Hotel Miraflores San Miguel

So, our epic, multi-stage journey couldn't be completed in one day, despite all our connections being pretty much instantaneous. Even if we had gotten up at 7 as we planned and not at 8.30 as it panned out, we still couldn't have made it to San Salvador on account of the Salvadorian bus schedule - good thing we had a lye-in, then! Still though, we ...

... I can’t even write this without 
laughing. The Policia pulled us over, yet again (yes that’s right, 
five times in total), and this time the military were across the street as well. The Policia asked us if we had a fire extinguisher and hazard triangles in the car. This is a common bribe tactic. They say these items are necessary, although they are not. We do happen to have a fire extinguisher since we have a kitchen in the VW. So we get ...

... cobblestone roads. That was really something. And the pickup ride out of Alegria was pretty awesome as well. It was just me and a couple of other people in a rickety truck hurtling down the mountain. And come the morning I was on my way to Perquin. Apparently the seat of tourism in eastern El Salvador, the area is still fairly absent of most of the tell tale signs of backpacker tourism, besides an internet cafe or two. It´s a beautiful area: rolling, pine ...

... bottle. We had read that there was a nice park with gardens and pools and that you could rent bungalows for the day. With the heat draining us this sounded like a pretty good idea. We caught our 5th bus for the day (it had been quite a trip from El Zonte) and headed on the short ride to the "relaxation" that awaited. What we saw when we got the looked more like Christmas day at the public pools ...

... get any more stamps in my passport till I leave the Central America Free Trade Agreement zone (Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala). I didn't even see any immigration people on the Honduras El Salvador border (but that might be my fault, I'll find out at the next border). I think I left a bit of my heart in Nicaragua, it was mighty good.

... truck, the owner of the car strongly refused to take the money I offered as thanks. He told me he would come back down to San Ignacio around 2 pm and would be happy to give me a ride back if I needed to, which I did indeed. He pointed me in the right direction and off I went to reach the top of El Pital, up, up and up again for about an hour and a half. I kept wondering why the Lonely Planet did not mention how difficult the hike was for it ...

... forest which always helps cool things down. Sometimes the trees are so large on either side of the road their branches literally create tunnels for several hundred feet. I particularly enjoy driving through these tunnels. We entered San Miguel and like all cities in Central America so far, it was very dirty. We found a hotel room and headed out for supper. We had a great meal with a wonderful cup of ...

... Mike and asked for his paperwork. Mike went and copied his and I explained to Mike which barred window to go too and stamp, stamp we are done. I thanked the truck driver very much for his kindness. I know he did not understand what I said, but he knew how much I appreciated it.We then headed off to the El Salvador border, some what pleased with ourselves that we resisted the leeches help and we were halfway through the process. The ...

... hours we hadnt a clue what to do with ourselves. Fortunatly we picked up another and could sleep easy that night. The next day was a bit of a write off because Scott had was is affectionately known as the squits. it was just a 24-hour thing, luckily, so Tuesday we were back on the game. Claire took the opportunity on Monday to have her first ever pedicure. It was advertised as a pedicure and cocktail but when it came down to it, she decided to go for a beer instead. She thinks ...

... nestled high in the quasi-mountain. A church service carried on nearby, and the sermon echoed off the the cliffs. I dipped my hands and toes in, sat down and read my book for awhile, then returned to town..slightly dehydrated, but happy. I guess thats the "medicinal" effect of the waters of which said guidebook spoke. One of the things that was most beautiful here were the nightly thunderstorms. Around 8 ...