Allgemein EN – Kat´s Truth about Travelling

El Tunco

El Tunco is a small coastal town near San Salvador where you can enjoy surfing, but also simply stroll along the beach, party and have a good time. It’s very close to ‘El Zonte’, a truly tiny beachside spot, yet ‘significantly’ larger. Like El Zonte feels like – and probably actually is – a single street leading down to the coast, with three side streets branching off to houses. El Tunco has a whole street lined with bars, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and so on and so forth. The stretch of beach is also quite long and has bars and clubs right by the sea. So it’s also a bit more touristy and therefore a bit busier. Plus El Tunco has one special feature: a rock jutting out of the sea just off the coast where I’ve also seen a few people fishing. Go or not? I liked El Tunco. It’s more suited to a weekend trip or perhaps arriving for an overnight stay and moving on the next afternoon, but it’s well worth a visit. The beach is really lovely in the sunshine and the rock is a real eye-catcher. And you can go dancing, surfing and explore the area a bit 😊

El Zonte

El Zonte is a small, almost tiny, coastal village known for its rough waves, which are ideal for surfing. Quite apart from that, it also has a special stretch of beach and is incredibly peaceful. I travelled there by bus from San Salvador – super easy and cheap – and once there, I walked down the earthy, village-like ‘streets’ of this truly tiny place towards the coast, which you a) can’t miss and b) really isn’t far away. Because the place is really tiny. Once you reach the coast, there is a building with an open ground floor straight ahead, where you can chill out and either let the sea splash you or simply be mesmerised by the ocean. To the left is a bay with long waves for surfers. To the right is a stretch of beach separated by a sort of river channel that connects a river to the open sea. Apart from that, there is an incredible calmth hanging over the whole place, enveloping and putting you at ease. I’ve no idea why, but despite fact that this place is incredibly tiny and doesn’t really have anything to it, the vibe simply fills everything with a relaxed stillness that’s infectious. Go or not? I don’t think my photos do El Zonte justice. Still, I’d only include it in your itinerary if you’ve got the time. Like I for example carried straight onto El Tunco on the same day, which made perfect sense in my case because I’m not a surfer – like I simply can’t surf. For surfers though, I’d definitely recommend stopping here, because I think you will be pretty much undisturbed.

Fiestas Agostinas – San Salvador

Just as it happens sometimes, I got lucky and was by chance in San Salvador, when the Fiestas Agostinas were taking place. I of course didn’t have a clue, but somebody in the hostel told me about the parade and as I always enjoy getting involved in local festivals, I went. Although I was running late and everyone was already in place, I still managed to find a spot from which I could see really well. There were music and dance groups, all sorts of “clubs”, dance troupes with pom-poms or dance sticks, people in incredibly colourful and beautiful costumes, Reinas from the different districts of San Salvador and so on and so forth. I even saw a few colourfully dressed people on stilts and unicycles. And everything was just full of happy people and good cheer 😊 Yes or no? I don’t know if I’d time my trip specifically to be in San Salvador for the Fiestas Agostinas, but if you happen to be there around that time, definitely 😊

El Boquerón

El Boquerón is a volcanic crater within a volcanic crater. That probably doesn’t just sounds pretty cool in itself, but also suggests a short or long hike. In fact, it’s extremely easy to get to the entrance of the Boquerón by bus – where you then have to pay a small entrance fee – and from there it’s a really easy and relatively short walk to the crater. Here, you’re basically looking down into the crater of a volcano covered in greenery with another small volcano with a crater at it’s. A sight that I don’t think you can see in many places. To my own surprise though it’s far less spectacular than expected. Go or not? Yes, I’d still go, because a volcanic crater within a volcanic crater… It’s kind of cool :D

Churches – San Salvador

I’m not a big fan of churches – honestly. But there is one pretty special church in San Salvador. Even from the outside you can tell there’s something special, because it’s shape is so different to other churches. Inside, its uniqueness really strikes. The reason are windows with stained glasses, and something like patterns, at the back of the church. As the colours of the stained glass are arranged in a specific way and the windows are slightly angled, something like a rainbow is projected onto the floor of the church. As I said, I’m not a big fan of churches, but this one is pretty cool. Honestly. Go or not? Yes :D It’s too special to skip :D You can find the name(s) of the church(es) in the Basics 😊

Markets – San Salvador

Well, actually it feels more like one huge market that stretches across the city centre and the streets around it. Like the path to the centre is simply lined with stalls. No matter where you look or go. And in between, there are people walking, public transportation is regularly passing by and… It simply said is total chaos. And yet, somehow, it works. Extremely fascinating. For me at least. Go or not? Well, I’d give it a go. Simply because it’s complete chaos and, funnily enough, yet working perfectly. :D

Lookout Planes de Renderos

Completely random by the side of a road and really nice :D San Salvador is one of Central America’s capital cities with a strangely decentralised structure. By that I don’t mean that San Salvador is unstructured or that it doesn’t have a centre where you can find a few key sights and some very beautiful buildings. What I mean is that many of San Salvador’s cool sights are strangely scattered throughout the city. Like the viewpoint in San Salvador that I visited for example. There isn’t even a ‘walking trail’ or anything you can walk up. It’s just randomly situated by a road. Nevertheless, the view is really cool. But of course, it only looks out over a part of San Salvador. I don’t think though that there’s a single viewpoint overlooking the entire city. Worth a visit or not? Yes, definitely. The viewpoint is really cool 😊 And next door you can enjoy delicious Salvadoran food :D

Centre of San Salvador

San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador and as such the largest city in this small but very friendly country. The centre of San Salvador is lively, chaotic, has a few really beautiful buildings right in the heart of the city, an incredible number of markets, a really cool building with pool tables and slot machines, market stalls lining the streets leading to the centre and traffic chaos at it’s best – yet it miraculously doesn’t result in a mass pile-up. In terms of safety (it does have a certain reputation), I didn’t perceive it to be particularly dramatic. Like the whole country is simply friendly in a very direct and honest way. It comes from the heart. And because of that you quickly realise which areas might not be the best idea. Or which areas you should move through a bit faster. Of course you should always take a certain basic caution, but I in general thought it was fine overall 😊 Go or not? Yes, I do think it’s worth it 😊 The centre of San Salvador is really cool, there’s plenty to see and maybe someone’s playing music somewhere with people dancing to it – like it happened to me 😊

Juayúa

Yujúa is a small, charming village near Santa Ana, known for its waterfall. Getting there is relatively easy done by chickenbus. Once there, you’re welcomed by a lively and charming village with a cute centre having a cathedral, a park and a market. The waterfall which Yujúa is famous for is located just outside the village. The ‘entrance’ to the waterfall leads along a gravel path and later through wooded terrain. Once there, you’ll find an good amount of Latin Americans cooling off at the waterfall or bathing in the small pools in front of it. It here also becomes clear that Yujúa lives from local tourism because of the waterfall. Go or not? I found the waterfall and Yujúa itself quite charming, but I must admit that I was a little disappointed when I got there. Simply because the waterfall looks better online than in reality in my opinion. And apart from that, Central America has some truly spectacular waterfalls. So I wouldn’t recommend this one. Sorry @Yujúa

Ataco

Ataco is a small, charming village near Santa Ana that is known for its street art. Apart from that, it also has a really beautiful viewpoint overlooking Ataco and a truly beautiful cathedral at the end of a picturesque street full of murals. Ataco is quite easy to reach by chicken bus and really good for a day trip. Simply because Ataco is really beautiful and really cute, but also very small. Meaning you can easily spend the day looking at the street art, going up to the viewpoint, having a chill meal and enjoying Ataco itself. Because the vibe of Ataco is somehow special. Very quiet and peaceful and almost a little magical 😊 Go or not? Personally, I found Ataco very cute and also very friendly. The locals were all very nice – Salvadorans are generally incredibly friendly people – and the street art in Ataco also has a certain magic to it! At least, that's how I felt. So I would definitely recommend a day trip to Ataco 😊