I woke up with the roosters and was out the door at 5 am. I had a fair bit of climbing to do and although it wasn’t particularly steep I was worried the heat had the potential to make things brutal. As it turned out, there were clouds all morning so it never got truly oppressive. The exhaust and noise from the traffic was noxious and continuous but in spite of that I enjoyed the ride, mostly because the hills were no challenge. I was still soaked with sweat when I got to the outskirts where I’d planed to stop but it was early enough and I wasn’t tired so I went all the way into San Salvador proper. I found a comfortable $30 Airbnb that’s between the hip Zona Rosa and the place with all the malls.
My initial impression of San Salvador is that it’s a big city and not very walkable, but I’ve decided to stay a second day. Partly because it’s 8 pm and I’ve yet to plan any routes beyond the city but mostly because I need new shoes and I have a much better chance of finding something appropriate here. I don’t plan to go into any large towns again for a while.
Izalco visible this morning. This is another picture that looks a lot nicer than it felt at the time. The noise that was present when I took this was intense. The traffic and the insects make terrible racket!
Volcanic wall and (I think) sugarcane. And litter too, which I only saw in the photo because my eyes have grown numb to it. The litter and the hills of Guatemala are my new benchmarks
I stopped for breakfast at a roadside stand. There’s always a roadside stand and there’s always been a roadside stand. Since entering Guatemala I haven’t gone more than a mile or two without encountering people or some sort of building by the side of the road. I’d like a bit more cycling solitude to be honest, but for that I’d have to take more remote and difficult roads with less chance of finding a shower and a bed at the end of the day.
Ah shit, this is going to be such a major pain in the ass. My kickstand just fell to pieces because of metal fatigue and now every time I stop my foot automatically whooshes past the rear wheel
Both Thomas and Blue Bird and busses, but the model with the engine in the rear. One day I’ll ask the Internet to tell me how it came to be that retired American school buses became the backbone of Central American transportation
“Poor President, you’ve forgotten about the people”. I don’t know what this refers to. Everyone I’ve spoken to is enthusiastic about the president. Most people I’ve spoken to are small business owners and they are glad he ended the gang problems (by building new prisons and jailing thousands)
Looking dry, but rains are expected to start in a few weeks. There are two seasons here. Summer runs from December to July, winter from July to December. The rainy season is from May to November. Right now is the hottest time of the year and the temperatures this year have been higher than usual. The old usual, I fear
Felix Montoya, recently retired professor of languages and literature at the University of Central America stopped me to talk. He dreams of doing such a trip on his motorcycle but claims to lack the courage. I explained no courage required, you just have to really want to do it. Having enough money to cushion the rough spots helps a lot too
After all the noise and the smoke I’d been in during the climb up I happily stopped at this Starbucks at the top of the hill and relaxed while deciding what to do next
What I decided to do was leave the suburb of Santa Tecla and go the last little bit into San Salvador. Based on previous days I expected to be wiped out by this point, but the tropical heat was thousands of feet below
David ChavezJust your basic security. Every business that isn’t a mom and pop also includes an armed guard. It’s just part of the overhead. Often an elderly man Reply to this comment 1 month ago
