5 minutes in El Salvador

section of mural with space cats

Okay, it was slightly longer than 5 minutes but it could certainly only be classed as a stop-over. When I arrived in San Salvador (the capital) I had forgotten to make reservations for the onward trip to Nicaragua, as well as hotel reservations for the night! Not finding the idea of wandering the bad-ass streets of San Salvidor in the dark looking for a room to be particularly enticing, I begged the TICA bus hotel owner if they could come up with something for me. They were really kind and offered to let me stay in the basement where the cleaning staff slept sometimes. There was another dude who was in the same situation so there we slept amoungst huge stacks of freshly washed towels and crates of soap bars. It was strange to have cleaning maids walking around my bed in the morning but it was a place to sleep for the night.

midday lull

Having to wait an extra day for my connecting bus to Nicaragua, I decided to make the most of my little extra time in San Salvador. Hitting the streets on foot, I vowed to see as much of the city as I could before nightfall when I would have to return to my hotel and cower in the darkness until the bus arrived at 3:00 am (yes, that is correct - 3 am. What an ungodly hour to rise hey?) The hotel was located downtown next to the bus depot, a razor wire type affair in a part of the city that is definately off limits after dark.

The difference between Guatemala and El Salvador can seem pretty extreme when you first cross the border. While still living in quite a poor country by world standards, El Salvadoreans definately seem to be better off than the people in Guatemala. The quality of the houses seemed to improve markedly as soon as I crossed the border. Of course in the capital I still encountered many examples of abject poverty, especially downtown where many blocks of the city are still earthquake-damaged from past decades, some completely razed to the ground. There are walls of streets vendors and everything is covered in a thick layer of black diesel soot.

inside la iglesia el rosario

The city is fairly modern compared to alot of the cities in central america, with few colonial era buildings to speak off. There was yet another ridiculous sprawling central american market place that consumed many city blocks with frenetic activity and colour. In one day you can see most of the interesting sights in both the old earthquake damaged downtown area, and the newer western suburbs. This includes a brutally modern concrete church (Iglesia El Rosario) that looks hideous from the outside but conceals within an amazing kalaidescope of stained-glass windows and modern abstract metal sculptures..I also paid a visit to the Monseñor Oscar Romero Centre at the University of Central America (known as ´la UCA´ like ¨ookah¨) ground to find out more about the massacre of this well known priest and six others which marked the start of the civil war in El Salvador during the 80´s. Aside from personal belonings of Romero and information about his lifes work championing the rights of powerless people, there was a garden with roses planted for each of priests that were massacred. My knowledge of Central American politics and history in the 20th century basically amounts to the intro sections at the beginning of each country chapter in the lonely planet, so any opportunity to learn more is always worthwhile.


meat papusas on the hot plate

After a lunch of street food (small ¨meat¨ filled pancake type items called papusas ) I went to check out the shining beacon of consumerism known as Multi-plaza. Here I could browse through three levels of characterless and generic fashion and boutique stores while fullfulling all my dreams of luxury consumption. Quite bizarre to leave Guatemala after 2 months and suddenly be back in the modern world again. It was becoming increasingly noticeable to myself that I have changed my personal viewpoint during this trip. For many years I feel like I have been subtlely resisting the increasingly materialistic nature of the modern world, but now I feel not only that nothing about that world interests me, but actual physical repulsion. The whole experience of trying to make yourself feel good by buying nicer things is in fact actually a farce. Nobody else seemed to be smiling or laughing or enjoying the experience of shopping either. There are certainly heaps of cashed up Nuevo riche in San Salvador city through , the western suburbs look like any other rich middle-class urban area in any other city of the first world.

Also worth mentioning are the insane levels of security in the city. Almost every shop, business and house has its own security guard (or four). Ever present and armed with shotguns, most were friendly when approached and some were even happy to tell some hair raising stories and show the odd scar from a bullet wound. It seems like one half of the city´s home and business owners hire the other half of the city´s population to protect them. Is there anyone left to be the robbers? There was even a squad of dudes with shotguns out the front of the local pizza hut. This is apparently due to high levels of organized crime and gang activity in El Salvador, a problem which is spreading to neighbouring countries like Nigaragua and even influencing gang activity in US due to illegal immigracion from Central America. Its not exactly a reassuring sight to the first time traveler but im sure that tourists are not specifically targeted. There is little in the way of tourism in El Salvador on the whole anyway. I walked around the city all day and saw not one white face - I was alone in the crowds of thousands of El Salvadoreños. It was quite refeshing after Guatemala actually. I can´t wait to come back to El Salvador next time im traveling in this part of the world and actually get to see the rest of the country and learn more about its history and people. I am sure that the countryside and natural landscapes of El Salvador are rich with beauty and just waiting to be explored!


colourful sanctuary in busy city