are then trucked to little stores and traded out with used ones. The only place to refill a bottle you don't want to trade is at the plant. We were told in La Libertad that there was a plant on the way to San Salvador before the turn off to Santa Anna, and we looked and looked but never saw it. Then we saw a sign for a different gas company, they couldn't do it either but we were told after the turn off there was one, but couldn't understand the description of where it was. We just gave up, and figured we would look around online and hopefully find some in Honduras. Then as we were nearing Sonsonate, the way to the Ruta de Las Flores, there it was right on the side of the highway. It only cost 1.50 and an hour of our time. Now we can again supply ourselves with light and a stove!