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 The
smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, El
Salvador is chiefly remembered for the vicious civil war of the 1980s,
when streams of harrowing news stories brought this tiny country to the
attention of the world. For a decade, atrocity followed atrocity in a
seemingly unstoppable sequence. Then in 1992, with both sides having
fought each other to a standstill, Peace Accords were signed, and the
attention of the world's press moved elsewhere, leaving behind a
brutalized country faced with the immense task of rebuilding itself.
Tourism in El Salvador has lagged behind that of its Central American
neighbours. Despite its compactness and considerable natural beauty,
many would-be visitors are deterred by the half-remembered headlines and
the country's reputation for violence, danger and difficulty. Its
geographical position doesn't help, either: tucked into the Pacific
underbelly of the isthmus, El Salvador is easily bypassed. Those that do
make it here, however, are well rewarded by the sheer physical beauty of
the place, with lush Pacific lowlands sweeping up through fertile hills
and coffee plantations to rugged mountain chains. Almost every journey
in El Salvador yields photogenic vistas of the majestic cones of
towering volcanoes , while some of the secluded pacific beaches are as
fine as any in Central America.
As in Nicaragua, another country pulled apart by a decade of civil war,
travelling in El Salvador brings you into contact with some of the most
engaging and interesting people in the region. With a well-deserved
reputation for hard work and business acumen, the Salvadoreños (or
guanacos , as they're often affectionately described) - predominantly
mestizo - live life with a vigour that's hard to match. That said,
however, as the people here slowly find ways to come to terms with their
brutal past and uncertain future, some residual hostility to foreigners
- particularly Americans - remains, and initial reactions to tourists
can be, on occasion, cool. If you persist, however, in the face of what
may seem like outright hostility, and make an effort to speak Spanish,
you will find that people begin to unbend and bring you into their lives.
They may or may not be willing to talk about the civil war. Many aren't.
What is important now is the future, and this Salvadoreans approach with
sardonic humour, designed to lessen the travails of daily life, the
corruption of politics and everything else that seems insurmountable.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, tourist infrastructure is at times sorely
lacking. This is not the country for those who like everything on tap,
and there's little luxury outside the cities, but for those with a
spirit of adventure, El Salvador has plenty to offer. One feature
particular to the country is its network of government-run tourist
centres, or turicentros . Aimed more at locals than tourists, these
provide bathing, eating and recreation facilities in areas of natural
beauty. Some, like Los Chorros, just outside San Salvador, offer a
convenient way to take advantage of natural facilities safely and
comfortably.
Travelling around El Salvador is a lesson in humility. Contrasting with
the vibrant colour and sweep of the landscape, the overwhelming evidence
of the endemic poverty and social divisions that sparked the Civil War
in the first place hits you right between the eyes. As El Salvador
enters its second decade of peace it remains a country painfully divided
between haves and have-nots, and the full benefits of redevelopment
projects and an improving economy have yet to trickle down to the
majority of the population. From the muddy shanty towns of San Salvador
to the broken-down shacks in the countryside, many people live in
squalor, eking out a living selling fruit, sweets, household goods and
sundry odds and ends on the street. In addition, the ever-growing
population - at 6.2 million, the densest in Central America - is placing
unprecedented pressure on the country's natural resources , with rampant
deforestation a particular problem. And while political violence is now
a thing of the past, civil violence has grown to alarming proportions.
Guns are common, and people use them, while recent years have seen an
increased number of kidnappings of prominent businessmen. The casual
visitor is unlikely to be directly affected by this, but you can't
ignore the underlying sense of tension. |
| Ahuachapán |
Ajcajutla |
Chalchuapa |
La Libertad |
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| From Apaneca the road winds its way down to the city of AHUACHAPÁN .
This area, and the lands further north, are some of the oldest inhabited
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Beyond Sonsonate, the major town on the coast is the port of
ACAJUTLA , the site of Pedro de Alvarado's first encounter with the
Pipils in 1524 |
Heading northeast from Ahuachapán, the road winds down through the
last spurs of the cordillera onto a broad and scenic plain |
ust 34km south of San Salvador, LA
LIBERTAD (in full, Puerto La Libertad, but often reduced by
bus conductors to simply |
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| La Palma |
La Unión |
Metapán |
Perquin |
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| From the El Mayo junction, Highway CA-4 begins its climb up into the
mountains of the Cordillera Metapán Alotepeque passing through the small |
The port town of LA UNIÓN
sits in a stunning location on a bay on the edge of the
Golfo de Fonseca. Faded since its glory days as El
Salvador's |
Leaving Santa Ana, CA-12 heads north
through agricultural plains and badly deforested hills,
becoming wilder after it passes |
After passing through Arambala, the road begins its final climb to
PERQUÍN , a small and - given its history - surprisingly friendly
mountain |
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| San Miguel |
San Salvador |
San Vicente |
Santa Ana |
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| Some 136km from San Salvador is the bustling, hot and flat city of
SAN MIGUEL . Sitting at the foot of the prodigious |
Sprawling across the Valle de las Hamacas at the foot of the mighty
Volcán San Salvador is the urban melee of
(Top Destinations) |
SAN VICENTE was founded in 1635 by fifty local Spanish families in
accordance with the 1600 Law of the Indies, which prohibited |
Self-possessed SANTA ANA , the second most important city in El
Salvador, lies in a superb location in the Cihautehuacán valley.
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| Santa Tecla |
Suchitoto |
Zacatecoluca |
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| Heading west from San Salvador, the Carretera Interamericana runs
14km through light industrial and residential districts |
Set amid beautiful rolling countryside 18km east of Aguilares, near
the site of a pre-Columbian Pipil town, SUCHITOTO |
Heading east from La Libertad, the Carretera Littoral swings inland,
running north of the international airport to the |
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