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LA PALMA |
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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,
unexciting town of Tejutla, before making the slow, winding ascent to
the Honduran border. The tortuous bus journey is compensated for by the
views, with pine-clad mountains falling away to either side, and distant,
hazy ranges and volcanoes seeming to stretch on forever (for the best
views sit on the left-hand side of the bus on the way to La Palma from
Tejutla).
LA PALMA , supposedly named after the indigenous custom of building
houses out of palms, is a sleepy mountain village founded in 1915 under
the name Dulce Nombre de la Palma. Its calm is really only broken during
the annual fiesta of Dulce Nombre de María , in the third week of
February. Today the village is chiefly famous for its artesenías , which
are sold all over the country - naif-style wooden and ceramic
handicrafts and toys, brightly painted with representations of people,
villages and farming life. This cottage industry, instituted by
Salvadorean artist Fernando Llort in the 1970s, is now the economic
mainstay of the village, with workshops turning out hundreds of pieces a
week. Most workshops sell their goods on the spot and are pretty relaxed
about visitors turning up to watch the work; prices are somewhat cheaper
than in San Salvador. On the main road through the village is the
gallery of Salvadorean artist Alfredo Linares (Mon-Sat 9am-noon &
1-4pm), displaying his fine watercolours and pen-and-ink representations
of the area and its peoples. Prices for the originals are not
particularly low, but postcards and prints are also sold.
North of La Palma are several fine hiking trails , including, for the
adventurous, El Salvador's highest mountain, Cerro Pital (2730m), 10km
away on the border. A rough road branches east just before La Palma to
run to Las Pilas on the lower slopes of the mountain; a dirt road also
leads up from the village of San Ignacio . Hiking to the summit is an
adventure of two or three days, for which you will need to be fully
equipped. If you don't mind not reaching the top, the trails provide day
hikes of varying lengths - the owners of the Hotel La Palma are a good
source of information on walks and guides.
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