El Salvador
I got a deal on a first class ticket to El Salvador, but left at 11:20 PM. First class on AeroMexico is nothing special, but I did sleep most of the way to Mexico City. The Mexico City airport remains one of the most confusing international Airports I have ever tried to make a connection in. You have to clear Immigration even though you are not leaving the building. There is almost no signage in any language. I stopped at the information booth to ask where the Aeromexico lounge was and waited 15 minutes while the person was filling out some internal form. I finally got to the lounge, and never saw any signage along the way. It was packed, but I did get something to eat and an excellent cappuccino. I kept looking at the departure screen for my gate but it only said “On Time”. With 30 minutes to go I asked at the desk and they said it was delayed, and no gate was assigned yet, but the information screen still said On Time. Another half hour passed and a gate finally popped up. I scurried down to a huge mob scene milling around the 75 gate (there were four sub gates) and after I elbowed my way to the front, someone asked me “Salvador?” I was almost the last one to get on the bus out to the plane.
The San Salvador airport looked pretty small from the air but it was a long hike to immigration and the $10 entry visa, though people from most other countries do not have to pay. Salvadorians have to pay $350 to apply for a US visa and they are usually denied with no refund. I made the mistake of going outside after clearing customs, they do not let you back in. Ginny’s flight was late too but the driver was waiting to take us to Boca Olas, $165 a night, four star, right on the beach. It was a 45 minute drive and we should have stopped at one of the fruit stands along the road as they looked amazing. The resort was beautiful, huge room, two pools, outdoor bar and restaurant. After settling in we had a couple of beers and some ceviche. After a nap and a short walk on the beach, we ate dinner at the hotel. I had dorade stuffed with shrimp, $15.
Wednesday was clear and sunny with an expected high of 93. After breakfast we walked down the beach until the walkway ran out. It was hotel/bar/restaurant all along the beach but not obnoxious. Most of the people seemed to be in their 20’s, tanned and fit, surfers we presumed. The beach was partly black sand but mostly round rocks and both of us were concerned about falling. The pool was great, with places in the shade to sit. We finally understood why they gave us blue bracelets, as they were constantly chasing young people out who tried to wander in to swim. The ceviche for lunch was great as was the local beer. I try to avoid the wine in tropical countries as it has often turned. The afternoon high was 93. Once it cooled off we wandered down the one street of the local village, Tunco. Lots of surf shops and cheap places to eat. We ate dinner at Roca Sunzal, right on the beach with a fabulous view of the sunset. A delicious fish dinner with 2 drinks was $46 for two. I had the fish fillet with loroco sauce, the bud of a flower that is used extensively in El Salvador and Guatemala cuisine.
Thursday I was suffering from a bit of Mayan revenge so I hung by the pool after a breakfast of banana crepes The others on the OAT tour started dribbling in in the afternoon. We ate dinner at Blu with another magnificent sunset and a perfect fish fillet with olives. Three dinners and three different wonderful fish fillets. We also had ceviche for lunch every day.
Friday was the official start of the OAT tour. There were 10 of us from across the country. They warned us to leave our political opinions at home (I guess they have had issues recently). We hit the road just after 9am and shortly thereafter stopped at the pier at La Libertad. The fish were just coming in and looked fabulous, langoustine, blue crab, red snapper, sting ray, and many more. They were also selling dried fish to make bacalao for easter. It was getting hot and we pushed on down the road to Olociuto to sample pupusas, corn tortillas with various stuffings, the national dish of El Salvador. They did not invent pupusas here but there were dozens of stands and they had invented one with rice flour one year when the corn crop failed. From there we drove up the volcano and around lake Ilopango. It is a massive caldera and they say there is a lava dome building under the lake. As we left the lake a policeman and three soldiers hitched a ride on our bus (like we had a choice). They never took their fingers off the triggers on their AR-15’s.
After we dropped them off, we wound down through some attractive villages, crossed the Pan American highway and arrived in Suchitoto for a late lunch at La Posada de Suchitlan. The view across the lake and the valley was wonderful but the food was only average. Our hotel was in a converted hacienda, Los Almendros de San Lorenzo, and was exceptionally beautiful. It had been restored by an ex-ambassador and the courtyard was perfect. Suchitoto is a charming, untouristed, village of colonial buildings that have been (and still are being) restored. It was a pleasant place to walk around and, as it was lent, they had a procession doing the stations of the cross after evening mass. For dinner at the hotel I ordered the steak, the beef was from Nicaragua, and it was as good as it gets.
Saturday was again HOT. We drove to Cinquera to meet a former guerrilla fighter who was now a park ranger. The town and surrounding area were a center of the resistance and of the fighting in the civil war from 1979 to 1992. The reasons for the war were the usual, 14 families controlled almost everything. There were minimal education, healthcare, or employment opportunities, so when the price of coffee collapsed so did the economy and most people’s ability to survive. The hike up through the park was pretty but treacherous especially coming back down. Afterwards we had lunch back in town. I had the iguana, which was tasty with a great gravy, nut not a lot of meat. On the way back to Suchitoto we stopped at a shanty town of squatters, and visited a small family. They made semita, a jam filled pastry, which had just came out the oven and was nice. The hotel bar made a great Mojito and we just had dinner there.
Sunday was a day of many stops. The first stop was the first Mayan ruin of the trip. Dating from around 900 CE it was still being actively excavated. The site was huge. The view of the ball court from the top of the pyramid was impressive. From there we went to another volcanic caldera, lake Coatepeque, with dramatic over looks. We ate at The Eighth Wonder restaurant hanging on the cliff overlooking the lake. I had grilled rabbit and a beer, $10. Then we drove up to Cerro Verde national park. There was a coffee festival going on so I skipped the hike around the crater. The festival had loads of food booths as well as the usual trinkets. I started with a hot mike with coffee, cacao, cinnamon, and a shot of rum, $1. I got a few free samples of fruit and pastry and bought a cup of amazing coffee, 35¢. The show had a 13 piece band and five singer/dancers. The music was up beat and excellent. As we reached the town of Atocha, a few of us got off to walk thru the town. I hit the fruit market to buy a few granadillas, and tried a Rigua con queso, a kind of pancake made with mashed baby corn, cheese and cream. We finally arrived at our hotel, Mission de Angeles, an attractive upscale resort with a killer view. However my steak was cooked dead, there was no hot water, breakfast was marginal, and the coffee was wretched.
In the morning we walked back thru town to the church and then up a steep hill on a treacherous trail. The view over the town was not that exciting and the air was smoky to boot. We stopped at a coffee plantation but I had picked coffee in Columbia so I was not impressed. The group visited four generations of a poor family that worked at the coffee plantation. These people had to pay a dollar a day to be allowed to haul 20 gallons of water by hand for the family use. I sat in the van and later was admonished by the trip leader. There were several more scheduled stops, most of which fizzled. The volcano view point was hazy. The church in Juayua was closed. The tree of life in Salcoatitan was a massive 300+ year old Ceiba tree that was quite impressive. The church in Nahuizalco was closed and the local market was not much. We just skipped the genocide monument in Izalco. By this time we were an hour and half past when we were told 45 minutes to the next bathroom. The guide said another hour and half to San Salvador and then the traffic came to a complete halt. Fortunately there was a nearby restaurant, Pampa, which had some of the meatiest baby back ribs ever, $25 with a beer. We finally rolled into the Crowne Plaza around four. Like all Holiday Inns, the bar was great. We especially liked the negroni made with mescal, nice smoky aftertaste.
Tuesday the Crowne was making pupusas on the patio for breakfast, yumm. We drove up to El Boqueron volcano and hiked up to look into a dramatic crater. Then we stopped at the reconciliation monument with a huge torso of a naked woman and some soldiers releasing doves. Lunch was at Tipicos Margoth, it was a buffet of local specialties, I loved the albondigas (meatballs) and washed down with horchata. After lunch we visited the cathedral with bishop Romero’s crypt, and the Church Rosario which was a stunning work of architecture that must be seen; a starkly beautiful barrel arch perforated with stained glass blocks. Elections for congress and local offices were a month away and there were flags for the three major parties. The favorite candidate for next year’s presidential election is the 32 year old mayor of San Salvador who has started a new party called New Ideas. Dinner was at Pampa, the Argentinian chain. The skirt steak, Entrana, was superb.
Wednesday was a travel day. We loaded up in an amazingly uncomfortable bus. The back row was so close to the next row it would only handle Pat who was under five feet tall. Also it was five feet behind the rear axle which amplified the bumps. The next row had a wheel well and two of the three seats were unusable, every row was so close that anyone over six feet had to sit sideways. The row right behind the driver had a great view but your feet needed to be size six. I snagged a single seat by the door which was the least bad option and everyone mercifully let me keep it. About an hour out of San Salvador we stopped at Joya de Ceren. This site is unique as it is mud homes of ordinary ancient Mayan people. It was covered in 16 layer of ash from an eruption in 590 AD and was totally preserved, like Pompey. The roofs had burned but there were lots of artifacts. There were no bones, except for a pet duck which was tied by one foot inside a house, so apparently the people had enough warning to leave. Lunch was at a place with a beautiful view and completely tasteless food.
Honduras
Crossing the border into Guatemala was simple, but leaving Guatemala required two stops. We had been warned about a one hour wait to get our passports stamped going into Honduras, but our guide paid off somebody and we went thru in two minutes but didn’t get our passports stamped. I guess that made us illegals in Honduras. We stayed at the Clarion, which was not as American as it sounded. Cocktails were $3, but the bartender did one at a time with lots of spurious activity. The daiquiri was made with lima, vodka, and a couple of mystery ingredients, but still tasted pretty good. Dinner was taste free as was breakfast the next morning.
Thursday we went to Copan, a classic Mayan site from 400 to 810 CE. Copan is known for its high relief carvings and the staircase of glyphs that make the longest sentence carved in the Americas. There were many scarlet macaws flying close overhead. There are many stelas detailing the life and history of all 16 of the classic rulers of Copan. The practice was to build new temples on top of existing ones. It was an exciting but arduous morning of learning. The village of Copan Ruinas is quaint but small. Lunch at Twisted Tanya, run by a brit, was pretty good especially the carrot ginger soup and then Ginny and I went to the sculpture museum back at the site. This was exceptionally well done, you entered thru a serpent’s mouth and walked down thru the snake to the exhibit. There was a recreation of Rosalila which is the best preserved temple found to date. The many reconstructed facades and individual sculptural pieces were very impressive. It was a $5 tuk tuk ride back to the hotel. Dinner was at Carnitas Nia Lola, a lively place decorated with colored lights. The food was tasty and plentiful. The waitresses would come up the stairs with both hands full and something on their head, a full wine glass, a wine bottle, a platter of food. They would serve what was in their hand before taking whatever off their head. I had a cocktail with rum, mint, cucumber and sugar, $1, I had three.
Guatemala
For breakfast there was a woman dressed in a red local costume making pupusas, yumm. About two kilometers down the road we stopped at Sepulchres It was mostly a residential Mayan village not a ceremonial one. There were many houses, at least the bases, and they buried their dead under the steps. There was no one there and it was quite interesting. We did not even stop when we crossed back into Guatemala. From there it was a long drive for the rest of the day. We stopped at a coffee drying place which was minimally interesting, although I did find a five centavo coin (2 tenths of a cent) on the ground. Lunch was at a local fast food chicken chain, Pollo Campero. I passed on eating, and no one said anything about the food so I think it was a wise decision. Guatemala City is ABC (another big city) and could have been anywhere in the world. A few of us stopped at the house of rum, which had the top rated rum in the world for several years. The Zacapa 23 year old was delicious. The group was going to a pizza place so Ginny, Fred and I skipped out and ate at Kacao. This place specialized in Guatemalan cuisine and was in an almost polynesian thatched structure. The food was quite good and the live music was very nice. They had a two man marimba, which was the first I had seen. It turned out to be the Guatemalan national instrument.
Saturday we set out to see the city. The first thing that struck me was how clean it was. The mayor hired 3000 of the poorest people and gave each three blocks to keep clean. They work a ten hour shift and seemed to be smiling. Our first stop was at Nuestra Senora del Rosario, a nice enough church which had two of the traditional lenten carpets made with dyed sawdust. They were interesting and in the evening they would make ones that were blocks long, and then have a procession. Then we went to a Mayan site that dated from 1200 BCE. The first part was quite interesting but then we happened on a group that looked like pretend Mayans doing some kind of shaman ceremony. The group got trapped into staying but I found a bench. It lasted so long we missed the rest of the site. Lunch was at Casa Chapina, and I had a combination plate of local specialties that was quite tasty. In the afternoon we walked thru zone 1, the historical center that is mostly pedestrian. We stopped for some bock beer at El Portal, a bar where political types have hung out including Che Guevara. The Metropolitan Cathedral was known for its black Christ, but otherwise was pretty plain. The national palace was striking from the outside but not open to the public. There was a guy haranguing about the corrupt government. I went to dinner with Tim and Fred at Montano’s, an upscale steak house. I had skirt steak and we split two bottles of excellent Malbec, $56.
Sunday was another travel day and we started driving down Roosevelt Ave which had a large park in the middle with monuments every block, former presidents, other countries, and historical events. We stopped at a dilapidated memorial with three pieces of thee Berlin wall, and then were not allowed to drive thru the rich neighborhood. We stopped at Sumpango and saw the women washing their laundry at the community washing area. The market was thriving and I picked up some mangoes which were in season. Later we stopped at Pinchazo to see Basilia, a 76 year old woman who made pottery in the ancient way. She dug the clay, dried and ground it, reconstituted it and molded pots without a wheel. They were then direct fired. It was fascinating to see her walk around the clay to form a bowl instead of using a wheel. Lunch was outside with a traditional Mayan soup. We visited the cemetery in Solola which looked over lake Atitlan and had some unusual sepalcure. When we arrived in Panajachel we walked down the main drag, which was tourist central, with loads of handicraft shops and booze carts. We stayed at Porta Hotel del Lago overlooking lake Atitlan. Dinner was at a sister hotel and, as I was stuffed from lunch, I had the spinach crepe and tortilla soup.
The sunrise turned the volcanoes across the lake pink just after six am. Early Monday we boarded the Santa Maria (no Nina or Pinta) and monitored across lake Atitlan to San Juan de Laguna. The town is 90% Mayan and speak their own language. There are lots of art galleries and handicraft shops lining the steep hill up from the lake. We visited several people; a midwife, an herbalist, a weaving coop where they spun and dyed their own cotton, a shaman, and finally a family where we had lunch. None of the stops was especially interesting but, at the end, you had a real feel for the life in that village. There were several womens’ coops for handicrafts. They started teaching sex education and family planning at age ten. They did not allow any drugs or gangs in the village. They had created an economy that respected the old ways and managed to successfully navigate the modern world. Coming back I sat on the roof of the boat and soaked up the serenity of the lake and surrounding mountains. In the late afternoon Ginny and i wandered thru the multitude of vendors lining the main drag. We sat at the Sunset Cafe for a drink but it was too hazy to see the sun. Later we ate at El Bistro, which was mostly Italian food. I had the grilled fish, an avocado salad and two beers, $21.
Tuesday I skipped the zip line (boring) and walked along the lake fo a bit. It was quiet and crystal clear. The only hawkers were touting tours to the villages around the lake. We stopped in Solola and got an audience with the council of indigenous elders. They serve two years without pay and form an extra-judicial body to resolve disputes, mainly by mediation. We then raced thru the huge market with barely time to take pictures never mind buy any of the luscious looking fruit. In Guatemala they use “Chicken” Busses for rural routes. These are refurbished US school busses that have been shortened and tarted up with chrome and exotic paint, The drivers talk on the phone, watch TV and drive like lunatics. I passed on a chance to ride on one. Lunch was at the same place we ate on Sunday and the pork adovada was delicious. We stopped at a shop that reworks the busses. They buy them used n the states, $5000, and drive them back, 10 days, It takes about two months to rework them, ~$8300. We finally arrived in Antigua, the tourist capital of Guatemala. All cobblestone streets and traditional architecture. They have strict controls including exterior color. We stayed at Camino Real, a true five star resort, reminiscent of a royal residence, all tile, courtyards, fountains, and wrought iron. Dinner was at Los Tres Tiempos and mine was inedible.
Wednesday we had a local guide who chattered interminably about the Spanish conquest and took us thru three large but not particularly attractive churches. The lunch choices did not sound good, so I went my own way and ate at Welten, I sat in a courtyard next to a pond covered in flower petals. The service was excellent and recently made (if it sits too long the fish gets chewy), $15 with a beer and a basket of homemade bread. I caught back up with the group and we went to Santa Domingo, a mass of ruins that had been converted into a five star hotel. It contained several museums and the one with early classic Mayan pieces juxtaposed with contemporary glass at was fascinating. I walked back to the hotel and was pleasantly beat. We went to Sky Bar to watch the sunset but the clouds were too thick. We did see the volcano erupting a bit. We had a Mango Down with mescal to drink and I am starting to really like the smoky aftertaste. Ginny and I went to Bistro Cinq for dinner. Who would have guessed we would find a great French bistro in Antigua? The escargot were garlicky, the lamb ragu to die for and the dorade in a shirt of serrano ham was perfect, $88 with wine.
Thursday started out with the trip leader haranguing me about ignoring the local guide the previous day, I think she was his girlfriend. Anyway he did take me thru the local market to pick up some fruit. We got Soursop which became juice for lunch, some strange local plums, some mangos and some things he said his mother loved. As soon as we got on the bus we drove back to the market for another 40 minutes? We next visited an artist who made little clay birds. He made one while he talked to us and had won numerous awards and has been an artist in residence at the University of Alabama. Our next stop was at a woodworker who mostly turned wooden fruits and vegetables on an unsafe lathe. Finally we stopped at a family the made chocolate and we learned the process. How they dry and roast the cacao beans and how they mash them and add sugar and spices. Their chocolate is intended for drinking, too much cinnamon for me, I prefer chili in mine. They served a delicious lunch of local specialties, tamales, chili rellenos, tortillas with guacamole, baby chayote squash, and the soursop to drink. I ate seconds in case dinner was not too good. Dinner turned to be at Welton and was quite good even though the fish was over cooked.
We started out later on Friday and stopped at Safe Passage which was founded by a young woman in 1999 to help the children of the scavengers who worked in the city dump. It has grown to almost 600 children and was truly inspiring. We had a leisurely lunch back at Casa Chipina and then visited the archeology museum. The museum was small but informative. Across the street was the modern art museum with a great Carlos Merida exhibit as well as a few other mesmerizing pieces. The guide told us it could take up to ten minutes to go thru security at the airport, so we got there three and a half hours early. You could not even get a beer there. The new bus driver who picked us up at the Flores airport thought he was driving a chicken bus, speeding and passing on blind curves. We finally arrived at Hotel Villa Maya in Flores after nine.
Saturday, after eight days in Guatemala, we finally got to see some Mayan ruins. Tikal is a huge site with over 3000 buildings and was occupied from 900 BC to 810. AD although the area had been inhabited since 1200 BC. It lay undiscovered until 1848. We divided into two groups and I took the easy walking group which only had three people. It was eerily quiet as we trekked thru the forest except for the birds and the howler monkeys. We came across several small temples, some excavated and some not. After about an hour we came out into the central acropolis, flanked by two huge temples. It is hard to describe the sense of history you feel sitting in the middle of a 1200 yeear old space like that. After a bit we walked around several more structures they called the lost world and eventually arrived at temple IV, the tallest. The view from near the top (200 steps up), across the jungle, with other temples poking thru the canopy, was worth all the effort. As we walked further we saw coatimundis and spider monkeys. After about four hours we arrived at an outdoor restaurant for lunch. They served the leg quarter of the chicken grilled to perfection. It rained in the afternoon so we did get the boat ride on Lago Peten Itza. Dinner was at Raices, on an island in the lake and right on the water. They claimed the fish was sea bass but it looked like tilapia.
Belize
Sunday was our last interminable bus ride. An hour and a half to the border crossing into Belize, it looked like something out of a 1940’s movie, and a short drive to Cahal Pech. This was a delightful smaller excavation that was almost devoid of other visitors. Everyone was still tired from Tikal so the climbing was definitely subdued. Lunch at Jalapenos was the best fish of the trip. Belize has a fifth of the population it had in the Mayan heyday and has the lowest population in central America. They don’t have traffic lights but they refer to the multitude of speed bumps as sleeping policemen. Guatemala keeps claiming Belize as their 23rd province based on the 15th century treaty that divided the world between Spain and Portugal, LOL. Another two and half hours brought us to Belize City and the Radisson Fort George, right on the water. Dinner at the hotel only qualified as fuel, blah.
Monday we headed to Lamani, one of the oldest Mayan sites. It was an hour and a half drive and then a 25 mile boat ride. We saw some birds along the way but the everglades are much better. The site was quite nice but half the group was too beat to climb the tall temple. There was one temple that had huge masks reminiscent of the ones near Angkor Wat. Tourists had been damaging them so they had been covered in reproductions. A long boat and bus ride back and Ginny and I bailed on dinner. We ate at the smoky Mermaid across the street. I had ceviche and grilled conch which were both very tasty.
Tuesday the rest of the group left and Ginny and I went to Caye Caulker on the water taxi. There were two cruise ships in and I guess that made them feel entitled to charge us double. They asked for $28 US when it should have $28 BZE which is only $14 US, oh well I guess it helps their economy. One Belizean said they were not happy to have cruise ships stop as they left lots of trash and the people spent no money. We heard the same thing in Alaska, even the shops by the docks are owned by the cruise lines. When we got to Caye Caulker, 50 minutes, we hopped in a golf cart for a tour of the island, $10 each. It looked like a postcard of a tropical paradise, white sand beaches, palm trees, dirt roads and no cars. There are 2500 full time residents and plenty of bars and restaurants. We had lunch at Rainbow grill, open air and right on the beach, but the food was not great. The Caye was a beautiful place and ideal for vegging out for a while. That night we ate at Celebrity restaurant. Lobster was not in season but I had the whole grilled snapper, big enough for two very hungry people and probably the best I have had.
We took the hotel shuttle to the airport on Wednesday, $15 each. The duty free shop had Kalua for $17 a liter and 12 year old Flor de Cana for $23. We had a long layover in Atlanta where I transferred the booze to my checked luggage so I could get thru TSA. We each got home around midnight and were totally beat. When I opened my suitcase the next day, TSA had opened the bottle of Kalua. It had tape around the cap and a TSA inspected sticker. Thursday was cold and rainy in Portland, welcome home!