SAN SALVADOR - EL SALVADOR

20th - 23rd May 2011

The late Bishop Oscar Romero

Off to San Salvador by TICA bus, $20 and 13 hours, from Guatemala City. Tip here for travellers in Central America: TICA bus, based in Costa Rica, offers a very efficient, comfortable and cheap service which connects Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Other companies do it as well, probably, but I seem to have got hooked into TICA. The journey got progressively less mountainous and, on crossing the border at Las Chinamas, the going became quite flat. Made quite a change from the past week or two. 

El Salvador is only about the size of Wales. Smaller probably. It is 124 miles long. Along with all it's neighbours it has experienced numerous civil wars and earthquakes. The last civil war started in 1980 when The bish Oscar Romero was assassinated in his church, and ended, despite American assistance, in 1992. The most recent earthquake to flatten the place occurred in 2001. As a result the city centre is a bit of a dusty, dirty, fallen-down and bandit infested wasteland, but there are some smart residential, shopping and commercial areas around the outside. In fact the country has probably the strongest economy in Central America although there is much unemployment ( hence street crime ). Much of the wealth, and there are some very wealthy Salvadorians ( the 14 families who carved up Central America after Independence from Spain originated here ), comes from it's coffee exports and financial institutions.

Left: My hotel. The 'low budget' Marela. Chosen at random, it is in the relatively affluent area of Colonia Escalon. It was very pleasant and comfortable with a most helpful and charming staff plus free use of their computers ( and free WiFi if only I had a damned machine to make use of it!...when I meet that Mr Effing Mackintosh..... ). It was interesting to note that every hotel, shop, petrol station, restaurant, bar, not to mention banks etc., had at least one armed guard, normally carrying a pump-action shotgun and pistol. Pictured outside the hotel ( left ) are Oscar, the doorman cum porter, and Lupita the cheerful receptionist. It was the first time someone ( Oscar ) had carried my bags to my room and I carried his shotgun! I don't know what their incidence of 'negligent discharges' ( as we said in the army ) were, but I suspect they are not unheard of! 

I walked a long way around the more respectable areas and felt well covered by firepower. I never saw any obvious baddies, but then it was hardly surprised given the amount of overt weaponry! One hostile looking act and the place would probably erupt like a gunfight at the OK coral ( or the dodgier ends of London.........Plaistow? )

Walking around downtown ( the centre ) was, I was advised, inadvisable, especially at night. I noticed a distinct lack of street lights, everywhere.

Oscar was unwillingly to lend me his shotgun again.

  

Right: A typical city centre street scene. It was mostly crowded with poor people from the slummy outskirts or outside the city coming in to sell cheap food and goods.

It was certainly not an inviting area to wander around.

All the decent shops, malls, houses and public buildings were mostly on the edge of the recently developed west side of town.

Left: The Presidential Palace. I think it has some offices in it, but the President has, sensibly, moved elsewhere.

Right: The central Plaza taken from the steps of the Cathedral. Not much there and a bit grotty...........

Left:....... In the middle of which was a statue of someone on a horse. He may not have attracted many tourists ( I saw none in the centre ) but is obviously a big draw with the pigeon community.

Right: San Salvador's old Oxford Street equivalent.

I am told that the city centre will be redeveloped in time. Probably just in time for the next earthquake.

Left> This church was built in the city centre after the last earthquake. It is more subtle than it looks. It's avant-garde artist/architect deliberately built it out of concrete and made it look hideous from the outside. From the inside it is beautiful; a work of great art. The many windows ( barely visible from outside ) are gloriously stained and together with impressive archtecture inside make it a joy to behold, internally. The message being ( as my unarmed guide pointed out ) 'don't judge a book by it's cover', or something to that effect. Sadly it was closed so I didn't get in to witness this revelation. 

Right> This church ( gosh, there may be shortages of many things in Central America but there's certainly no shortage of blinking churches ! It seems that that is where all the money went and probably still goes )

is only interesting because it is built entirely out of iron. You can see all the rivets. It draws the congregation like a magnet. 

I was only here for a couple of nights but had to go out somewhere. I noticed, yes you've guessed it, an Oirish Bear advertised not too far from my digs. I went there. It was called the Shannon Irish Pub. Not many clients and no Guiness and run, seemingly, by a nice Salvadorean lady and a German guy, so no Irish either. The only customers there when I arrived were the San Salvador Bridge Club comprising Daniel (  Manchester  ), Rudi ( Germany ), Clive ( Bradford ) and Rene ( Salvador ). A fairly dissolute looking foursome if you ask me. I never did quite gather what they were doing in San Salvador, other than playing bridge.

Left> The Americas monument on one of the main drags going west. Around here were some very upmarket shopping 'Malls' and restaurants. I had a delicious supper at an excellent Chinese restaurant nearby. It's all quite civilised, around the ( west ) edges.

I have discovered a most irritating trick played on guests in both southern Mexican and, so far, Central American hotels ( something I remember doing myself at school ). They carefully put clingfilm over the top of the glasses in your room. This may be in the interest of hygene. It does mean though, when, unsuspecting, you stagger in to bed and pour water or whatever into your glass it goes all over the table,bed and you. After three of these experiences I think I have learnt. Until the next time. How childish!

So not long, but perhaps long enough, in El Salvador. I am told there are some lovely Pacific beaches which I failed to visit. As everywhere, so far, in this part of the world, the locals that I have met have been so helpful, kind and cheerful. Onwards onwards, arriba arriba..............to KnickerRagYouAre.