JOE Backpacking Diary #5 – A bus journey from hell in El Salvador, crossing borders by boat and parties in Nicaragua

I learned a lot this week.

My name is Joe Harrington, I'm travelling through Central and South America for the next eight months, here's what happened on week four.

El Tunco, El Salvador (continued)

My last day in El Tunco was very chilled out. I visited my American buddy in his fancy hotel down the road which had the best swimming pool. The heat was up at 35 degrees so it was perfect. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEgqrw2GHX0 I got back to the hostel, watched some Arrested Development, chatted to random backpackers and planned my next move. I decided to go down the coast to a beach town called El Cuco because it has "the best beach in El Salvador" and it edged me closer to Nicaragua. The tricky part was getting to El Cuco, a private shuttle costs €35 which is pricey when you're on a budget so I decided to go the chicken bus route. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEjdmLMmHfS Accommodation: I stayed in Papaya Lodge. It had 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: Hiking to the waterfalls. Lowlight: The rocks on the beach make it pretty hard to go in the water without busting a knee or a toe. Annoying.

Next: El Tunco to El Cuco

The was the biggest challenge of my trip so far, apart from the everyday challenge of being an Irish person in heat over 20 degrees. Too warumm. The first bus took me from El Tunco to a town called La Libertidad, that was grand. Then the fun started... The bus from La Libertidad to Comalapa was rammed, it reminded me of the dancefloor in Copper's on an All-Ireland Final weekend except less shifting. I was standing and I couldn't move an inch and a guy working on my bus took my bag to put it down the back for safe keeping. I thought I'd never see it again. Comalapa is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and when I hopped off there, with my bags, a local person told me the next bus I needed was 500 metres back in the direction I came from and under a bridge. So there I am, all alone in the middle of the murder capital of the world with no phone and very bad Spanish and I was about to walk under a bridge on the advice of a local man. Christ. I had no other choice but to trust him and it worked out, after chatting to some locals they told me where to get the bus to Usulutan. That bus was just as busy and I ended up sitting on my bags at the very back beside boxes of live chickens, buckets of mangos and two ladies either side of me breastfeeding their kids. I was dropped in Usulutan with a girl who was going in the direction of San Miguel which is where I wanted to get a connecting bus to El Cuco. I asked her about El Cuco and she told me that the last bus to there was 4:30pm, we had that conversation at 4:10pm and we were 100 kilometres away. FML. Plan B was hatched on the bus, I'd go to San Miguel, get a cheap hostel there and go to El Cuco in the morning. The problem was that I didn't know anything about San Miguel or I didn't have any internet on my phone. FML. The girl came to the rescue. After mangling the Spanish language for a few minutes, she knew I needed help finding a place to stay. When we got off the bus, she walked me to a cheap hotel and sorted out a €12 room for me. The people in El Salvador are so kind. They helped me all the way on that trip. The whole bus journey cost me €2.50.

Next stop: El Cuco

I got up the next morning in San Miguel and hopped on the first chicken bus to El Cuco. Once I arrived there I got a taxi to the hostel La Tortuga Verde. It's right on the beach, and what a beach it is. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEoLuuhGHa3 To be honest, I did absolutely nothing during my stay there except swim in the sea, go for long walks on the beach, read my book, chat to the other backpackers and drink coconut juice. The coconuts are fresh and cost €1. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEmc2fEmHTj Accommodation: La Tortuga Verde. It's a hostel resort a kilometre from the town of El Cuco. On the beach, a full bar and restaurant, €10 surf lessons and it has Albert the one-winged pelican. A dorm costs €10 per night. Food: Hostel restaurant, a local woman down the street from the resort cooks food (get the chicken). Drink: Hostel. Highlight: Being the only person for miles on an entire paradise Pacific beach. Lowlight: Actually getting to the resort is a bit awkward, you need to get a taxi from El Cuco for $5.

Next stop: La Union, El Salvador

The reason I went to La Union was to get a boat to Nicaragua rather than going by land and crossing into Honduras which takes ages and is apparently a pain in the arse. The boat is a great option and I managed to get one for €40 after I met a group in La Tortuga Verde who had space on theirs. The price can be as high as €75 so I got a great deal. La Union isn't a nice place though, myself and two English guys were called "f*****g, b***h, d*********s" by a gang of young lads and my 6'3" height drew a few stares, I felt like a freak. If you do go there to get the boat, there's a very cheap hotel called Portobello (€10) that you can stay in if you're catching an early boat the following day. It's not very nice but it's close to the dock and immigration. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEroSa4mHax

Next stop: León, Nicaragua

The boat trip was smooth and beautiful, you pass volcanos, islands and local fishermen along the way before you reach Potosi in Nicaragua. A local bus from there takes you to Chinandega where you change over and get a bus on to León. FYI - you need to take a taxi to the bus station for León, it costs €2. I arrived in León at 1pm and the heat was unbearable, it's by far the hottest place I've been. My friend who was here a few days earlier told me how to get onto the roof of the catherdral in the town. There's a place at the back of it that sells tickets, you'd miss it if you didn't know about it, the best €3 I've ever spent. More here. https://twitter.com/ImJoeHarrington/status/725463611120848897 I'm staying at Big Foot and it's a proper party hostel. There was a big beer pong tournament last night, I was shockingly bad but I did come up with a great team name - The Nicarcervezas... High five? Anyone? Anyway, after the tournament there was a free lift to a beach party on the back of an army truck, it's about 30 minutes away. Accommodation: Big Foot Hostel. It's a party hostel and it's super busy. The organise volcano boarding and any other things you want to do in the area. The beds are nice, the food and bar are good, the staff are sound. A dorm (with air conditioning) costs €12 per night. Food: Next door to the hostel is savage. Drink: Hostel. The bar across the street from the hostel is also cool. Highlight: The roof of that cathedral. Wow. Lowlight: The heat and humidity is too much. https://www.instagram.com/p/BEuW3ABmHX1 I'm going volcano boarding tomorrow morning (it was nice knowing you) and I'm not sure what my plan is after that, I think I need the sea breeze to cool the situation. If you've any tips, advice or questions, let me know on Twitter at@ImJoeHarrington or Instagram/ImJoeHarrington. Talk to you next week.