Visiting the country with the worst reputation in Central America.
My name is Joe Harrington, I’m travelling through Central and South America for the next eight months, here’s what happened on week three.
San Pedro, Lake Atitlan (continued)
My last day at Lake Atitlan was probably my best. I’d recovered enough from my sunburn to feel human again so I packed a lot into the last day.
Up at 3:30am to get a bus (approx €9) to Indian Nose Mountain where you can watch the sunrise. A few of you might think that’s a bit cheesy, but it was amazing.
Sunrise at Lake Atitlán this morning 😮😍 pic.twitter.com/wLkea1bWNo
— Joe Harrington (@ImJoeHarrington) April 15, 2016
We got back to town and had breakfast at Blue Parrot (the place is too good) and hopped on a boat to go to the town of San Marcos across the lake.
It has beautiful clean water to swim in and it’s way more chilled out than San Pedro, with yoga and meditation classes and areas all over the place.
I found my inner zen in the back pocket of my black jeans a few months ago so I was grand for classes, but if that sounds like your thing, visit San Marcos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEO6mlZmHdh
That night was spent doing a table quiz in Hostel Fe, it was wild.
The MC was like Paddy McGuinness from Take Me Out, but x-rated, and bottles of Tequila were being passed around and drank as if it was the cure to some disease that was threatening to wipe out the human race.
We came fourth. And got a hangover.
Accomodation: I stayed in a dorm room in Hotel Mikaso. The food in the hotel is great, the beds are real beds, the wifi is average and the staff are dead on. It cost me €8 per night.
Food: El Fondeadero, Zoola, The Blue Parrot.
Drink: Hotel Fe, Sublime, El Alegre.
Highlight: Seeing the sun rise over the mountains on the Indian Nose.
Lowlight: Being an idiot and allowing myself to get burned to a crisp.
Next stop: Santa Ana, El Salvador
I woke up the following day at 4am to catch a shuttle from San Pedro to Guatemala City where I got a bus to El Salvador, officially the most dangerous country in the world.
(FYI: The 12 hour trip consisted of four buses and cost me €21).
A quick look at the safety figures for El Salvador; USA Today reported that 6,657 people were murdered in the country in 2015, a 70% increase from 2014.
I’ve heard a lot of stories about the place too, one of the scariest was from a Colorado guy I met whose daughter worked for the US embassy in the capital, San Salvador.
She told him that a gang decided to murder multiple bus drivers everyday for two or three weeks to send a message that they control transport in the country. Insanity.
As you can imagine, I was a little bit unnerved, but I wanted to see the country and to visit this cool volcano in Santa Ana which has a lake in the middle of the crater.
I arrived into the city of Santa Ana and booked into Hostel Casa Verde. It’s hands-down the best hostel I’ve ever stayed in, look at it [press play].
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEY_F_5GHZO/
The city is actually pretty cool. I strolled around and explored on the second day and ended up at a 4pm rock concert in the local theatre.
It was a cover band playing songs from the famous Latin American rock band Soda Stereo (?) and it lasted four hours. It was a bit shit to be honest, but the theatre is beautiful.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEUF4F0mHRF/
The next day was fantastic, 14 of us from the hostel booked a private shuttle bus to the volcano with the green lake in it and the nearby lake for €7 each.
The local chicken bus goes to the volcano too, it leaves at 7:30am and costs €1, but we had a group so we went for the shuttle.
The hike was deadly and not too difficult, but there are a few moments of creepy-sounding, heavy breathing to get through.
It’s all worth it though, the view from the top is genuinely astonishing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEXJxJkmHX5
My choice of shorts generated a lot of debate abuse.
Here’s an example.
@dohertyeoghan It's called fashion, look it up. 😎
— Joe Harrington (@ImJoeHarrington) April 19, 2016
Yes, they are short, but they are not actual short-shorts as some people suggested, it’s the angle of the photo and my legs are really long and… you know what, screw you guys!
We got home that night and went out for pupusas which are the local delicacy of El Salvador.
They’re delicious corn tortillas in the shape of a pancake, stuffed with fillings like cheese, chicken, ham, chorizo, carrot and more. They cost €0.50. Get many if you’re ever here.
The next day was moving day so got to bed around 11pm.
Accomodation: A dorm room in Casa Verde.
It has two kitchens, a swimming pool, a rooftop terrace, clean bathrooms, hammocks, lovely communal areas and Carlos the owner will help you with everything.
It cost me €11 per night.
Food: Pupusa vendors on the street, Simmer Down.
Drink: Didn’t drink much, but I had a few beers in the hostel.
Highlight: Seeing the green lake in the crater of the Santa Ana volcano. Stunning.
Lowlight: Being shit at swimming and not jumping in the lake after we came back down from the volcano. Gutting.
Next stop: El Tunco, El Salvador
I hadn’t heard of El Tunco until the day before I left Santa Ana. An American guy called Bao was staying in the hostel and suggested going there so I said why not.
My trip isn’t planned out in any great detail so if I meet someone and get a recommendation, I can go. It’s worked out well so far.
The trip to El Tunco was great, it took four hours and four different local chicken buses, but we got there. The whole journey cost €1.50.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEZulgImHSz
El Tunco is the first place I’ve been to with black sand beaches, that was cool to see.
It’s a pretty nice little town with lots of restaurants and bars and it’s a real surfers haven with some of the best surf in Central American apparently.
I reckon the lads from Summer Bay and Yabbie Creek would love it.
If you’re not into surfing, you can do this waterfall hike in the nearby town of Tamanique. To get there: you get a chicken bus from the main road (up the hill) and pay a guide €3 to take you on the hike.
It’s a serious hike so make sure to bring shoes. An Australian couple went with us and wore flip-flops and they had a rough time.
The waterfalls are incredible, this local guy joined us and the guide on the hike and showed us his diving skills. The Ashley Young of waterfall diving, look at him go [press play].
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEdy6z9GHV5
You have to do it if you’re in El Tunco, well, maybe not that dive, but go see the falls, they are a secluded heaven.
The nightlife is a bit dead at the moment because it’s midweek, but a game of King’s Cup in the hostel escalated quickly.
If you pick a certain card in that game, the other players have to give you a nickname. I was christened Diddly-Eye-Potatoes… *shakes head*
In terms of safety in El Salvador, it’s been totally fine. Touch wood. I genuinely reckon if you stay on the main routes and don’t go into danger zones you’ll be okay. Touch wood.
I’ve been here since Saturday, it’s such a lovely country and the local people I’ve met have been friendly and helpful. So far so good. TOUCH WOOD.
🌊🇸🇻😍🏖 #Travel pic.twitter.com/y3OxMJCg8I
— Joe Harrington (@ImJoeHarrington) April 20, 2016
Accommodation: I’m staying in Papaya Hostel which is three minutes from the beach. It has a nice pool, a litre of beer is €2, the rooms have air conditioning and the food is decent.
It costs €12 per night.
Food: Pupusa vendors, Charly’s, Take A Wok.
Drink: Hostel.
Highlight: Finishing the hike, my legs were in bits.
Lowlight: The rocks on the beach make it pretty hard to go in the water without busting a knee or a toe. Annoying.
I’m not sure what I’m doing yet, but the vague plan is to head down the coast to El Cuco and then get a boat to Nicaragua from near there. Time will tell what happens.
If you’ve any tips, let me know on Twitter at @ImJoeHarrington or Instagram/ImJoeHarrington.
I’m off to touch some more wood, behave, talk to you next week.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
