Santa Ana, El Salvador

Antigua was a real highlight of my trip.  Spending time with my new friends was fantastic, but I was ready for some time on my own.  I drove out of Antigua alone for the first time since Puerto Escondido, Mexico.  Just me and Vandrew, on the open road.

And the roads were good.  Like most secondary highways in Canada, although most of the time with much smaller, or nonexistent, shoulders.  I drove to the border of El Salvador with no issue, got there in plenty of time, and was accosted by a man who wanted to "help" me.  He wouldn't take no for an answer, and ran from building to building with me keeping a watchful eye on my passport and driver's licence.  After a lot of waiting, and a lot of  back and forth, I was through the border.  It cost me $40US, and I was happy.

Unfortunately, the light was going, and I had to drive the last two hours in the dark.  I was stopped a few times at police check stops, but they were more intent on actually looking for contraband instead of shaking me down for cash.  They looked over Vandrew with more detail than every before, but let me go without incident.

The city I was heading to was Santa Ana, and I found it to be a very progressive city, nice roads, not too much traffic.  The address I had for the bed and breakfast that I was staying at was a bit criptic, and I was directed to an intersection in a residential area of the city.  I wandered around the area, and asked someone on the street.  After a bit of confusion, I was directed to a house a few doors down.  This is where I met Aminta, the proprietor.

Aminta, Vandrew and I outside her home

Aminta said that she couldn't put up signs, otherwise the mafia would come asking for protection money.  Nice.  I was also told that the police in El Salvador weren't very corrupt, but the politicians were as a crooked as a dog's hind leg, and that's why the roads were so nice, "they can get money (kickbacks) from roads, they can't get money from education or healthcare"  I'd never thought about it until then.

I was in Santa Ana for 3 days.  I was not robbed or threatened.  I did watch Star Wars: Rogue One in the Cinema.  Maybe it was the fact that the official currency is the US dollar, but, at least in Santa Ana, it seemed like a very Americanized culture.

El Salvador....or Calgary?

The lake was nice, but the beer for $1.25US was BEAUTIFUL