It took exactly two days for El Salvador to capture my heart with its charming towns, colorful chicken buses, countless volcanos, and beautiful, welcoming people.
I don't even know this guy, but he saw that my sandals broke and took me to a store to buy superglue and carefully and perfectly fixed them for me.
And thats how nearly every single person I met in El Salvador was. Precious. Warm. Kind. Welcoming.
My goal when I entered El salvador was simply to climb Santa Ana volcano. So, after two days in Juayua I headed to Santa Ana - a busy, dirty city that becomes earily silent at night.
Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador and in my opinion doesn't have much to offer besides one nice park, some churches, and easy access to the volcano.
After half a day hanging out, I met a group also going to the volcano. We got a good nights sleep and got up early to catch the bus. The ride was beautiful - past towns and lakes and so many volcanos in a bumpy chicken bus painted like a different galaxy...
We arrived at the base of the volcano, ate some pineapple, killed some time and finally headed up accompanied by a local guide and two police officers. They made us a little nervous - were there gangs? Common robberies? Murders on the mountain? But they assured me it was simply to ensure immediate medical help if someone fell, and to make sure no one got lost...
It was an easy, two hour hike, but unfortunetly we got one of the rare cloudy and windy days and didn't see a thing once we reached the top.
My friend Jess went a few days later though... she got lucky so we will prentend this is what I saw...
And it was beautiful on the way up, so it was worth it...
(That dark person is me! Darn exposure...woulda been cool haha.)
After a few minutes at the top in the cloud, we hiked down and hitchhiked to the lake for some food...
And rode back to Santa Ana in the coolest chicken bus ever...it felt like a party bus with its colorful ceiling and loud music.
The next day I caught the bus back to Juayua for the next four days. On the weekends they have an incredible food festival, along with several waterfalls.
Jess and I decided to go to see all 7 of them on a little tour which included crawling through thick brush in the jungle and repelling down the largest waterfall....it was adventurous...
And of course since we worked so hard climbing waterfalls, we were starved so we hit the food festival where countless vendors had everything from fruit to varieties of rice and potatoes and shrimp and fried rabbit.
We also went dancing, and I met a precious little girl who fell in love with me. Her uncle was working at the place, and at first she was shy but I asked her to dance and we spent the next two nights dancing, giving piggy back rides, and her doing my hair (more like tying it in knots.)
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It's a little strange for me to write about the country because the danger is real, yet for me and every single one of the backpackers that decided to risk it, we had nothing but good experiences...
We didn't get mugged. We didn't get murdered. My fear was slowly replaced with a deep appreciation for the country and its people and my heart is incredibly sad to have only had one week to spend with the underrated beauty.
Yet a few friends I made there had experienced the dangerous side. Everyone lives in fear of extortion and threats from gangs. Everyone lives in fear that with nearly one murder per hour (mostly in the capital) today might be their last. One man I met had been shot five times for refusing to cooperate with gangs, and survived. He showed me scars to prove it.
(The only danger in El Salvador for tourists apart from the usual petty theft is if youre unlucky enough to be caught in gang crossfire. Tourists are very rarely targeted because the country NEEDS tourists and the money they bring. I have heard zero stories of travelers having any problems in ES.)
One night I sat in a simple living room with tin walls and a dirt floor and listened to the pained voices of friends plans to flee to the United States to escape...they had already tried and failed. Its strange to be on the other side of the immigration issue...and to understand why they so desperately desire to be in the US.
Here there is always work, but no one makes money. They dream about a life where they don't have to work two days to eat for one...
Buy despite the desperate poverty and fear behind their eyes, there is a loyalty and fierce acceptance and contentment that you can't really explain.
The houses are the most simple i've been in. Tin or block walls, tin roofs, maybe some wood built in. Just two or three small, empty rooms. A few chairs, old sofas, beat up tables, small, old appliances. We take our lives for granted, friends.
My friend Alex took me on a moto up to a beautiful lookout, and invited me into the three room house that he shared with three other people. He was ashamed, scared to show me where he lived. He told me it was humble; I told him it didn't matter and I appreciated him welcoming me into his home. His sister made rice and we ate together and laughed at the chickens trying to jump on the table.
Everyone welcomed me. Everyone wanted to chat. From the people on the bus to kids in the street. A little girl came running put of the house in her towel to talk to me after her brother told her a gringa was next door.
And thats El Salvador. I know I will be back; I have so much more of the country to explore.
And based on the adventure packed into one short week, i'm sure I could explore a lifetime here.
You will cherish these memories forever. It's so incredible what you do <3
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