"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

Friday, February 10, 2012

Juayua

We biked out of Tacuba back to Ahuachapan this morning. It took exactly the same amount of time as on the way in. The ups and downs must be pretty equal each way. It certainly didn't feel equal after nearly an hour on just the first hill! I definitely could have taken the bus but I was highly motivated to burn calories and make lots of room in my stomach for delicacies at the food fair tomorrow! I look forward to iguana and it's eggs. Mama from our hostel in Tacuba told us we'd certainly find iguana here, but her son told us it is illegal to eat them cause they are endangered! So don't know which it is, we shall see!

From Ahuachapan we got a bus to Juayua because getting here involved passing though the highest elevation town in El Salvador, Apaneca. So far we really like this town, and will probably end up staying several days longer than originally planned. We are at the Hotel Anahuac, which is very nice, pretty courtyard fulls of hanmocks and flowers. They have several waterfall tours from here, one of which only costs $1.50! How can you say no to that? They also have a tour going to the night market in Nahuizalco, which seems really neat, you can eat traditional foods such as rabbit tacos and pacayas there.

I'm enjoying El Salvador much more than I expected to. Based on what I read in my Lonely Planet book, it seemed like there wasn't much reason to come here. The book I have was written almost 10 years ago though before tourism was very developed here. I was also a bit nervous about coming here, not really sure why. I guess I was led to believe it was a dangerous place because of its history of war and violence. But we have met nothing but nice people here and have been having a nice stay so far. We are thinking about extending our time here by climbing some volcanos in the Cerro Verde National Park area. We also plan to go to Lago de Coatepeque and La Palma.

We will perhaps do some sit ups and push ups tonight and make further room for food tomorrow!

2 comments:

  1. Seems like this place is pronounced "who ah ya"? The iguana sellers seem to be poachers that you see along the highway, holding up dead ones. Until the cops come by, and then they run back into the woods.
    Interesting observation about the political situation down there. When I was in Nicaragua, I kept hearing from Americans that it was the safest country in Central America. It certainly seemed a lot safer than the news reports you hear about the place in the U.S. In Leon, however, we went to the headquarters of the Sandinista political party and were harassed by guys yelling "George Bush!" at us. But that was it.
    The Nicaraguans said their country was much safer than Belize, Costa Rica and especially Guatemala (which they said was the most unstable). El Salvador used to be terrible. But that was during the Reagan Administration.
    It sounds very pretty.

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    1. It's pronounced why-oo-ah. Didn't find any iguana or anything of real interest at the food fair. :( bu still excited about el Salvador it's very nice.

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