Summing it up in Antigua (Day 51)

Having just passed seven weeks on the road in Central America and now having only two days left in Guatemala before I return home this Thursday, I find myself cooling my heels in Antigua--I've run a bit over budget this week--and mentally summing up my journey.

My trip was successful in many ways.  First, and most importantly, I allowed myself enough time to get truly immersed in the local culture.  Though my original, vague goal of reaching beautiful Merida, Venezuela via Costa Rica and Panama was probably unrealistic given my penchant for taking things slowly and my unwillingness to spend more than four hours in a bus on any given day, I did achieve an important secondary goal of visiting several new places--notably Leon (Nicaragua), Perquin (El Salvador), Chichicastenango (Guatemala), and the beautiful countryside of the Ruta de Lenca in western Honduras (Los Cipreses, Marcala, La Esperanza, Gracias, and Santa Rosa de Copan).  Also new for me were my brief stops on the Pacific coasts of both El Salvador and Nicaragua.

It was very important for me to give this trip a lot of time.  My initial trips here in 2008 and 2009 were too brief--and too rushed--for me to do much more than take a quick glance at a region I'd found I liked at least as much as Southeast Asia--if not more so.  One of the joys of traveling in Central America is the geographical fact that all these countries are very small, so the backpacking tourist can cover quite a lot of ground in relatively little time.  Despite their size, however, these countries together boast an incredible diversity of peoples, languages, food, climates, and geographical features such as mountains, volcanos, cowboy countryside, beaches, two very different sea or ocean coasts, and numerous lakes--from the huge Lake Nicaragua to the large Lake Atitlan in Guatemala--and numerous smaller lakes and rivers between. 

Secondly, once I'd postponed the Costa Rica leg of my journey, that opened up the possibility for revisits of Copan Ruinas (Honduras) and Antigua (Guatemala) this past week.  Despite the fact that they were second time visits for me, they definitely remain highlights of this trip since I was able to capture hundreds of images of these beautiful places on my "photography mission."

My photography mission itself was a third important goal  for me.  I was able to take the time I needed to seek out and note photo subjects, mostly of city/town/village buildings and streets, and return later to take photos as unobtrusively as possible.  There were three main reasons for this approach.

First, up until this time I had almost no experience taking hundreds of digital photos, so I considered this to be a learning experience for me.  Early in my trip I didn't take very many photos at all, preferring instead to get the lie of the land.  Later, after I'd become more sure of myself, I began to shoot much more, but with a strong emphasis on experimentation with light, shadow, composition, and subject.  My aim here was to try to improve my skills shooting pictures with the modern equivilent of the old "instamatic".

Second, I didn't want to make myself a target for beggars and hustlers, or worse, thieves and muggers, by walking all over the place with a camera around my neck.  Whenever I did shoot photos, usually I kept the camera in my shirt pocket or in my daybag until I found a likely subject.

Third, when it comes to photographing people, it pays to be discreet, especially in this region.  Guatemalans in particular (but this goes for people all over the world) don't appreciate foreigners taking photos of them without permission.  Consequently, I was very careful not to be too aggressive with the lens.  Since I had almost no experience shooting candid photos of people, I was particularly careful to tread that path cautiously.  I have probably improved a little bit in this area.  But readers will notice that--once I get my photos posted--there aren't very many good photos of people apart from some typical street scenes.

Another important goal I achieved with this trip was the establishment of a credible travel blog which I can continue to build in the months and years to come.  Committing myself to writing something almost daily was important in that it kept me on my toes, forcing me to wander--not aimlessly as I might have done two decades ago--but with some specific destinations in mind, always remembering that I had to be loyal to a readership (no matter how modest).  This helped me to focus everyday on seeing things with a writer's eye.  Everyday became a different story for me, and the challenge was to try to improve at creating a daily story that would be compelling to the general reader.  I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that, but I think I've definitely made a good start.

Copan to La Antigua

Finding myself hardly in the mood Thursday morning for a six hour microbus trip I stayed in Copan another night, and I'm glad I did since my ticket to the ruins was also good for a secondary site further down the road, Las Sepulturas, which experts theorize may have been housing for the ancient Maya civilization's power elite.

Though smaller than the primary site, Las Sepulturas in its way is even more impressive.  Almost completely shrouded in jungle growth along a couple dirt trails, these ruins capture the imagination in ways the more touristed main area doesn't.  As I was busy snapping away with my camera, and filling my memory card in the process, it occurred to me that kids would love this place.  In a setting out of an Indiana Jones flick, on ruins where one can easily climb to the top and be master of all one sees, children can fancy themselves warrior princes and princessess from another millenium.

The mosquitos, however, were vicious.  Located on lower ground than the main site and close to the winding Copan River, swarms of them lie in wait for the instant you stop to take a photo.  And these suckers can bite through denim!  Experts remain puzzled about the reasons for the sudden decline of the Maya.  Could the lowly mosquito have played a bit part?

Yesterday's bus ride was relatively easy and uneventful as I shared a micro with a British couple and a German woman.  We had the whole van to ourselves, and apart from some Friday evening traffic snarls in Guatemala City, everything went smoothly and we were only half an hour late. 

Antigua, yet another Central American capital, is a classic destination in these parts.  Even though there are tons of tourists here and the prices are higher than elsewhere, I'm glad to be back for a return visit to swim in the town's lovely charms.  Because this capital city had more staying power than other towns like Gracias, it's larger in area and has many more architectural marvels.  If I can buy a new memory card I'll probably go hog wild with the camera here too.

The timing of my arrival here may be fortuitous as tomorrow, Sunday, is one of the market days of Chichicastenango, which is only a couple hours northwest of here.  I'm looking into joining a $10 day tour so I can remain based in Antigua.

Gracias a Dios! Another Highlight. . .

After two nights in Gracias I feel the pull of its magnetic charm sucking me into itself with the plea:  stay here for at least another night!  This place is making me want to stick around nearly as much as Leon captured me this year and Granada/San Juan del Sur did in 2009.

According to legend the founder of Gracias, a 16th century conquistador, struggled his way through the rugged country of the region looking for a suitable site to build a Central American capital city.  When at last he stumbled upon this relatively level but small valley, he is said to have fallen to his knees crying:  "Gracias a Dios!  Finally some flat land!"

Its attributes were immediately apparent to me once I was checked into my room at the Guancascos.  My room is on the top level of a multilevel edifice built into a high hill overlooking the entire town.  The terrace outside my door therefore offers one of the most stunning private views in the area.  Rocky forested hills surround us but in stark contrast to the typical hot and dusty towns of western Honduras, this place is enveloped in multiple hues of green foliage. 

The hotel--maybe the finest in town--is owned and managed by an expatriate Dutch woman, Frony, who oversees a capable staff of locals who run the good restaurant (with excellent local coffee) and keep the place beautifully clean.  At around $20 nightly, this place is one of the best values I've encountered on a six week journey of hotels which runs the complete gamut.  I believe most of my readers will not blame me for feeling that another late afternoon with a cold drink on "my" terrace as the sun goes down, enjoying the beauty of this place, is definitely in the cards.

On the recommendation of Rachel, the intern I met in Marcala, I ate at the restaurant of the Posada de Don Juan where I ate a sopa de tortilla that absolutely was to die for.   (A common regional dish, sopa de tortilla has a curry-type soup base with fresh cheese, avocado, and baked tortilla chips--like Doritos without the MSG.)

The town has the usual cathedral, in this case a small colonial structure, and a well-kept parque central plus a couple very good supermarkets as well as the usual bustling local markets and dusty bus terminals.  Despite the obvious signs of poverty in some of the residents (my post yesterday was partly inspired by the unusually high number of beggars I've bumped into here) there are also unmistakable signs of prosperity, notably in the many young people.  Perhaps this bodes well for the area's future.

A somewhat unusual feature of this beautiful little town is the 19th century castle which is perched even higher than my hotel and has absolutely stunning views for miles around.  In the cool interior of the castle are informative placards in Spanish and English, one of which tells us that the local kids grow up playing here and "many fall in love here."  This confirmed my initial impression that the site has all the best characteristics of a lovers' lane. 

The foreigners one meets here are mostly young volunteers of various NGOs and of the Peace Corps which, in Honduras, has its largest delegation (of about 260) of any other country in the world.  But here and there one can meet other backpacking tourists like me.  It's well worth the effort it takes to get to this remote settlement--which maybe is yet another good reason for me not to push onward too quickly.  Of course, the longer I stay here the more remote my chances of getting to Chichicastenango, at least this year.

I have eleven days to get to Guatemala City for my return flight home.

In Gracias!

I had a pleasant surprise today when I found that the road from La Esperanza to Gracias is paved nearly all the way, cutting an anticipated four hour trip down to three.  The 25 mile stretch from La Esperanza to the halfway point San Juan was so new that the painted lane markers couldn't have been more than a week old.  For the locals this must make their lives a bit easier, at least for getting around more conveniently.  And it occurred to me that with this new road, the area suddenly goes from being very underdeveloped, to having one of the best roads in all of Central America--a "first world" perk!

I'm realizing now that my Lonely Planet guide definitely needs an updated edition, at least for this part of Honduras, since their stated travel times around are no longer valid.  And whereas three or four years ago, when my edition of LP's Central America on a Shoestring was published, there were no hotels in San Juan, today I counted three as we passed through.

How quickly things can change, even in a very impoverished place like western Honduras.

Gracias is a lovely town but much hotter than in La Esperanza.  I'm staying at an excellent place, the Hotel Guancascos, which is perched on a hill overlooking the town and features a large terrace restaurant.  I will stay here for at least two nights which will take me to Sunday July Fourth.  I now have just a little less than two weeks--about 12 days--to get back to Guatemala City.

La Esperanza

There were no rains today and the sun came out for first time in many days, so the bumpy road was relatively dry and hazard free all the way to La Esperanza.  The Lonely Planet tells me that this town of 6000 is the "highest in Honduras" so I expect the weather to be chilly tonight.

Despite the fact that this town is smaller than Marcala, it seems to be more prosperous.  Some of the streets are recently paved and there are a number of thriving markets here.  And while there's a wider choice of ATMs,  also there are many more hotels here than in Marcala.  The reality of that fact seems to have driven the average room price down to around $12, which I will pay tonight.

Still there is a sense here of being almost completely outside the "civilized" world.  On the Marcala-La Esperanza road there was nothing but high pine forest and a winding dirt road with almost no settlement between points.  I had a bit of a secret thrill when I caught a ride in a micro with a woman driver--highly unusual in Central America.  At the end of the journey I thanked and complimented her with my kindergarten Spanish:  "Usted tienes el poder de mujer!"  You have the power of woman! (for which I was rewarded with a hearty laugh).

Although I'll be comfortable here tonight, tomorrow's leg promises to be a bit wearing:  it's four hours by bus to my next destination, the old colonial capital of Gracias.  Between here and there is the town of San Juan which has no proper hotels, but my trusty LP says I can get a $4 per night homestay if I decide to stop.

The Road to Marcala, Honduras and Beyond

If I had known that the 25 mile trip to Marcala from Perquin was mostly dirt road I might have thought twice about attempting it.  I knew beforhand that I was facing a three hour ride but what I didn't know was that three hours was the minimum I could expect.

With too late a start on Tuesday--about 3 p.m.--it took about an hour to reach the remote Honduran frontier post where the immigration office wasn't even open but a friendly Honduran policeman waved me through with a bus full of locals headed to the high and muddy villages on the opposite side.

During the notorious "football war" of 1969, El Salvador's stronger army seized this territory from the Hondurans.  With the end of the civil war in 1992, the Hondurans took El Salvador to the World Court which ruled in favor of Honduras.  El Salvador accepted this verdict but under protest, and therefore it doesn't maintain an immigration checkpoint here.

The people who live in this tiny slice of territory--mostly of the indigenous Lenca tribe--are technically Salvadoran who happen to live in Honduras.  This political grey area also happens to be one of the most remote and impoverished of both countries.

By 4.30 I was dropped off with some locals as far as the bus could go on these steep muddy roads near the village of Sabanetas.  From there, I was told, I could try to hitchhike the last treacherous 12 miles to Marcala. Or I could walk.  There were no more buses that day.

Fortunately there was one "hostal " in a tiny settlement called Los Cipreses where I was able to get a bunk in a cabin with no electric but with outhouse amenities.  All the other cabins were occupied by Honduran NGO workers.

The helpful people of the hostal hooked me up with the one gringo living in the area, a young Peace Corps volunteer by the name of  "Frank."  He is about nine months through his two year stint here, and as his Spanish is excellent he is a wealth of knowledge about the area.  We chatted for about two hours.

It soon became clear that it is the rare tourist who passes through this stunningly beautiful region.  (Frank said I was only the third stranded backpacker in Los Cipreses during his tenure thus far.)  I spent a chilly, rainy night in my candlelit cabin.

The next morning, Wednesday, found me hiking with my gear up and down the kilometer or so to the Honduran army post where I was able to squeeze onto a micro for the 90 minute journey to Marcala, a town of about 11,000--by far the largest settlement around.

There is a surprisingly large number of foreigners here, but not of the tourist variety--yet it's not so surprising once the brain truly registers the immense scope of the poverty of the locals.  The westerners one meets are very busy as aid workers for government and NGO alike (when I checked into my hotel I was asked "Who do you work for?").

Marcala has almost no paved streets at all which tells us, at the very least, that there are more pressing priorities on the very limited resources that are available.

Yet the town boasts a couple cyber shops and even a tiny cafe with an espresso machine which is where I met Rachel, a Wellesly College senior who is on a ten week internship doing research for a Yale-sponsored entity called Innovations for Poverty Action.  She enthusiastically described her project studying the underground micro-finance economy of Honduras--basically she's researching loansharks and their customers--and comparing that data with the economy of legitimate micro-finance.  With the knowledge gained by her excellent Spanish she was able to fill me in on the latest political situation including details of the coup in 2009 and events since then.

Transport from here to my next destination La Esperanza is also difficult and sporadic.  If I cannot catch the 11.00 micro today I'll probably have to hitch a ride on a pickup, a common practice here.  Usually the driver will charge the going rate, a dollar or so, same as the buses.

But there's certainly no turning back for me now.  Thankfully, Marcala has an ATM so I was able to get stocked with lempiras, the local currency, enough to get me Gracias or hopefully Santa Rosa de Copan.  It's only after that that I can hope for better, paved roads

Unanticipated Honduras Leg Adds Excitement

We've had fairly steady rains for three days straight in northwestern Nicaragua, southern Honduras, and eastern El Salvador, but meanwhile I've managed to cover some miles the past two days, and I've fixed an itinerary for the coming week.

With the postponement of the Costa Rica leg, a new Honduran leg becomes feasible, even desirable.  Apart from two recent transit trips through Choluteca and a brief visit to Copan Ruinas in 2008, this will be my first extended visit, so as always with a new place, I feel excited.

After a day or two in Perquin, to begin hopefully tomorrow, I can continue north on that road to Sabanetas at the Honduran border which will place me in western Honduras.  The first big town on that road is Marcala.

Continuing further northwest will bring me to the the colonial town of Gracias, founded in the 16th century, another of the many Spanish capitals dotting Central America.  The Lonely Planet tells me this region is seldom visited by  the tourist, but that it's even more charming for that reason.  This is relatively high country, surrounded by beautiful mountains and populated with friendly rural folk.

From Gracias the road winds up in Santa Rosa de Copan which-- the Lonely Planet warns--is still some hours from the famous Copan Ruinas, which is another primary destination for me.  Though I visited this massive Mayan attraction two years ago, the archaeological site is so impressive and well preserved that I feel I should pass through again in order to get some photos.

From Copan Ruinas, the Guatemalan border is just ten minutes away, so I can cross back there, take a bus to Antigua, and hopefully have time to visit Chichicastenango before wrapping up this trip.

U.S Knocked Out of World Cup!

What a disappointment!  Just as I'd checked into my room across the street from the San Miguel (El Salvador) bus station and turned the TV on for the U.S.-Ghana match, Ghana broke a 1-1 tie in overtime to knock out the Yanks in what must be a shocking disappointment for a team that certainly had higher hopes.

But even European powerhouses (and former champions) Italy and France were knocked out in this year's event in South Africa, so is it any wonder?  The U.S. can take some comfort in the knowledge that it's never been a world class soccer power, but still it must hurt.  I've heard that the U.S. teams improve a little bit at every World Cup.

I think this might be why it's such a popular sport:  even relatively poor countries like Ghana and Slovakia can knock out the mighty rich countries while lowly Honduras can hold rich and powerful Switzerland to a scoreless draw.

To Perquin Via Choluteca, or From the North?

My next decision is one of logisitics:  should I return to El Salvador right away from the east and proceed to Perquin from there?  Or should I travel by way of the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa and approach Perquin from the north?

The Lonely Planet warns that because of a border dispute with Honduras, El Salvador does not have an immigration checkpoint on the road to Perquin from the north.  This may not be a problem for me since technically I'm still traveling on my initial 90 day stamp I received from the Guatemalans at the start of my journey.

But the Planet warns that if I exit from another El Salvador checkpoint, I could conceivably face the issue of having formally exited Honduras without formally entering El Salvador.  Because of this potential uncertainty, I'm probably inclined to enter El Salvador from the east, just to be on the better-safe-than-sorry side of things.

On the other hand, since I've now postponed Costa Rica until late this summer, that gives me more time now to visit Honduras for a bit, which I'd really like to do.  Though I'd prefer to skip Tegucigalpa, it might be worth my while to explore some of the area to the north of El Salvador.

My original intent had been to use Honduras as a transit point between destinations, but now that the option is open, it seems a shame to completely pass on by.

Thus I'll be busy with my guidebooks tonight to fix some alternate plans.

In Choluteca Everyone Wears Honduran Blue

I'm writing from Choluteca, Honduras where I just watched perhaps the most exciting 0-0 draw ever between lowly Honduras, fighting for its life in the World Cup against European bigshots Switzerland.  Today's prime time match comes after another hard-fought 0-0 contest between Portugal and Brazil this morning.

In Chinandega, Nicaragua where I saw the Brazil match, everything in town stopped while people gathered in the cafes to watch perennial favorites Brazil.

The Honduras match was just beginning as I crossed the border this afternoon.  Though I don't know enough about the standings to report much here, I'm pretty sure that Honduras's valient effort today won't help it to gain a spot in the "knock out" round.  But boy!  The last 20 minutes or so, which I watched in the lobby of my hotel with some locals, was non-stop action, back and forth across the field, as both teams expended their utmost as if it was the most important match in the world.

Afterwards, when it was done, the players lying on the field collapsed in utter exhaustion, the quiet streets of this southern Honduran town filled with locals going about their business, many of them dressed in their team's blue jerseys.

Projected Itinerary Beyond Perquin

Following Perquin I may re-enter Honduras and travel by back roads to re-visit the Mayan ruins at Copan.  This is worth another look for me because this time I will be able to take photos, unlike when I made the journey there in August 2008.  Alternatively, I can reach Copan by traveling to the El Salvador/Guatemala border near Esquipulas then cross to Honduras from there.

At that point I anticipate traveling by microbus from Copan to La Antigua de Guatemala, a six hour trip which is the reverse of the one I did in 2008.  From Antigua I can make connections to Chichicastenango and other towns further northwest.

That will pretty much wrap things up for me for this round of Central American travel.  As of today I have just over three weeks to catch my flight back to the U.S.

Nica´s One of My Favorites

Leon is a premier destination for me on this trip, but I gotta admit that Nicaragua itself is a prime destination for me.

With all due respect to my Costa Rican Suzuki mother and her beautiful country and people, I have to declare that Nicaragua might be my favorite Central American country.  However, I´m not sure I can explain why.  There´s something about it I immediately notice once I´m past the formalities and on a bus moving toward my destination, but as I write this I´m still trying to put my finger on it.

It´s not only that Nicaragua, compared to Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras, seems so much less menacing, though that truly seems to be the case.  Lonely Planet claims El Salvador has 16,000 shotgun-toting private security guards, and it´s clear that Nicaragua is not nearly as obsessed with basic security as the other countries I´ve mentioned. 

And like the others, in Nicaragua there is poverty, broken infrastructure and the usual political conflict and controversy.

Yet it seems that Nicaragua has better tourist facilities and more features for ordinary joes like me.  For example, I love a good cup of coffee, and El Salvador was almost completely horrible for getting one.  Nearly every day last week I struggled in the morning just to feel awake with the muddy water that passes for coffee in that country.  But in Leon I´ve counted at least three espresso shops so far and I´m sure there are more.  The infrastructure here is already set up to get me moving on a daily basis.

In El Salvador at least so far there are very few entrepreneurs stepping up to provide guiding and other services to places like Volcan de San Miguel.   As the Lonely Planet points out, if you want to go there you have to do all the legwork yourself.  But here in Leon, there are plenty of businesses geared toward meeting the needs of the foreign visitor.

I´m not saying that espresso shops or guide services make it for me.  El Salvador is a fascinating place with very hardworking people who generally are quite welcoming to foreigners, and I still want to swing back there to visit Perquin on my way back north.  But I gotta say the Salvadoreans have a lousy cup of coffee, and after 10 days that´s wearing for me, on top of all the usual chores I have to do just to get around and be around in safety.

Here in Leon and other Nicaraguan towns I feel there are many people in a nascent tourist industry who care about what I need, about where I want to go, and about how I might get there.  At the same time the local scene isn´t spoiled to the point where the visitor feels any pressure to kick up bucks to an industry.  Most importantly, the security situation here doesn´t feel nearly as ¨edgy¨ as in other places in the region.   Altogether that´s a most basic definition of hospitality, and my impression is the Nicaraguans have it in spades.

In Leon, Nicaragua (Day 18)

Visiting old colonial Leon is a no brainer for me since I consider myself to be a ¨collector¨ of colonial cities in Spanish America.  Among the attractions here is the largest cathedral in Central America but the central district is dotted with surprising old buildings from history.

I decided at the last minute yesterday to forgo Perquin and focus on making some miles toward Costa Rica.  A couple buses got me to the Honduras border at El Amatillo, and the crossing was relatively hassle free.

On a very hot day I caught the slow bus for a 2 hour long trip to Choluteca in southern Honduras.  This is cowboy country with plenty of cows, horses, and the men who ride and drive them.  By now we´re also out of volcano territory and in a dryer landscape marked by short trees and scrubgrass.

Choluteca, the largest town in this part of Honduras, had everything I needed within a block of my hotel, itself not far from the bus station.  Restaurants, internet, and gloriously an espresso shack!  This morning I had the best coffee I´ve tasted since way back in Ataco, El Salvador.  Buen sabor!

Much needed aircon and not so needed TV were cut off last night with sudden thunderstorms which cooled the area considerably.

South of Choluteca on a microbus this morning the landscape changed yet again into a much more lush version of 5 or 6 different shades of green.  Cloud cover kept temperatures bearable for the travel.

The Nicaragua border at Guasaule was mercifully also very easy to cross without much bureaucratic fuss.  Seven bucks and I was in for 30 days, though the experience was marred slightly when I was grossly overcharged for a cyclo taxi.  Yet it´s the first time in 18 days that I´ve been grossly overcharged for anything, so I reckon I´m doing alright.

Another fast microbus took me to Chinandega where I connected for my final bus to Leon which is about 60 miles northwest of Managua.  The countryside here changes yet again with 3 or 4 massive volcanos visible in the distant clouds.  It´s still cowboy country but the land is much less dry than in southern Honduras and the soil appears to be very rich.  Viva la cultura de los vaqueros. . .

Leon is a premier destination for me, along with Tortuguero and Caribbean Panama, so I´m privately celebrating my arrival here.  I was so charmed by my short walk around today, I´m sure I´ll stay at least 2 or 3 days.

I have just 34 days to get back to Guatemala.  In the week ahead I plan to hit Masaya, Granada, Rivas and San Juan del Sur before I go to Costa Rica perhaps a week from today.

The Route Ahead After Perquin

I offer this post as a picture for the reader of what I face in the days ahead.  Managua is about 9 hours from San Miguel by bus and includes two border crossings into Honduras & Nicaragua.  Considering the fact that I prefer to travel 4-5 hours per day at most, that means a two day trip with an overnight in the Honduran town of Choluteca.

Once past the Nicaraguan border formalities I have to decide if I will stop in Leon and/or Managua (probably one or the other but not both).   Then it's onward immediately to my true destination goals of beautiful colonial Granada & the charming Pacific coast town of San Juan del Sur.  Last year I visited both latter two places but was very short on time.  I would like to spend perhaps a week total in that area.

Then there's another border crossing nearby into Costa Rica and one or two days (at my easy-does-it tempo) to the capital San Jose.  A day or two there hanging out with my student's Uncle Marco is sure to be a highlight of this trip.

From San Jose, another day's travel will get me to Tortuguero, famous for its turtle-hatching seasons and its remote beauty (the only way to get there is by air or boat).  This is yet another place that, for me, is worth spending a few days.

At that point, Panama--or at least the Carribean coast of Panama near the Costa Rican border--becomes a viable option.  However, if I go that route, then Merida,Venezuela simply becomes not viable at all--if it ever was, at my meandering rate of speed.

Probably the reader has figured out already that this trip isn't really about getting to Merida, or any other destination, but more about the voyage of getting to several stopping off points along the way.  Budget issues also play an important part in my deliberations.  For example, if it takes me 14 days worth of hotel spending to get to Panama City from here, but I can get a flight for the same amount or less, should I buy the plane ticket?  The answer is, not if that expense puts me wildly above my projected costs for the entire enterprise.

Ahuachapan, El Salvador (Day 8)

The news was fairly grim today in Guatemala as flooding, mudslides & roadside avalanches were reported all over the country this past weekend. Although my Spanish is extremely lame I was able to catch the gist of things on the TV news and so discovered that damage wasn`t limited to the poor village of Los Esclavos but was even worse in areas near Lake Atitlan. I am told that up to 80 people were killed nationwide but I haven`t confirmed that from news sources.

This morning I caught a ride south toward El Salvador with some water engineers who were on their way to a town about halfway to the border on business. The older of the two spoke some English and he was the one who told me of the fatalities. I don`t usually hitchhike in Latin America but I have experience at it in Europe and Southeast Asia. These guys were leaving at the same time I was from the hotel. Hitching can be a good way to get around if you`re friendly but cautious.

The Guatemala-El Salvador frontier is one of the easier ones in the region because by treaty the Guatemala 90 immigration stamp is also good for El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua. A couple of short bus rides late this morning and I was quickly over the border and at my destination, Ahuachapan. The cheap hotel I was looking for has gone out of business--oh well! But I found another place, just a little more expensive, that will do just fine.

El Salvador has dollarized its economy--greenbacks are the legal tender here which is good since I have some cash dollars and am uncertain still about my ability to get cash from my account at home. One of my first chores here today is to check the ATMs.