The country is a lot more civilized and modern then we had expected. And also a lot more expensive… The original currency, Colon, has been replaced by the US dollar and with that the prices probably were adjusted too. It definitely is not a very cheap destination, like Bolivia and Peru. In this country we saw a lot of (expensive) cars again and much less motorbikes. We did see a lot of people on bicycles however. We didn’t see many of the horse and carriages which we saw in Honduras, but mostly in Nicaragua. But a lot of American-like fastfood places.
It’s a very small country, about 260 kms (156 miles) long and 140 kms (84 miles) wide. But it has no less than 61 volcano’s! We saw a few of them and even though we have seen many volcano’s already, it’s always a beautiful site when you see such a mountain with a perfect tip or a hollow crater at the top. The people in El Salvador are also very friendly, even though they’re a little more reserved than the people in Honduras.
We followed the coastal route because we didn’t want to have to go through the capital, San Salvador and this route was a bit more convenient for the route in Guatemala. It wasn’t very hard cycling, many flat stretches and the rest was hilly. We cycled through it quickly; in 3 days when you don’t count the days of entering and leaving (which were only 20 kms (12 miles) and 10 kms (6 miles). We did take a day off in the little surf- and beachtown of Playa El Tunco. We had a very nice hostel with a pool, hammocks and good chairs. The beach was close. A perfect place for a day of rest after 5 continues days of cycling with an average of somewhere around 110 kms (66 miles) a day.
The first days we cycled through the hills where the scenery was very dry. Later, we descended towards the coast and there it was much more green. That also is the area where a lot of sugarcane is grown. We were often passed by a big truck full of sugarcane which left us in the sweet scent of the cut cane. The coast was pretty but also very hilly. A lot of rocks and a nice view on the ocean and beaches from above. The roads generally are in pretty good shape, but here also a lot of small metal pieces on the shoulder which left us with yet another flat tire. And another one of the spokes of Ronnie’s back wheel snapped.
In El Salvador is more garbage on the side of the roads than in the countries before. Not nearly as much as in Bolivia and Peru, but in many places there was something lying around. Because it’s so very hot (the temperature rose to around 40 C (100 F) every day), it smelled of garbage or dead animals everywhere. The dead animals also were back. It’s a shame because it’s a quite a pretty country.
