Welcome to El Salvador

It is surprisingly apparent how different El Salvador is form Guatemala especially considering the physical proximity and similar history of the two countries. El Salvador, being the smallest Central American country (also the one with the highest population density), uses the US dollar as its currency and its economy seems quite a bit more developed than Guatemala’s. Busses have schedule and numbers and actually appear to be on time (relatively speaking). The Salvadoreños look physically different: they are taller and whiter (it appears that I have reached the end of the Maya empire) and they actually speak Spanish with each other (of course Guatemaltecos speak Spanish but rarely do so as a native language, so walking down the Guatemalan streets Mayan languages are predominant. Spanish tends only to be spoken with outsiders). I have to admit it is refreshing to hear Spanish spoken in the streets. Although I have only been here 3 days (so this judgement may be premature) the Salvadoreños seem to be much more open and warm people. They are very easy to meet and love to involve you in a conversation, share stories about their country and are genuinely curious about yours.

My first stop in El Salvador was the tiny ocean town of Los Cóbanos. One of my favourite things so far about El Salvador is its originality in the sense that there is no foreign tourism (I have not yet seen another white person). One of the consequences is that people (especially children) turn around after you as if they had not seen a white person in a while. I really get the impression that El Salvador remains largely untouched buy tourism which allows the traveller a very unique perspective, an opportunity to observe life in its original form (tourism and western influence has the tendency of changing places). This authenticity brings with it lots of charm and I get the feeling that the people are as excited about meeting me as I am about meeting them.