It would be silly to not stop in El Salvador for at least a night, and really, that’s all it takes to get a sense for this country when you’ve got an amazing tour guide (contact Mac here if you need a guide anywhere in Central America).
For some reason this country felt a little more dangerous that most others, so one night was plenty for me. On to the next one.
Aside from the giant sinkhole, there wasn’t a whole lot about Guatemala City that striked my fancy. A lot of the research I had done leading up to my Guatemala explorations seemed to indicate similar sentiments. For one the city is FILTHY, with some of the worst air polution I’ve experienced outside of Hanoi. Unfortunately the bus to El Salvador leaves from the terminal in the capital city, so I had to venture into the depths of downtown. Fortunately I found some really tasty breakfast and killed some time taking some pretty cool photos in the markets.
Spending time at Hotel Isla Verde along the bank of Lake Atitlán provided a perfect opportunity to get some much needed R&R. The hotel is very “granola” with a yoga room, vegan meals, and sun-heated water. I think the Internet access here is even operated by passenger pigeons. So it’s quite fitting that this peaceful paradise is situated just a stones throw from the town of Santa Cruz.
Today was one of those magical travel days where you head out the door with no plans and no expectations, and just by following your intuition you stumble across a wonderful time. This time it resulted in following a parade route for a few miles to a rowdy soccer match between the two local rivals.
The many colorful faces (and garments) of the Guatemalan people — in ascending order by age.
