We left Guatemala with little fanfare, having passed through the country in four weeks. Our last couple of nights we spent with Juan’s friend Rodolfo in Guatemala City. We got to tour his animation studio, and to see some parts of the city that we would not have seen otherwise, including his family’s lovely ranch. Our last morning in Guatemala we spent more than an hour trying to “stop by” Wal-Mart. It’s funny–we hardly ever went to Wal-Mart in the U.S., both because there aren’t any in San Francisco but also because there’s just no need to buy things in that way (as well as the small-business repercussions) but now our eyes light up whenever we see one. Sometimes it is just nice to walk into that emporium of plenty after weeks of finding nothing but stores selling chips and sodas. Wal-Mart means that we can indulge in certain luxures like diet sodas, peanut butter, and dog toys. Silly but so delightful. Anyhow, the border crossing seemed like it would be easy after navigating Guatemala City looking for Wal-Mart, but instead we were held up at a dead-stop for 40 inexplicable minutes on the highway, and then detained another almost two hours at the empty border due to a dyslexic immigration official. Some money changers also tried to scam us, but money-changers beware: Argentines and Asians are not easy to fool when it comes to changing currency.
It has been a hot and lazy week in El Salvador. A week could be a long time or a short time, but considering El Salvador is about the size of Massachusetts (while Guatemala is the size of Louisiana–I love these helpful comparisons), it seems like long enough. I found the beaches of the Balsamo Coast uninspiring, definitely not in my top five or even top ten. Because I wasn’t feeling well, we scouted out some hotels with A/C in El Zonte. I would recommend Esencia Nativa over Olas Permanentes for better rooms, better service, better food, and better prices–even though Esencia is not directly on the beach. Both places were dog-friendly and it always feels good to spend a few days without putting on shoes.
The beach itself is great for surfers and bodyboarders, and the water is amazingly warm (like in Monterico, Guatemala), but not very beautiful. The best part about stopping by El Zonte was that we got to see our friend Rene’s family, who lives just a few miles north in Chiltiupan.
This was also where I experienced my first pupusa. Why do no other countries do this? It’s cheesy and greasy and delicious and I want them all the time now.
As soon as I was feeing a bit better, we moved just a few miles west to Playa San Diego, which is a white sand (as opposed to black) beach with gentler waves and fewer rocks. The neighborhood is just a long road with the properties all walling you off from the beach except for narrow alleyways–not like the beautiful, unobstructed beaches of Mexico, where public beach access is a given (although a little harder to find in the built-up Yucatán). All of the non-residential properties had pools and comedors and we survived one attempted fleecing at one spot before paying $6 to spend the night at another.
Next we spent a few nights in the town of Suchitoto, a quiet little place with not a whole lot to see. We ate the majority of our meals at La Lupita del Portal, this lovely cafe on the main square with great service, simple and delicious fare, and good prices (as well as WiFi). It was a great place to spend a few days resting and working.
The town of Suchitoto sits atop a man-made lake, which is a nice enough walk–downhill, at least.
This is not Milo’s favorite town. It’s just too hot for him.
when you guys get back to the States we can all go to Redwood City when you get a hankerin’ for pupusas. There’s also a good place in Berkeley if I can remember where it is.
You know Scott, the owner of one hotel where we stayed had lived in the Bay Area. He told us that his sister has a pupusa place in Redwood City. Maybe that’s the place!