Some people go to Hawaii to vacation, what's up with that? The Brownings head to rougher parts of developing countries where they can truly appreciate all they have at home!
While we are seeing beautiful mountainsides and lush tropical waterfalls, I won't leave out the serious number of down-n-out street people and alcohol problems that we have witnessed in these first few days in El Salvador.
Right across from the very nice lodging we secured in Juayua on the corner sat a wasted man finishing a small bottle of rubbing (wood) alcohol. Keith went over after the man precariously walked away to check the bottle he had tossed aside after the last swig, and yes, it had a skull and crossbones, pure poison!
We saw many drunk men and hunchbacked old women there which just helped us prepare for our next stop, El Congo, just down the hill from where we are staying lakeside.
We went to El Congo to find some late afternoon dinner because our Hotel Nantal is in a very small pueblo with no real food choices. We had a nice meal, $6.00 for the two of us, walked around town, and stopped at the grocery store for water & some fruit. Keith also had his beard trimmed which you will notice in the newer photos. I told him, "Don't worry, it will grow back."
After these 'jobs' we waited for a long while for a bus. Many drunk men approached us for handouts and they were hard to get rid of. How happy we were when the bus finally picked us up!!
Hotel Nantal sits high on the hill, Cerro Verde, overlooking Lago Coatepeque, a body of water six kilometers wide in a volcanic crater. It is really beautiful! An ex-president of El Salvador owns an island in the lake and the homes around the shoreline belong to the rich Salvadorians from the city.
The Hotel is an old private residence filled with antiques, a very impressive collection. It has nice sitting areas inside and out. Our room isn't fancy or very clean, but the beds are comfy and the air is fresh and cool.
Our last day in Juayua was super enjoyable. What a great place we had there! The people running the hostel were so nice and they made great typical breakfasts- eggs, black refried beans, avocado, bread, a big fruit salad and great coffee! We ate many mangoes , a watermelon and a sweet pineapple during our stay there.
We met a couple from British Columbia who are finishing six of their eight month tour of Central America, Karen & Wayne. We had dinner with them at the RR last night, the same incredible restaurant where we 'fine dined' on Easter Sunday.
Our day trip was to Ataco where I took these colorful pictures. Many of the buildings in the small town were painted with murals depicting life in this tiny village.
The church, Ave Marie, and the park were so pretty and quiet. We shared a tasty Caesar Salad at a little cafe across from the park. Some men sat down next to us just we were finishing, one was a pilot from SLC.
We were happy to run into a young couple from Belgium, Jan & Laura, with whom Keith had chatted on the shuttle ride from Antigua to our drop off point in El Salvador. They accompanied us on a hike with a guide to some waterfalls that were cold but very refreshing for a swim. The young girl who guided us through the forest to the series of waterfalls was so kind to help me over the dangerously slick rocks and scary metal bridges (more like a ladder laid on its side) over which we had to cross the waterfall as it plunged hundreds of feet straight down the mountain. If you to fall you would surely die!
My toe is healing nicely from my early January operation, but my balance is still not great and hiking was great exercise, though a bit painful. She was so kind to offer me a hand which increased my confidence and made the descent into the waterfalls possible. I loved floating under the falls, the water was fresh spring water!
On the flip, and I'm sorry negative, and admittedly culturally biased, side of our hike and the rest of the beautiful natural scenery in Central America is the abundance of garbage strewn everywhere. Just like on our other trips south of the border every scrap of litter is tossed out the bus to the side of the road. The concept of packing your trash OUT is unknown. I've witnessed mothers, fathers and grandparents showing their little ones where to put their plastic bags and bottles, empty bag of chips, etc. after they have finished their treat. What a shame that such incredible natural beauty has man-made used products everywhere you look. Thank God and the US Dept. of Education or Natural Resources for introducing us to Woodsy Owl (Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute) and his buddies who trained us to put trash in its place back when I was a kid! Introducing these concepts to these developing countries would be a huge task, it's hard to see how they can't see the filthy conditions they are creating each time they toss something aside.
I'd like to describe the bus rides we have taken. This is repeat for those of you who have followed our adventures in the past, but is worth revisiting because of its total weirdness.
The Basics:
#1- "Chicken Buses" are the antiquated school buses that are used to transport people and their goods anywhere they need to go for a very low fare. Today we paid $.80 each for one & 1/2 hour journey, then $.40 for another 45 minutes & finally $.20 for the last haul, a short, but steep journey of about 20 minutes though we could have gone another 20-30 minutes up the hill.
#2- These transport vehicles are never full! People sit three to a 2 person seat & two to a single person seat. That does not include children standing in front of their parents or sitting on their laps. The buses generally have people standing in the aisles pressing against each other and those seated. This over-capacity issue could be regarded dangerous, but seems to give me a safer feeling. I can't move, I'm wedged in my position. That means as we travel dangerously fast around the tight curves down the steep mountain roads I am held in place. When the bus isn't a human sardine can you have to use your arms and legs to hold you in place, really straining your muscles! I figure each person on the bus is like an already inflated airbag, comforting in a sick way.
#3- Riding chicken buses can be a very overstimulating activity. Depending on the driver you may experience the booming sounds of Salsa, Bachata or Evangelic music with songs that never end. Regardless of the type of music it will be played loudly, distortedly so!
#4- You can buy anything while traveling on a chicken bus. At every bus stop one person to a dozen will hop on with cookies, chips, empanadas, ice creams, medicines, fresh drinks, fruit, candy, sad stories of family who need help and the Word of God itself, all for a small price usually less than $1.00. Even when a bus is filled to the brim with people squeezed in all possible spaces salespeople will press their way through the crowd to offer what they have to sell.
#5- On longer haul chicken buses there is a second man working the bus collecting the fares from each passenger. Somehow this person knows who has paid and who hasn't & the destination of each. He works the front and back door. In the front he watches for people walking along the road for their interest in a ride (any spot is a bus stop here). He helps people with heavy cargo load what they need on the bus. In the back of the bus he bangs the side of the bus to indicate when someone wants out the back and needs the bus to stop to drop them off. Sometimes the man jumps out the front door to check up and down the intersecting roads for business, the bus takes off and you think he has been left on the side of the road, but no, suddenly there he is again after running alongside the moving vehicle and jumping back on in the back or front! This is a job for someone looking for exercise during their workday.
#6- Bus terminals in bigger towns will be located right inside the market which means the more people you have selling, the more buses will be trying to inch their way into the mass. It's unbelievable how the drivers maneuver around baskets of fruits, vegetables, bags of rice & beans, and assorted plastic goods avoiding the tarps that have been stretched over to provide shade. My guess is that the reason markets are located
#7- The first Gringo in line will be the last person on board. People waiting for the bus do not care when they arrived to the queue. Tiny people can really push into any gap in order to get on the bus and secure a seat. Even when we are trying hard to be aggressive to board and avoid standing, we are beat out by frequent chicken bus passengers!
#8- Warning- Do not attempt to ride buses the way we do here without having some intermediate command of the language. No one speaks English. You may know how to say where you want to go but you will never understand the response telling you how to get there! This is not a task for the faint at heart. You cannot be a chicken to ride a chicken bus, unless, of course, you really have feathers.
The sun is now setting over the crater lake, Lago Coatepeque, beautiful. The sounds of cicada bugs is building sounding like a loud siren. Keith is initiating a conversation with the woman of this grand house about the antiques filling the common areas. It's going to be an interesting evening. We will leave after breakfast for our next destination, Suchitoto, a colonial town on another lake in Northern El Salvador.
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