|
| |
| |
|
MAIL AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS |
| |
Letters from San Salvador generally take about one week to the US
and nine or so days to Europe. The main post office in San Salvador is
open Mon-Fri 8am-5pm and Sat 8am-noon; itoffers a parcel service, but if
you're sending anything of value it's better to use one of the courier
services . The safest place to receive letters is at the lista de
correos (window 14) of the main post office; alternatively, there's the
American Express office, while some embassies hold mail addressed to
their citizens. Post offices in smaller cities and towns keep the same
hours as in the capital but aren't recommended as places to receive
mail, while letters posted here take longer to arrive at their
destinations.
Telecom , the recently privatized phone company, has newly renovated
offices (all open daily 7am-10pm) in every town from where you can make
local, long-distance and international calls. Offices in the larger
towns also offer Internet services. Reverse charge (collect) calls can
be made to the US and Canada, but not to the UK. A three-minute minimum
call to Europe costs about US$8, and direct-dial services are available
to the US (AT&T, MCI, Sprint). The telephone code for the whole of El
Salvador is 503.
Most public phones in El Salvador are now cardphones : either the yellow
Telecom booths (with instructions in both Spanish and English) or the
lime-green Telefónica booths (instructions in Spanish only). Both
require prepaid cards which can be purchased at many stores, gas
stations and the Mister Donut restaurant chain; the Telefónica card uses
a unique number code which must be keyed in before use (don't insert the
phonecard). You can make international calls from both types of
cardphone, but it's cheaper to go to a Telecom office. There are also a
limited number of red coin-operated phones , but they don't always work
and you can't make international calls from them. Rates for local calls
are the same at Telecom offices; a minimum call costs 1 colón.
Faxes can be sent from Telecom offices, but don't expect great service,
and all hotels with a fax machine will usually send one for you, though
at a considerable premium. Most towns now have places with Internet
access, particularly around universities and in shopping malls.
Connections are generally very good and prices range from US$2 to US$4
per hour.
|
| |
|
