Hola El Salvador!

We finally made it! A had indeed pulled off an incredible surprise, and finally touching down in San Salvador was a dream come true. I never expected to end up with this stamp in my passport.

First impressions? The customs process is smoother than the car rental process. But we weren’t about to let that ruin the start of our trip. So, tired of arguing, we just said screw it and got going, sadly paying more than we expected. We were driven from the airport to the Quality Hotel, a few minutes down the road, to pick up our awaiting Suzuki S-Cross SUV (which they’d upgraded us to). It was rich, dark blue in colour, with only 8000kms on it, and came complete with Apple CarPlay. Not a bad little machine to take us around the country.

It was well after 10pm when we hit the road for the 45 minute journey from the airport to San Salvador. The drive into the city was down a meticulously cared for highway, divided with posts illuminated in blue, white, and blue, mimicking the Salvadoran flag. Considering we were on short flights that served only pretzels and stroopwaffles (which are delicious when perched over a cup of coffee), and lacked any sort of a second layover, by this point we were starving. Unfortunately, not a whole lot was open when we rolled into town after 11pm. And for this reason, it was Wendy’s drive-thru for the win!

We were staying in Santa Tecla, a small city to the west of San Salvador – like how Sherwood Park is to Edmonton. It was hard to get a proper vibe check that late at night when everything was closed and the streets were empty, but overall things felt good. It was quiet, clean, and didn’t give off any negative energy. We pulled up to our AirBnB – Casa Serena – a simple, second-level multi-room apartment with a little kitchen and complimentary tea and coffee. 

There were 6 rooms in the apartment, each named after a different colour. Our room was called “Oasis Rosa” and true to it’s name was pink in colour and very cute. It even had a balcony.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast at the cafe below us – La Flor de la Canela. And I’d highly recommend their Alfajores (an oreo-style cookie made of a sweet milk cream, sandwiched between 2 shortbread cookies). We then set out to run the errands of necessity – SIM cards and a contact case (because somehow I forgot to pack one). Then it was on the road to exploration.

Centro Historico

Centro historíco is the location of the royal palace, the national library, green spaces, eateries, and multiple churches of cultural and historical significance. We were greeted by a large, open plaza, filled with almost as many pigeons as there were people. We opted to take in some history and joined a $5 USD guided tour of the Royal Palace – a place that was once never open to the public. The inside was, of course, gorgeous. The colours, the intricately carved details on the walls and ceilings, it reminded me of the Palacio Real in Madrid – so for those of you who may have already had to opportunity to explore Spain, you’ll have a visual. There are 105 rooms within the building that was once used as a place of residence and national proceedings, though now serves as a central reminder of the country’s history. 

We popped in quickly to the Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador, which houses the body of Archbishop Oscar Romero. I’m told you’re able to go and pay your respects, however, being that it was a Sunday, mass was in procession. So, instead we chose to continue our exploration towards Iglesia El Rosario, a well-known church famous for it’s interior stained glass designs in all the colours of the rainbow. But alas, it was closed until Monday. 

No matter, we still had a lot to do today and were ready to hop back into the car, after a grocery store run, and make our way to Puerta del Diablo (Devil’s Door).

Puerta del Diablo

The history of Puerta del Diablo seems to vary depending on who tells it. Or at least the way in which it received its name. The one story, as written on the information plaque at the site itself, tells of how the daughter of the family who owned the land was courted by the devil himself. However, one night when he came to court her, he was met by a plethora of people waiting to capture him. To escape, he’s said to have broken through the rocky outcrop, thus creating the massive split rock that’s still there to this day. One of the many others tell of a more dark history with MS-13 involvement. It doesn’t explain the formation of the split rock, so much as where the name comes from due to its prime location as a remote area with steep cliffs into the depth below that can serve as a way to dispose of “evidence.” (I’ll save what I’m referring to to your own imagination. But it’s probably just as gruesome as your thoughts guide you towards.)

But regardless of its history and how its name came to be, Puerta del Diablo is now a bustling weekend stop for both tourists and locals alike. Bouncy castles were erected for the kids, souvenir stands stood aplenty, and permanent restaurants and snack kiosks were in abundance. It’s located in a rather obscure location on the side of a two-lane undivided road, with very minimal parking. It took us a couple of laps driving back and forth and sketchy turn-arounds on winding mountain roads before finally darting into an open parking spot along the road.

Puerta del Diablo is a geologically significant location, ranked as 82/100 of the most important geological sites in the world (why this is though, I’m not too sure). From the main plaza, there are a number of natural walking paths up towards the tops of the rocky cliffs, or down and out towards a cave of unknown purpose. According to the photos, the views towards the valley are gorgeous. Although, all we saw was fog… and a suspicious looking black item hanging from a tree. Was it a bag? Was it a body? We had the monocular out trying to figure it out from afar, without much luck. We’re pretty sure it was a big, black garbage bag in the shape of a floating body which either floated down and got caught on a tree, or placed there to scare creatures away.

We put it out of our minds and went for food instead. A tried a couple local snacks – elote de vaso and atole de elote. Basically corn in a cup and a thick corn drink, respectively. We also tried the National Salvadoran dish – pupupas – for the first time too! All I can say is that the taste has stuck with me and it’s a constant hunt to find more. Which actually isn’t that hard. There are pupusarias on every corner here, and often more than one.

Our next plan was to make the hike up the San Salvador volcano to take in the city views and grab some dinner. But after plans fell through from me falling asleep in the car, a stop off at the AirBnB, and then realizing we missed the closing time for the hike, we opted to scratch the volcano and head out in search of some nightlife instead.

Zona Rosa & Paseo El Carmen

A couple drinks at Cadejo later, we went off in search of more. Unfortunately, we came up empty-handed (except for a Quiznos sub) and decided to ditch Zona Rosa (which I’m sure would be bumping on a Friday or Saturday night, but was a ghost town on Sundays). 

Next up was Paseo El Carmen. A much more occupied pedestrian street with a Micheal Jackson impersonator singing and dancing on a street corner stage, and street vendors selling everything from grilled meat, to churros, to coffee, to artesian arts from the side door of a VW camper van.

When the rain came, it was actually welcomed. Not for the heat, but as a reminder to us that maybe it was time to call it a night. We’d been going non-stop today, trying to cram in as much of San Salvador as we could before leaving behind the city life in search of lakes and crater rims. 

Buenas noches San Salvador!