Los Esclavos in the National News (Day 7)

Well, there`s plenty of excitement here today with Los Esclavos on national TV, and the locals are gathering at the bridges to check out the devastation caused by yesterday`s rains--which never really let up until early this morning.

Rains, flooding, and mudslides took out a number of trees and sections of a road in the village down by the old stone bridge and power plant. These in turn pulled down several electric lines and poles, which did further damage to homes nearby. The police and ambulances are here, as is the electric company--and everybody from the village.

The scene has also drawn gawkers from Cuilapa and other nearby settlements. Many of these people have come to take photos and to telephone their friends and relatives. A couple of them have professional looking cameras, so I take them for local media.

I also took some photos but I`m still unable to upload to this site. I hope to be able to do so sometime in the not-too-distant future.

I should be leaving for the border today but the excitement has caused some delay in those plans. And for the record, I still can`t get cash from the ATMs!

Days 4 & 5 in Los Esclavos

Yesterday I opted for the relatively short journey from the capital south to Cuilapa so now will save Antigua and points north for a later date.

I´m revisiting the fine Hotel Turiscentro Los Esclavos which has an excellent restaurant and very good rooms for about $16 per night--the off season rate--and is only a five minute walk from the famous old stone bridge which I walked across today.

It´s definitely off season here because the rainy season has arrived with a vengeance. Last night it poured almost non-stop and today it´s been on & off all day. And it´s so quiet around here I suspect I might be the only guest in the hotel.

The restaurant is another matter though. It´s obviously very popular with the local road traffic on this portion of the Pan-American Highway. Yesterday´s lunch crowd was large and this morning´s breakfast crowd was even larger, and the parking lot was full. This afternoon, however, I had the swimming pool just outside my door all to myself--if I´d wanted it. . .

Despite the rains, it´s very beautiful around here with lush, green jungle covered foothills and a couple standout volcanos nearby. The muddy brown river races in the gorge below the bridges after passing through a small hydroelectric dam and power plant.

I´m cooling my heels a bit because today I was unable to access cash from the ATMs in Cuilapa and hope this electronic inconvenience is only a temporary annoyance and not some problem with the bank at home.

But at least I´ve started on my journey: looks like I´ll proceed to the El Salvador frontier in a day or two then see how my itinerary might progress from there.

Los Escalvos Stone Bridge in Cuilapa

Just a couple miles south of the town of Cuilapa is the resort hotel Turiscentro Los Esclavos where I stayed for a few days in August 2008. For $25 per night you get a first class class room next to a swimming pool and an excellent restaurant featuring typical Guatemalan food for very reasonable prices. If I decide to bite the bullet and begin my journey south to El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua, then Cuilapa would be a great place to stop for some ease, luxury & comfort before I hit the harder road ahead.

Cuilapa doesn´t have very much to offer apart from the surrounding natural beauty of the mountains and Los Escalvos River valley. Just nearby is a 16th century stone bridge, remarkably preserved, over that river which is named for The Slaves.

I´ve posted a random link to the Los Esclavos bridge on the upper right hand side of this page. Check it out. . .

Cuilapa & Points Southeast or Antigua & Northwest?

I´m stuck here ´cause I can´t make up my mind about the basic direction of my travels. Should I head south/southeast so I can get started immediately on an itinerary leading to Costa Rica, Panama & Venezuela? Or should I go revisit beautiful colonial Antigua de Guatemala--just an hour from here--where there is good tourist infrastructure and from where I can continue my travels further into Guatemala's interior?

If it´s the latter, then I should plan on a visit to the famous market town of Chichicastenango, only 2-3 hours by bus from Antigua, where my aunt´s church in Wisconsin has its sister church in Guatemala.

Logistics dictate that if I want to visit the large Mayan site in Tikal, then organizing the trip from Antigua makes a lot of sense.

Cuilapa, about 50 miles southeast of the capital, is a small town I visited in 2008. There´s not much there except a fine resort-type hotel with an excellent restaurant where I stayed for a couple days on my way back home that year.

No, I´m not here to do resort travel, but this place has great value, as I recall, with almost luxurious rooms for $25 or so. Sounds good, doesn´t it? But there´s virtually no tourist infrastructure for planning other legs of the journey. From Cuilapa there´s really only one place to go: El Salvador.

The fact is, the capital city isn´t much to write home about. I needed a few days to get my bearings, set up the blog, finish some other business, and get plenty of good food and rest for the next leg of my journey. So now, on Day 3, it´s time to make a move.

Yet my basic predicament remains: should I head south immediately, or chill out for a bit nearby? And where´s the bus station for Antigua buses?!