After my rest and relaxation at the beach, I had planned on going to a small town along the Ruta de los Flores, or Flower Route and base there for a couple days while exploring the area.
However after bus rides taking longer than expected and getting off at the wrong terminal in San Salvador and having to take a local bus across town, I took a good look at my wonderful map from immigration, and saw small roads leading to my planned town. Not wanting to get into an unfamiliar town after dark having not much of a plan where I wanted to stay, I scrapped that idea and headed for Santa Ana instead, just up a major highway from the capital, and therefore likely to have a shorter journey with frequent buses.
I found an internet cafe and confirmed a hostel (which has turned out to be my favorite hostel in 9 months of travel) and set out on a bus. I actually missed my stop the first time, but between a nice bus driver and helpful lady next to me, I got back into town and to La Casa Verde. I've ended up basing here, and busing to nearby places which means I don't have to pack up and move all my stuff as much, which is a plus.
Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador, but doesn't feel like it. Streets are small, buses are rickety, and the town feels authentic. While the houses and shops aren't really worth photographing, it's home to some beautiful churches.
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| Iglesia Catolica El Carmen |
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| I especially like the bell tower |
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| Iglesia El Calvario |
And the crowning jewel, the Catedral Santa Ana, a beautiful baroque style cathedral that cuts a lovely figure against the sky.
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| I think its in the process of being restored to all white |
The Teatro Nacional is another beautifully restored building, though I didn't go in.
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| I love the detail in the carvings on the theater |
April 1, 2016
An easy day trip from Santa Ana was going to see the Tazumal Ruins, my first Mayan ruins of the trip.
They're small ones, but I've got bigger more impressive ones coming up in Honduras and Mexico, so starting small is good.
I started in the museum which had some history of the site as well as artifacts from the excavation. The artifacts date from around 200-800AD.
The jaguar stone outside. I took the 'don't sit here' sign off of it to take my picture.
Then the actual ruins, a rather pretty pyramid setup.
There was one set of stairs you could climb, the rest of the pyramid was closed to tourists. These stairs were small and steep, proving there were definitely no stair safety codes when the Mayans built the structure.
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| View from the top of the stairs |
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| Around the back corner |
There were excavated sites of some sort out back, though due to a lack of signage and not hiring a guide (or eves dropping on another group) I'm not really sure what they're showing.
The whole site was easy to walk around and fun to look at.
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| Okay I lied, I guess there was one more set of stairs. But you couldn't go to the top of the pyramid. |
And last, a photo of what the site looked like back in the 80s.
I enjoyed my little excursion, and I'm excited for the other Mayan ruins I have planned.
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