Copan (Honduras) - photos 1

Copan (Honduras):

From La Palma, we took a bus to the frontier where we had to pay again the entrance fee for Honduras. I pointed out to the agent that we had already paid when we passed the frontier to reach El Salvador but he told me that we had to pay every time we cross the frontier! All is good to take some money!
A bus from Coatepeque brought us to La Entrada. From here, we took a "collectivo" or a taxi-van which can contain normally around 15 persons. We were 28 persons in this van!!! All stucked like sardines! And as a result, we had 2 flat tyres and hopefully the second one was when we just reached Copan because the van did not got 2 spare tyres on its roof!

In Copan, we went to visit the Mayan ruins, which are less known than the Tikal ruins in Guatemala but contain beautiful temples, altars and stelaes whose sculptured decorations of the buildings of Copán are some of the very finest surviving art of ancient Mesoamerica.

Copan was our only stop in Honduras. We decided not to go to visit the Bay Islands on the Caribbean Coast as that will extend considerably our trip (well from the 6 months planned at the beginning we are at 7 months already!). So from Copan we will go directly to Antigua in Guatemala.

- Drawing of the site. We did not buy a map of the site because that was to add to the expensive entrance fee. So I took a picture of the drawing and we could see where we were going easily!
- Panoramic view of the main plaza with the ballcourt building. The Mayans were playing a ball game but it is still not clear how they were playing it. Because we were here during the dry season, there was no grass as it is possible to see in some postcards,

- This large parrot or "guacamaya" was eating its breakfast with 3 others parrots. They were just at the entrance of the main plaza and we were lucky to see them so close because normally they are high in the trees,

- View of "la escalinata de los Jeroglificos" or "staircase of the hieroglyphs" which is protected by a canopy and which contains the most important hieroglyphs of all Mesoamerica,
- Inside the Acropolis.

La Palma - photos

La Palma:

After Suchitoto, as we were heading north to Honduras and the Copan ruins, we decided to stop at La Palma, a village 30min close to the frontier. La Palma is known for its colorful streets and houses as Fernando Llort, a Salvadorian painter, moved here in 1972 founding the Naive Art. This Art, still representing El Salvador all around the world, is made by bright primitive images painted in all sorts of supports.

In the bus from Suchitoto to La Palma, I met a nice Salvadorian woman, Lilian, and we chatted for more than 30 min. We discussed about our different lifes and there were lots of difference. She was amazed about the European way of life, so far from hers. We exchanged addresses and I have already sent to her a post card of Guatemala. I hope I will keep contact with her because she was very nice.
In La Palma, we spent the afternoon walking in the small streets, nice to see so much colours everywhere. The next day, we wanted to see the Pital Mountain, the highest peak in El Salvador. We arrived at 9am in the close village of San Antonio to take the bus but unfortunately, the bus was not leaving at 9.30am but at 12pm. Why? No reason! The little boy helping in the bus told everybody we will be leaving at 10am but no sign of the driver. Finally, because it was too late to climb the mountain, we head back to La Palma then took the bus for Honduras. How disappointing was that!

- La Palma church whose facade was decorated by Fernando Llort. It is famous as here were signed some agreements for the end of the Civil War,
- The 3 next pictures show streets and facades of houses all painted with this Naive Art design,
- And how lucky was I!!! Look at this star in the street!!! I took quickly a picture, I could not miss this event! And I got an autograph too!

Suchitoto - photos 3

Suchitoto:

We went to visit the village and the mountains of Cinquera just 45 min from Suchitoto. The small village is full of testimony of the Civil War all well is its mountain. A little of history...the economy of the village was based on the production of natural indigo for dying but at the end of the 19th Century the first artificial dyes appeared and the village moved on the salvage cultivation of other crops, ravaging the close forest. The extreme poverty of the inhabitants led in 1970 to an open protest against the rich land owners. From here and then in the 1980's started the Civil War (please see previous post for more details). Many people were killed in the neighborhood villages of Guadalupe and Copapayo and people left the village. Cinquera was deserted then at the end of the War they returned to the village and the crop fields were fully recovered by a luxury vegetation and they decided to protect this forest.

- The church of Cinquera was destroyed during the Civil War at 75%. Only the facade and the belfry exist from the original structure built between 1844 and 1846. We can distinguish the face of the Archbishop Romero on the left,
- Painted walls can be found all around the village as testimony of the past. The drawings represent scenes of the Civil War or like this one, show peace messages,
- An other testimony of the Civil War, this half destroyed plane and the guns is displayed in the main plaza in front of the church,
- In the Cinquera mountains, there are also testimonies of the past War as the forest provided refuge during the war. In the picture, we can see the remain of a Vietnamese stove (the 2 dark holes), a clever strategy to cook without smoke to remain undetected,
- In this area, this was a canteen. The 2 hrs we spent in this forest were quite emotional as we were surrounded by vestiges of the war. A very nice experience and walk in a beautiful nature.

Suchitoto - photos 2

Suchitoto:

We had a walk around a small part of the Suchitlan Lake (the largest of El Salvador). It was midday and very hot. As there was no proper defined trail, except from the hostel to a side of the lake, we took some time to find our way back to the village with no water in our bags! We were absolutely dehydrated when we reached finally the village and the first bottle of water was drunk in one go. Next time we will start earlier during the day!!

- View of a small part of the lake which was easy to access...
- For that we walk around one hour in a very dry landscape...going down at the beginning...
- And cross this bridge (25m height). I hate this kind of bridge and I am all the time terrified when we have to cross one. It took me around 5 min to cross and only 30s for Lee!
- On the side of the lake, fishermen with some hidden in the water lilly plants were trying to catch some fish. We saw a couple of them putting up some net with few fishes inside,
- Ah! The famous "chicharra" or cicada. Yes the little lump in the centre of the picture! What a noise their were making! They were remembering me the South of France where similar but less noisy cicadas can be found. I got a couple of videos taken only to hear them singing. I will try to add one to the blog.

Suchitoto - photos 1

Suchitoto:

After Santa Ana, we head off to Suchitoto, 47km north of San Salvador and situated on the Suchitlán lake. Suchitoto was founded in 1528 by the Spaniard (like the second "Villa of San Salvador") and is known around El Salvador for its church and for its cobblestone roads (one of the few places in El Salvador with cobblestone roads). Due to its closeness with San Salvador it is a very popular weekend destination for Salvadorans. It has broad cultural activities such as art galleries, cultural centers, and handcrafts.

When we reached Suchitoto and its main plaza, we were surrounded by peace. It was 4pm and it was very hot. Few peoples were around the plaza and the atmosphere was so peaceful. We found an hostel with lake views also very relaxing. The town was very charming with its colonial buildings and streets. We went to walk around the lake Suchitlan which is an artificial lake created in 1973 and formed in the Lempa River and the Cerron Grande dam and we visited the Los Tercios waterfalls. We went also to visit the village of Cinquera and its forest both charged of souvenir of the Civil War. We were in Suchitoto for the anniversary of the assassinate of Monsenor Oscar Romero and a celebration was given in his honor. We participated too to a tombola whose price was a bedside lamp!!! We were dissapointed not to win of course...but what to do in our backpack with a lamp!!!

- The main plaza in Suchitoto with in the background the church built in the 19th century so no during the colonial era as lots of people think. How quiet looks this place...
- The other plaza of the town was the Parque San Martin,
- The amazing waterfall Los Tercios. There was no water because it was the dry season but the natural piling-up of the granite stones was enough on its own for a visit. Due to some robbery problem, we needed to be accompanied by the local police. Walking in the streets with an escort of 3 policemen (2 in front, 1 in the back) was not very comfortable! Hopefully just before reaching the waterfall, we met a German Lady, Helen, who did the way back with us so we were feeling better. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with her in English but her French was very good and we hope her a nice trip.
- The balcony of our hostel with in the background the Suchitlan Lake. Relaxing in the hammock, playing cards looking at the lake were activities we liked to do here! If we could we will have stayed an eternity here...
- Part of the celebrations for the anniversary of the death of the Archbishop Oscar Romero. Traditional dances with typical costumes were organised as well as lots of testimonies from local people who knew Monsenor Romero.

Lago de Coatepeque - photos

Coatepeque lake:

Just 1.5h from Santa Ana, we went to visit the lake of Coatepeque whose name is coming from the Nahuatl language and means "at the snake hill". The lake is a large crater lake and one the largest lakes in El Salvador. It is surrounded by 3 volcanoes: Santa Ana, Coatepeque and Cerro Verde. We had a nice day but a little disappointed that we could not walk too much around the lake because of houses built all around and that was no path (all were private properties). We managed to walk 30min on rocks.

- Panoramic view of the lake from the road going to Santa Ana,

- The lake with in the background the volcanoes,

- Nice little boat with on the background one of the big volcanoes,

- An example of houses built on the lake. This one was a holiday resort and a restaurant. Access only for customers.

Santa Ana - photos

Santa Ana:

After the superb 5 days spent in El Tunco Beach, we head off north to Santa Ana. Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador with around 275,000 inhabitants and that´s all! A couple of colonial buildings, a gothic church and that is it! But from here, it is easy to go to visit the surroundings volcanos and lake.

As that was the week-end of the last round of the 6 Nations Rugby, the boys came with us in the aim to find a bar showing the rugby. We had the satellite in the rooms but unfortunately, no channel was showing the rugby and no bar either. So they just followed the comments on BBC web site and were very happy to see Ireland winning the competition. We celebrated this victory with them. The next day, we said goodbye to the lads because they were returning to El Tunco beach. We spent a very good time in their company and we will miss playing "belote" with them. But we have already plan to meet in Dublin for more "belote" and beers... Hope all the best for them...we know now that they spent 3 more weeks to El Tunco where the surf was absolutly great! They have now split and Dave has joined Mexico for more surf and Neil has joined Honduras where he will meet his girlfriend.

- The Palacio Municipal,

- The Theater was built during the golden era of coffee in El Salvador during which Santa Ana was the most prosperous city in the country (latter part of the 19th Century),

- The Cathedral built also during the golden era of coffee. The interior was built between 1906 and 1913,

- This small plaza in front of this church (whose name I have forgotten!) was the nicest in Santa Ana,

- This church was in restoration probably to be completed before the beginning of the Semana Santa. Lots of work to do!

El Tunco Beach - photos 3

El Tunco beach:

- We were in El Tunco for the 17th of March so for the St Patrick´s Day, a very important date for the Irish people. Obviously, Dave and Neil decided to celebrate this day in a good manner: drinking beers (only allowed after lunch!) and playing the French card game "belote" in the swimming pool. We spent all the afternoon sitting around the table installed in the pool!!! At the end, our feet were all wrinkled like a prune!!!
- The other guests, Chris (far left), his dad (with the tee-shirt) and Mike (in front) joined us in the swimming pool enjoying a beer with the guys (who had already drank quite a lot!),
- The weather was sunny and hot so why not having a nice swim before starting playing cards?
- How cute is this kitten? Sure that Stu will like this picture and the next one as he likes cats,
- We found this cat with her kittens on the side of the main street but no worries they were not abandoned. A nice "mamita" was taking care about them. They were adorable and we spent some time playing with them.

El Tunco beach - photos 2

El Tunco beach:

Obviously, I could not write this post without showing pictures of the sunset.

- The first fourth pictures were taken on a different day. The top left one shows Lee with his big lens taking pictures of the surfers,
- For the last night, we went all together with Chris, a Belgian guy, and his dad and with Mike, an American, for a nice meal. Chris, his dad and Mike were staying in the same hostel than us and Dave was surfing with Mike and Chris. For this night and without any talk between them, they turned for the meal with a red tee-shirt...can you spot the lady in red? I was the only one in blue!!!

El Tunco beach - photos 1

El Tunco beach (Pacific Coast):

From San Salvador, we took a bus for Puerto La Libertad, which is well known by the surfers for its surf break. But our final destination was El Tunco beach. Dave and Neil, our Irish friends, were already here for a couple of days. We met them in front of the ATM in Puerto La Libertad, what a coincidence!!! We spent here 5 days in a hostel with a view on the beach and with swimming pool, playing cards, drinking some beers and eating pizzas (the 3 things the boys liked to do!!!). The surf was not great but Lee (and a little me too!) managed to get some "fantastic" pictures.

- The fish quay in Puerto La Libertad,
- The Playa El Zunzal, close to the Playa el Tunco, is recognizable by its rock and its pebbles. Surfers were enjoying some waves left of this stone and on the far right,
- Some surf!!! but the waves were pretty small and nothing during a couple of days. Obviously Lee was disappointed but we had good time with the boys so his despair was less apparent,
- Even if it is not very easy to see, the surfer is a little girl of around 7 years old. She was surfing with her dad and she was showing already good technique. A future champion perhaps...

San Salvador - photos 2

San Salvador:

- We went to visit the church where the Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated on the 24th of March 1980. The church, "La Divina Providencia" was far from the one shown in the movie "Salvador" and was very simple with no particular style. The Salvadoran civil war confronted the right-wing military government and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of 5 left-wing guerilla groups. During the war, the military party received massive help from the Americans and 75000 people died. Archbishop Romero witnessed ongoing violations of human rights and started to speak out on behalf of the poor, first victims of the politic of the government. He was killed by the death squad, a private army from the government and from here started the Civil War.
- For the funeral of Monsenor Romero, more than 250000 people from over the world were present showing the huge popularity of the clergyman. Still now the anniversary of his death is celebrated everywhere in El Salvador. A process of canonization is also on-going,
- We were in San Salvador during the week-end of the presidential elections and the colours of the right-wing party, called ARENA, were blue, white and red like the French flag. That reminded me a little of France!
- Two of the countless posters seen in town for the elections. Finally the left-wing party, the FMLN, won making El Salvador on the left side after more than 20 years on the right side.