san salvador, el salvador

My bus service from Honduras to El Salvador was with King Quality, and it was the most comfortable bus I´ve ever taken, though Cruz Del Sur is a close second.

The seats are something like what I imagine first class must be like on a plane. There are 2 bathrooms - one for each gender - coffee, snacks, and a meal is served, and perhaps the best thing is that the attendant checks your passport and ensures that you will be able to cross the border without hassle.

I almost didn´t make the bus in the morning because I wasn´t able to buy my ticket the previous night. Instead, at the advice of my hotel owner who spoke with a rep on the phone, I caught an early taxi to King Quality to pay my fare. When I got there, the bus was there, but they told me tickets were sold in a different place, several kilometres away. This is the thing I don´t like - some cities have multiple bus terminals, others have many private terminals and the place where you buy a ticket and catch a bus can be different.

After some minor pleading, they told me I could travel on the bus with them to the Hotel Clarion where I could buy a ticket and they could pick up their passengers. Phew!

After arriving in San Salvador, I caught a cab to my hotel. The taxi driver was eager to talk and he launched into some of the difficulties facing Salvadoreans. ´Delincuencia´ is an issue. He also told me that gangs put rent on many businesses, even small mom-n-pop places. If the rent of $3/5/10,000 isn´t paid, the owners pay with their life. And you think you got problems?

Walking the streets of El Salvador...

The food is really cheap here (but not for locals, of course), but the lodging doesn´t match it. There are lots subsistence marketplaces and people walking around carrying their goods on their head.

There is an astounding number of security guards with shotguns and rifles here, too. Almost every kind of business has armed security, even the ice cream shops. Each time I see them with their shotgun I imagine it being used on an intruder. You could really be blown away!

guava

For me, San Salvador is another city worth walking around to get a feel of the place, but there weren´t any places in particular which I specifically wanted to visit.

I did spontaneously walk into a ghetto hair shop and get my hair cut for a few bucks.

I only spent one night at my expensive hostel with the cockroaches, then I headed off to a more interesting place in El Salvador.