Leah Takes El Salvador!

​ Friday morning started with most of the hostel hungover as we all went out dancing the night before, which was honestly pretty funny because even the people who run the hostel slept in so everything got started a little late. A large group went to the beach once they were all up because there’s a huge National festival happening there Saturday night. I got breakfast with Saúl, one of the hostel owners, at Doña Goya again before heading to the bus stop.   I took the bus to Apaneca for a zip line adventure! And somehow I got lucky enough to be the only one who had booked that time slot so I had it all to myself! It started with an epic drive up the gorgeous mountainside, 20 minutes of me being worried the car would stall but also in awe of the scenery. Then off to the zip line! It was fun, and beautiful, but after having done the amazing zip lines in Costa Rica a few years ago it’s hard for anything to really compare.  After the zip line, and a quick coffee stop, I hopped back...

​ Yesterday was super fun! I started the day with breakfast at Doña Goya - I literally came in and asked if they were open for breakfast and the woman said yes, told me to sit down, and brought me a plate of food almost immediately. It was delicious, and only $3.50! I walked towards the town central square and bought an horchata to accompany my people watching at the fountain. I walked through a small artisan market and visited the main cathedral too.  After coming back to the hostel for a nap (and being woken up by a 5 minute thunderstorm) I grabbed crepes for lunch before heading to another nearby town, which is also on La Ruta de Flores – Apaneca – with Alex.  We wandered for a bit in the small town before going to Albania, an amusement tourist area that has a famous rainbow slide, Tarzan swing, zip lines, and most famously a Labyrinth. We did manage to get to the center of it and back out, though they built it into a hill so it was quite the workout! After we came back to ...

​Last night the rain refused to stop so we decided to head out for dinner and drinks anyways. Here’s the most flattering selfie I’ve ever taken:  Feeling very thankful for the last minute Target purchase of this rain coat… This morning I slept in a bit and showered and packed when I woke up, I went with some hostel friends to get papusas for breakfast and then waited at the hostel for a bit before checking out. The papusas were so delicious!  Alex (hostel friend) and I headed to the main street to catch a 15 minute bus into La Libertad ($1.50), the nearest big city. From there we managed to find the 287 bus to take us to Sansonate ($1.25) – finding the bus was quite a feat, we had to ask four different locals before we finally found the spot! That bus ride left at 1 and arrived in Sansonate at 4:15. We were dropped off at a huge bus station in which it was thankfully easy to find our next bus, the 429, which would take us to Juayua ($.90). That bus was so hot and stuffed so fu...

​La st night there was a storm in San Salvador when we were supposed to land, so instead we made an emergency stop in Guatemala. One day I’ll remember to not book flights that take off or land during the afternoon or evening during rainy season, because there’s ALWAYS rain!  Thankfully we were only delayed two hours, and my driver that I had booked kindly waited for me. He drove me the one hour drive to  El Tunco , a beach town dubbed “Surf City”, near the port city of  La Libertad.  I’m staying in a hostel called Canucks, which is a Canadian hostel apparently, hence the name. I was wrong about it not being a backpacker’s town, there’s hostels EVERYWHERE! I guess they just aren’t on Hostelworld, where I booked mine! This morning I woke up starving, so I walked a block to a restaurant called  La Esquina de Compadre  for an iced coffee and  desayuno tradicional.  Oh, how I missed gallo pinto!  After breakfast I walked to the beach to do some pe...

Off I go to El Salvador for 6 days! I’ll use this blog to chronicle what I do/where I stay/what I eat (because my memory sucks and the only way I’ll remember any of it is if I write it down!), so if you’re reading this you’re probably my close friends, my family, or someone who asked me for travel recommendations. Welcome! I’m at the LAX International terminal now waiting to board in a few minutes. My flight will land me in the capitol, San Salvador, after about 5 hours in the air. From there I have booked a shuttle through Go2Travel (thanks to someone else’s random blog I found their WhatsApp number) which will take me to my hostel in La Libertad, near the beach called El Tunco. I have two nights booked at that hostel and that is the entirety of my plans thus far!  What I know about El Salvador going into this trip: Every city I’ve looked at has only one or two hostels total, so clearly not exactly a backpacker’s country. They have a self described “cool” dictator who apparently i...