Pacific coast
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Old American school buses get driven down to be used as the public transportation system. (Known as 'chicken buses'). Some are elaborately painted, the ones on the road round here seemed to be jacked up at the front. I assume it a 'style' thing as I can't see any performance advantage and it must make the front steps even higher for passengers.
We stopped in Conception de Ataco as it is one of the featured towns on the Ruta. We had climbed enough at this point to mean that the air was a bit cooler and much more pleasant. Highlight: getting an El Salvador flag for the bike. Lowlight: getting a stinging insect inside my shirt.
We found a wonderful cafe with a terrace for a huge pupusa lunch. Yum yum.
Elaborate murals are a feature in this area. They depict local features and are real works of art.
The next featured town was Apenca. Here we met Will. He was about our age he was El Salvadorean but grown up in California. He was keen to keep his English skills up and we were keen to practice our Spanish so we had a wonderful conversation where Will spoke in English and we answered in Spanish. We both understood each other so our respective language skills must have been ok.
We arrived in Salcoatitan and found our way to our iOverlander destination. Gilma has an amazing garden with a terrace that overlooks dense vegetation with volcanoes in the distance. We instantly agreed to stay two nights.
Rachel is the master planner. She discovered that there are guided walks to visit 10 waterfalls in the area. After a few WhatsApp messages we were booked on one for our rest day. We were part of a 13 strong group of travellers from around the world. Each on a different journey and each with fascinating tales to tell. We really enjoyed the company all day.
We left town in the back of a pickup and headed off into the countryside. The first couple of falls were low key but by the fifth, our guide produced a rope and we had to haul ourselves up the fall itself. It was great. We were all commenting on the fact that in the UK we would have to wear hard hats and a harness and we would have signed a disclaimer.
The falls were great and it was a really memorable day out. A refreshing (literally and figuratively) day off the bike.
We had a spot of fun on the way back when the wheel fell off our pickup. After a short wait a replacement arrived.
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When we arrived back, there was a food market going on. The main drag was full of stalls selling various dishes containing meat. We wandered round a corner and found one selling only veggie food. We filled our faces with corn and cheese bread, fried corn bread and fried yuca (the root of a cassava plant). Incredibly tasty.
The temperature at 1500m was just great and we knew it would get hotter as we descended to the coast. We waved goodbye to Gilma and began dropping. The first few hours were spent freewheeling. Perfect.
Nahuizalco was the last featured town on the Ruta. It had a market in full flow and we delighted in all the things for sale. We bumped into a chap who was very interested in us and our bike (I'm gutted that I can't remember his name). We had a fantastic conversation with him. He was incredibly keen to tell us about how much safer El Salvador has become in the past few years (something our Tuk Tuk driver was at pains to emphasise as well (see Rachel's Instagram post for details))
We realised we'd had not seen the Pacific since we left Mazatlán in Mexico. The road wound up/down and in/out/under cliffs with amazing views down to the sea below. The beaches are dark because of the volcanic rocks that create the sand.
We stopped at K59 (named because it is 59km along the road) and rented a palapa from Herrado right on the beach. It is a surf spot and it is great fun watching surfers. The sea is a perfect temperature and crystal clear. Ideal for swimming in.
Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9
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