Sunday, June 27, 2010

Day 35 in Perquin: Cool Remote Place Charms The Soul

Perquin strikes one immediately as very quiet (there's hardly any traffic noise apart from the bi-hourly bus); very beautiful! (we are high in the mountains here, and even as it threatens to rain, the calm, cool forest green surrounding the area is pleasing to the soul); and very remote (the 40 mile bus trip from San Miguel takes more than two and a half hours).

Here we are in FNLN country:  communists!  Perquin was their HQ during the civil war, and the rebel guerrillas controlled considerable ground in this region, with many sympathizers living in the area.  As we drive up we see evidence of this on the walls of people's houses and businesses:  the red of the FNLN serves as a backdrop to iconic portraits of Che Guevara and other leftist heroes.

I'm staying at Perkin Lenca, a fine hotel/restaurant built and owned by American aid worker Ronald Brenneman who made his name in the 1980s building housing for refugees made homeless by the conflict.  I was skeptical when I heard that this place has hot water, but I can confirm it is true:   today I had my first truly hot shower since I left the States. . .

Perquin village at first glance is extremely charming.  In a sense, this is the most remote area I've visited on this trip--maybe the most remote place I've visited since I was in northern Laos in the 1990s.

By remote I mean it takes some time and effort to get here.  We are in a mountainous border region of El Salvador which supposedly doesn't even have an immigration checkpoint with Honduras, just a few miles up the road.

By remote I also mean there are no chain supermarkets, fast food joints, or even banks here ( I visited the ATM in San Miguel today to make sure I'd have enough cash for the next few days).  Yet there are a couple cyber shops, a handful of cellphone shops, and a couple dozen restaurants.

There is the usual church, albeit a very small one, and the parque central/municipal square.  There also is the Museo de la Revolucion Salvadoreña.

But mostly there is a lot of peace and quiet along this so-called Ruta de Paz which runs from here to the Honduran border.  Perhaps this route is a testament to the possibility of reconciliation between once deadly enemies who--even today--collaborate hopefully in government for the good of all Salvadoreans.

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