San Salvador is closed
Trip Start
Dec 2007
1
19
30
Trip End
Feb 2008
San Salvador,
El Salvador
Monday, December 31, 2007
We spent a morning at the mall looking for a few things we will need for our jungle trip but didn't really buy anything.
My impression of San Salvador is that is it very American and the people also seem very American although they do speak spanish and i have been unable to understand anything they have said so far as they speak very fast and run all their words together.
There is also a lot of traffic and enormous amounts of pollution. The centre of SS is unusual is that it is a mass of markets and streets. The guide book warns to be careful as you are likely to be the only tourists around, watch your bags and don't wander too far from the main streets. Also to be wary in the market. We were the only tourists around and were constantly touched and talked to in the markets but in general our experience of down town was a good one. The goods in the market were very cheap and whilst we needed some tshirts, to stop and start to shop was probably going to cause a rush of people dragging us around.
We had lunch at a local eatery, no idea what we had but we did have the conversation about not eating meat and it appeared to be a tortilla with cheese in a tomato sauce with tortillas on the side.
Then we decided to catch a local bus to the Anthropology museum which was some distance away. First of all we couldn't work how where the buses were going from but a taxi driver sent us in the right direction. Finally we found our bus and asked the conductor about the museum and he said it didn't go there but a passenger said that it did and then the driver joined us and said it did so on we got. Everyone turned around at our stop and told us it was our stop and where the museum was. The museum was excellent and fitted well with what we had learned in Managua.
We then walked up the road to the modern art museum and although i like modern art, none of the exhibits did it for me.
We then jumped on another local bus back to the Metrocenter and had a well earned siesta. Dinner was then to be at a restaurant recommended by our guide book. Given it was dark we caught a cab and the driver spent a while looking for it and the reason was, that it was closed. We did have a nice seafood meal at another place. this is the start of 'El Salvador is closed'
Next day we headed out on another bus, blind this time because we need the suburb but not the exact location, quite fun though as it was an embassy area and great to walk around. We headed to the Hilton which sits looking out over SS, we wandered in and got into the lift hoping they had a rooftop bar with a view.... not to be and on we went to the chapel where an important archbishop was killed... yep it was closed!
Now it is New Years Eve and we have been saving a local bar with music for this occasion but San Salvador was closed for NYs eve. Only one bar in a whole street of bars was open and that wasn't inviting so we headed off in a taxi to find a bar in the upmarket part of town.... nada, everything was closed. we rode around for ages in the cab and finally admitted defeat and were back in our room at 9:30! No big new years celebrations for us
We chose San Salvador for New Years Eve as it is well known for its night life and music, not to be although fireworks went off all over the city from 5pm until the early hours.
We have decided to delay our NY celebrations.
