Santa Ana:
24th August - 1st September 2025
24th August – Sunday
Happy birthday to Bela and Glenn!
I feel a little disappointed as I didn’t get a picture of a plane coming in. There was one due at 10:35am so I waited outside, phone at the ready, but it must have come in from the other direction. I left my apartment soon after that and went to the Hotel Los Americanas, where my El Salvador bus was departing at 1 pm. I had a lot of time to kill so I thought I’d look for a pharmacy as I had read that the larger ones sell Nicorette products. I managed to find 4 places, all with no luck. However, it was a nice walk as there was a dog festival taking place, the main road was shut off (one direction only) and people were standing up and down with their fur babies, or else on bikes, roller blades and skate boards, there were also a lot of joggers out. There were also a few stalls all selling doggie stuff. I must add Guatemala City is very strange on the weekends as it seems the biggest stores are shut on both days and the traffic is not half as manic as during the week. It has been much nicer for walking around, although yesterday, being a Saturday, it felt a bit eerie when I went out for a beer and munchies.
The journey to El Salvador was quick. I will definitely use Transporte de Sol again. Not only do the seats recline to almost vertical, I slept most of the way to the boarder, there is a hostess on board and she dished out free food and drinks. The first lot came just after we departed, it was a savory puff pastry thing, a cinnamon roll and a fizzy drink and the second just after we crossed the border, I had a cheese flavored sponge cake and an apple juice. Yes, a lot of junk, but free junk, so I’m not complaining.
Crossing the border was so easy, we all got off at the Guatemala office and I got my passport exit stamp (all the other passengers were locals and had ID cards). We then got back onto the bus and were driven to the El Salvador border. Here an agent got on and checked everyone’s ID cards, but told me I had to get off and ago to the passport office. The hostess came with me, they stamped my entry visa and I hoped straight back on the bus. At no point did I have to lug my rucksack around and the queues were basically non-existent. I wish all border crossings were that easy.
I stayed awake for the hour journey to Santa Ana. Even on the coach you could feel the temperature difference to Guatemala, much hotter and more humid. It’s funny how they are both on the same continent, right next door to each other but they have slightly different weather. From what I could see El Salvador looks a lot poorer and no-one seemed to be wearing Maya clothing. There also seemed to be a lot more barbed wire protecting properties, but then
considering 3 years ago this was the most dangerous country in Latin America it is not surprising. Now, due to the new president, who had built a high security prison and locked up all the gang members, for life, it is one of the safest Latin American countries.
The coach dropped me and another lady off at a Puma petrol station just outside of town, but it was too far to walk to my hostel. For once I had data as Tigo works here as well as in Guatemala, and they also have Uber here, so getting a taxi was a doddle. In fact, getting into El Salvador and getting to my hostel has been the easiest I’ve ever had it here or even in SE Asia
My hostel is really lovely, there is a kitchen, front room area with a TV and two outside seating areas. I only have one complaint, there is nowhere to put my rucksack in my room, except on the floor, as there is only a small bedside cabinet. But in saying that I do have my own toilet and sink and only have to share the shower room.
Considering I am the only person here that is not going to be of any real concern. The owner is absolutely lovely and has excellent English, which will not help my Spanish. She has offered to take me to the bank tomorrow to change my Quetzals so that I don’t get ripped off. Anyway, she sent me into town, to a no ATM fee, so I could get the money to pay for my room. I got back and she has disappeared – lol. Anyway, I now have the money to pay her in the morning and I also found a really large supermarket so they bought a couple of beers and stuff for breakfast. My first impressions of Sanat Ana – it needs a bloody good clean, it is literally a grey/black colour, so grimy, but you can see that with a good lick of paint, it could be a very beautiful town. In fact, it reminds me, in building style and layout, of Antigua, it also feels quite calm and laid back. I look forward to exploring it properly tomorrow.
25th August – Monday
Happy birthday David!
I’ve had a really lovely, relaxing day after a shit night’s sleep. My bed is really comfortable but the pillows are too high and too firm. I woke in the middle of the night with my left shoulder in so much pain that I had to take painkillers, which is a first. It has been fine all day
After a very slow start, I paid my rent and the owner, I must find out her name, took me into town. She walked so fast I came back with huge underarm sweet marks. We followed the same route as I took last night but it looked so different as all the stalls were now open. As we walked down one road I asked about all of the barbed wired and she informed me that previously this was a no-go road. All the cars park on one side and gang members would hine between them and jump out and rob you, and basically of you didn’t hand over your goods you would be stabbed or killed. On this road there is a wall mural of a rose and she informed me that it was previously a sign to indicated what gang the territory belonged to. I would have never know any of this if she hadn’t offered to take me out.
We went to a guy on the side of the road and I change my quetzals for dollars; the exchange rate was ok but it did cost me $15 to change 1440 quetzals, but to be honest I really didn’t mind as he was a local and needs to make some sort of profit or else it’s not worth his while, and I prefer him to make a profit from me than the local corporate bank. After that we literally marched around three markets. This is quite easy as the whole town feels like a market and I really couldn’t distinguish one from the other. However, the central market area burnt down a year ago so the owner showed me where the stall owners have now set up; it is behind the street I walked along yesterday, and yes it is grubby and dark, but it is also so awesome, lots of little alley ways lined with stalls, she pointed out where I could get my trainers fixed – they need glueing – and where they sell really good seafood.
This afternoon I took a slower stroll into town in dry clothes! I basically followed the same steps. central Santa Ana is very small, but this time I also went to the central square, Parque Libertad, which is very beautiful. It’s flanked with a stunning white church, the Iglesia El Calvario, a beautiful green national theatre, a green library and a magnificent orange City Hall. As I said yesterday, this town is actually very beautiful if you can see past the grime. From there I went back to the central market in the hope of buying a rather delicious looking chicken sandwich, which the owner said they eat for Christmas dinner (?) however the stall was now closed and I had heavy bags from supermarket shopping so I came back to my room.
I’m going to spend the evening in front of the TV as I plan on getting up early tomorrow and going to the Santa Ana Volcanoe. There is a tour to the volcano and lake online for $60, but the owner has assured me that it is far cheaper and a lot more fun to do it myself. So tomorrow I’m going get the 7:30 am chicken bus to the volcano and pay for a guide. I think I may end up staying here for a bit longer than planned; after researching, Santa Ana is turning out to be good place to access most of the sites worth visiting from, and the chicken buses are less than $1 per ride. However, I must visit the coast and San Salvador before I leave the country.
Later: What a lovely evening. Fatima, the hostel owner, pointed me in the direction of a shop so I could buy more alcohol. Ha ha, the old lady in the shop didn’t understand a word I was saying and after a good few minutes started pulling different beers out of the fridge. I couldn’t actually go into the shop as it was caged off, as a lot of the shops are. Eventually I decided to end the fiasco and bought two beers from her, once the transaction was complete, she reached out and touched my hair. When I told Maria she was shocked and told me she is usually a grumpy old lady and must have taken a shine to me. From that shop I went around the corner and found another which sold vodka mixes, which was more suitable to what I had originally been drinking, so I came back with 4 bottles of booze and a cake. Fatima overheard me trying to order a delivery pizza and came to my rescue. It turned out that I couldn’t get the pizza unless I downloaded their app, so instead I got a sandwich similar to the one I saw in the market. Fatima told me her grandmother makes them for the three days of Christmas and as much as she loves them, by boxing day she cannot eat another. Fatima and I then settled down to watch a film while her husband went to his friend’s house to discuss politics – lol. I told Fatima where I had been today and she has offered to take me to the church tomorrow evening to see it lit up and to climb to the top. OMG, she is such a lovely person, I really have landed on my feet here, and she is even talking Spanish to me know and correcting my Spanish – just perfect.
It turns out I am not the only person here, I met the other resident, a guy named Juan, this morning when I was making my breakfast – he is forever on his phone and sits in the courtyard smoking cigarettes. As I was coming up to bed just now, he asked if I drank beer – silly question – he offered to buy some but it’s now late, my head hurts from watching the film in Spanish, which I understood most of with the help of Spanish subtitles, and I am up early tomorrow. I also think he’s a bit creepy; he actually reminds me of someone I know but I am not going to name names just in case they ever read this. Anyway, I said to hm that I’ll have a drink with him tomorrow evening – let’s see what happens.
26th August – Tuesday
Happy birthday Hadley!
It’s hot hot hot – 34 degrees with a real feel of 39, and it’s now 3:30pm, so god knows what it was like a couple of hours ago. The only difference between here and Cambodia is the humidity, it is only 41% humid here, still bloody sweety but not as bad and I have on a very cool dress on today which has helped immensely.
I woke up several times last night and at 4am decided that I wouldn’t go to the volcano and turned off my alarm. I went to El Salto de Malacatiupan instead, which Fatima recommended to me yesterday – it is a natural hot spring. I walked the 20 minutes to the bus station and hopped onto my first chicken bus, number 210. What a palaver that was, the moment I got on it started to move, it was packed and I didn’t have my money out. I almost fell and as I balanced myself I managed to pull a woman’s hair – OMG, how embarrassing, I couldn’t apologies enough in both English and Spanish. By now I had a full audience and not one was laughing. There was an empty seat and rather than shift over the guy turned so I could squeeze past him into the window seat, lol, he had bottom rub against as I almost fell on him, more apologies came from me. Next time I will expect the worse and hopefully be a lot more elegant getting on a bus. The journey to Atiquizaya took about 40 minutes and cost a grand total of 75 cents, it’s definitely the way to travel. There is the driver, and as such a driver. On this bus the driver would whistle for the driver to stop and start again and he also collected the fare from those that entered at the back, the driver collected from those that entered at the front.
Once in Atiquizaya I bought a piece of chicken and some coleslaw for breakfast and hailed a tuk-tuk to take me the rest of the way to the hot springs. We didn’t get very far as there were road works and we had to turn back. Using G Translate he explained that a tuk-tuk could not go the other route and offered to find me a driver that could, which was very nice of him, and he only charged me $1. They have these funny almost square shaped little cars in Atiquizaya, which are not much bigger than a tuk-tuk, I saw hundreds of them, it turns out they are taxis. The first guy he asked wanted $12 dollars for the round trip, which was quite a distance. I offered 10 and he refused, but the second guy happily accepted my offer and off we went. Talk about pot holed roads, it was one great big pot hole with numerous boulders and trenches thrown in for good luck. It was quite a relief to arrive at the springs where I had to pay £1.50 entry fee.
What a disappointment, the spring, which was more of a fast-flowing river with a waterfall was full of plastic bottles and other plastic waste all in the water and along the rocks, there were even rotten t-shirts hanging from some of the trees. It was so sad to see and totally ruined what could have been such a beautiful place. There was only one other family there and they soon left, so I found myself there on my own with a couple of dogs. The first dog, still a puppy had sniffed out my chicken at the entrance and followed me down to the spring and just wouldn’t leave my side. He was such a cutie. By the time I found a spot to eat I was joined by another dog. That one piece of chicken didn’t go far between the three of us, and they also enjoyed the coleslaw, which was far too tangy for my liking.
After all of that, I didn’t even have a swim, not only did all the plastic waste put me off but, after swishing my hands in it to clean them, I realized that hot springs really meant HOT springs. It was far too hot to get into and with no one around I didn’t want to risk the fast-flowing waters. I had arranged for the driver to come and get in three hours, but after an hour and a half I had enough and gave him a call. He said he’d be there in 20 minutes. As I was hanging around by the
entrance mum video called and while we were chatting a guy in a taxi pulled up and I jumped in, only to realize it was a different guy – lol. I asked him if he had been sent to get me and he said no, lol, so I made him turn around and take me back. I really couldn’t let my driver come all the way to get me to only find I’m not there, especially after negotiating a round-trip price with him, and I loved the way he whistled at the other taxi drivers that we passed, he was quite amusing.
The chicken bus back was a very plush and empty compared to the one going, and I didn’t have any close encounters with any of the other passengers, thank god, in fact I had a seat all to myself, and the journey back was quick and pleasant. I’m now back at the hostel and it looks like I will be drinking beer tonight with the other resident as Fatima and her husband are nowhere to be seen. She doesn’t actually live here so she is probably chilling at home. The other resident has informed me that there is no gas, so my plan for cooking my dinner tonight has just gone out of the window – so sad.
27th August – Wednesday
RIP Louise
Where do I begin? Errol’s daughter, aged 28, passed away today, 8:45pm UK time. She went to Turkey (?) and came back with e-coli poisoning, she got sepsis and HUS. All of her internal organs failed her, and all the praise in the world could not save her. I cannot imagine what her family are going through right now – this is a tragedy that should not have happened. My sadness is not worthy of the loss they are suffering. My condolences go out to all knew and loved her.
Bar this tragic news my day has been good. I slept well and had a lazy couple of hours drinking coffee in bed trying to decide what to do. I eventually jumped on the 218 chicken bus to Chalchuapa and visited the Parque Arqueologico Tazumal, and what a stunning little site it was. There was one pyramid shaped ruin in the middle, a couple of other ruins next to it and a very small museum exhibiting a few of the artifacts dug up from the site. However the history of the site is quite amazing, and I read that the whole of the town of Chalchuapa is built on ruins, however this is the only part they can excavate due to the town and supposedly every garden contains ancient artefacts. For more information click on this link https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tazumal. During my tour of the museum, I finally found out the regions of Mesoamerica, which is a historical region and cultural area that begins in central Mexico, encompasses all of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, western Honduras, and the Greater Nicoya region of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This put everything into perspective for me and explains why the culture and people of these countries are so similar, yet with many differences.
After the site I went to one of the restaurants opposite and had my first try of a Chicharon dish, being a pork lover I have eaten a lot chicharon crips, but his was my first chicharon meal, and it was delicious. This one came with potatoes, coleslaw and salsa. Tomorrow I may try a meal elsewhere as I have read that it can be very varied according to the restaurant it is cooked in. I know there are some recommendations for places to try it in Santa Ana, so try I must.
While waiting at the bus stop to return I noticed there is a largo (small lake) in Chalchuapa, so off I went in search of it. It was certainly small and extremely beautiful and tranquil. It was so small it took less than half an hour to leisurely walk all the way round it. And it so nice to see people chilling by it, one guy was eating his lunch, a couple of guys relaxing on their phones, there were several families, people parked up in cars and some guy’s fishing. It may sound like it was busy, but it really didn’t feel busy. It was a very pleasant little walk.
The bus journey back was fine, I have now mastered the chicken buses, which are actually old American school buses. They are called chicken buses because they used to carry livestock as well as people, now I think they only carry people and parcels. The ones in Gualetemala were very ornate, but the ones here not so ornate. One thing they all have in common is the black smoke they chug out and the fact that they cannot go that fast and they are not very comfortable, but for the cheap cost of a ride I am not complaining – it was 50 cents each way to Chalchuapa!
Rather than come straight back to my hostel I decided to go to the vape shop as the one I have is going to run out soon. I had to knock on the door of the shop as it looked closed but did have an open sign on it. It was a proper vape shop and didn’t have any disposable vapes. So I ended buying a proper vape, 5 spare coils and a pot of juice. It came to about the same price as I would have paid in the UK so I wasn’t disappointed. However, as I was heading back to the hostel it did dawn on me that I am supposed to be trying to give up and in my hand was the ‘real’ thing. Oh well, such is life and I am happy to say it feel plastic rather than metallic so I shouldn’t have any problems if I fly it to a no-vape country, the last thing I need is for it to get confiscated!
This evening the sky darkened, winds came and a tropical storm descended upon us. It was actually very nice as it was another sweltering day but now it’s cool and fresh and I’m more than ready for an early night as I am feeling very sad for my dearest friend Errol and the departure of his daughter. Her pain is over but her family will forever feel her loss.
30th August – Saturday
I haven’t actually done anything bar stay in the hostel and pop out for essentials for the last three days. Since hearing about the passing of Errol’s daughter and my Aunt Nessa about to go any day now, all I have done is cry and feel emotionally down. I called Errol on Thursday, it was one of the hardest calls I have ever had to make – there are no words. And I cannot imagine the pain. After I had to call Yasmin – I just need to see her face and hear her voice. Danie called me today, they are still going on their holiday. I am not sure I would be emotionally fit to go on a holiday, but I do understand, and being away from the situation may help Errol emotionally – I hope so.
I did go for a walk today, I was hoping to visit the Old Art School ruins, but the ticket office was closed. While out Varena sent me 2 videos of Nessa. In the first Nessa was having a drink and giving Varena and the other lady lots of kisses. It so reminded me of my dad’s last day, when he seemed more full of life than he had for days, he passed that night. It did make me wonder if it was Nessa’s last day and it brought back so many painful memories. The second video brought a tear to my eye, not that I have stopped crying. Eliot, Nessa’s youngest son, had only just returned to Japan, but got on a plane and came back. The video was of him surprising Nessa with his return – the delight on her face was priceless and Uncle David was in tears. I was in the street at the time, the tears flowed, people stared and I really couldn’t care.
On Thursday I asked Fatima for a three-day extension, she though I asked for two and has rented my room out from tomorrow. Uhm, at first, I was like, well I will leave tomorrow, but she offered me a new room and when I saw it and she said I could move in today, I moved in without hesitation. It’s far bigger, has a closet for your clothes and a private shower / bathroom. It is lush and for the same price as my other room – no complaints. I just now need to work out where to go on Monday. I was thinking of a town called Sonsonate but the rooms start at £20 a night! Perhaps tomorrow I should do the volcano and then spend a couple of nights at the Lake before heading to either a beach or San Salvador.
One thing I have done over the last couple of days is research my next country. To go to Honduras I need to get a visa, and I cannot do it online, it will mean going to the Honduras Embassy in San Salvador and producing a DBS check. It could take weeks to get the visa so I have ruled that country out. The next choice was Nicaragua, but the political unrest there looks horrendous, and the guy that is also staying here is from that country and said he cannot return for fear of being arrested. To get to Nicaragua by land you have go through Honduras, and to even transit I will need a visa. So, my plan is to fly from San Salvador to Costa Rica. I watched a video about the county last night and it looks amazing. And I think I need a change, Santa Ana is a fabulous town, I could actually settle here for a couple of years, but right now I need a change so I can rid myself of this depression and start doing things again.
31th August – Sunday
May September be a happier month.
Nessa is still going strong, well at least I think she is as I have had no news today, no news is good news. And I have had a much more positive day. Mum woke me a 7am with a phone call – lol – I accidently pressed the hang-up button, but we did speak not long after. It really does help to have someone to talk to that understands, Fatima was here when I went for my second coffee, it was nice to see a smiling face. Next door was having their place fumigated for mosquitos and Fatima got here done after. The stench was nasty so it encouraged me to get my act together and go out.
I went for a walk to a place called Expresion Cultural Café and Restaurant and had a very delicious breakfast, veggie omelette, rice with beans, plantain, bread, orange juice and coffee on demand, all for $5. From there I walked to Sapoapa, which is a natural pool. I was longing for a swim but once I arrived, I realised I didn’t pack my towel. However, I did don on my shorts and dipped my toes into the smaller pool and let the fish nibble at them. It was quite tickly to begin with, but the water was cool and refreshing. It didn’t take long for the fish to begin fighting over my feet and at one point there must have been a good 50 them, most very small, having a good lunch at my expense. A couple of the other people there, it was not packed, found a couple of very large crabs and some others were trying to catch some larger fish. Fatima later told me that the place used to be only $1 to visit and you could take beer and have a BBQ. Now it is $2, no alcohol allowed and a bottle of water cost me $1 – so bloody expensive. But it was a lovely relaxing afternoon and I feel so much better for it.
The walk back was much quicker, it was just one straight road, and although most of it was in shade it was still so hot that my top was soaked through and I needed a nice cool shower to cool off. I’ve had a chilled evening, I downloaded the El Salvador’s version of Food Panada and got a burrito for dinner, unlike in the UK it was pure meat, but very delicious and filling and only $5. I tried to watch a film, in Spanish, but for the life of me I’ve watched so many Spanish films now my head is hurting. So, I’m tucked up in bad and hope the noise level does not increase as it did last night – I am exhausted and really do need a good night’s sleep. Check out is at midday tomorrow, I’m going to Lake Coatepeque for two nights, I am very much looking forward to a change of scenery – I am sure a full day of swinging in a hammock, reading and swimming in the lake will do me the world of good.