A bit of exercise was badly needed after gorging on good food in Juayua, so I decided I would climb the Volcan Santa Ana. To do this it was needed to set base in Santa Ana. This was not an interesting city but staying in a ambient hostel, sharing stories and having a laugh with nice people made me not to care too much about the city. The climb in the Parque Nacional los Volcanos was just gorgeous. On the way up and from the top you had the view of the perfect cone shape Volcan Izalco, further left the Volcan San Salvador, the volcanic Coatepeque Lake and behind all this the dramatic Pacific Ocean.
From the top of the Volcan Santa Ana you could look down to a very strange green lake inside the volcano.
I felt like swimming in the ocean so my next stop from Santa Ana was El Zonte on the Balsamic Coast. The view from the coast road can definitely compete with the French Riviera. Travelling on a local bus in Central America it is just an experience itself. The El Zonte bus was so packed that you could not fit in a needle but people were still getting on. I was sharing the usually two person seat with two local women. One of them was a curious housewife and the other one had just given birth the day before. For two hours the new mother was patiently sitting on a full bus, holding her baby and time to time breastfeeding him. It is so interesting to see that people around here just get on with their simple life and not making a big fuss about many things whereas us Europeans would instantly complain about a thing if that is not comfortable enough.
El Zonte is a small fishing village and a surfing spot. Swimming was not recommended as the ocean was rough again :) and to learn surfing was not tempting either in these circumstances. Maybe sometimes I am just too cautions! Because of all these there was no point for me to stay around so I moved to San Salvador.
Many local people warned me about the dangers of the capital but I still wanted to spend a bit of a time in an Central American capital. By chance I picked a quiet and safe enough area to stay, surprisingly I was able to explore some parts on foot and even had the courage to take the intercity bus. The city centre was a bit creepy so the warnings were not just fabrications. Also I have heard that there are very rough areas where you would not want to walk either day or night (guys with tattoos = each tattoo one person killed GRRR). The days I was there the city was celebrating August Festival. The streets were filled with partying people, street food sellers and colorful street parades.
From San Salvador I did a day trip to Suchitoto another pretty and spotless Salvadorian town. This is famous for its weekend art galleries and definitely one of the most original architecture so far.
One of the curiosities in Suchitoto (D142), a lot of houses had a painted sign of a bird on a branch and a flower with the tagline: "In this house we want no violence against women".
One kilometer downhill from the city there was a huge lake where locals like to relax and have a nice meal.
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| D144: Cordoba coins - Leon, Nicaragua - 5 August 2012 |
Slowly but surely it was about time to say good bye to this pleasant and friendly country. After a 12 hours bus ride and a few border crossings finally got to Managua, Nicaragua. Once in Managua, locals were advising me to take a taxi everywhere even to nearby places. It had a uneasy feel about it and also I do not like to be limited so this morning I left the capital to explore the cosier and more tranquil Leon.
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