We can now add El Salvador to our list of countries visited! We aren’t done yet by any means as we have just arrived, but it is now added to the list.

Today was again an early start. Up at the shining hour of 6:30 and packed up for the road by 7. An oversized breakfast served up by our housekeeper, Sandra, and we were out the door by 7:58. 8AM sharp and we were at the pickup point for the shuttle…and surprisingly the shuttle was there at 8:05. Even better, with us supposedly being the last pickup stop…we were the only ones on the bus! Yay!

Those celebrations were short-lived though as i was able to ask how many bodies we might expect today…the answer was “quince” which I initially thought to be five. That’s not bad, and sure enough we stopped by another hostel (wait, i was told we were the last stop) and 3 young gals joined us. Their first question was, how many people and I replied “quince” only to realize that we weren’t talking 5, but 15. Um, how do we squeeze 15 in here?

Around the city we drove. 2 more here, 3 more there…and a final stop where 5 surfers need to wedge themselves inside and their surfboard bags onto the rack up top of the van. This is a van…not a bus…even if they might call it a bus. 40 minutes of arguing between this pack of Aussie surfers and the driver over extra fees for their board bags and we finally made it to a gas station on the outside of town. 9:30AM and we have already had a mini adventure with the city tour and drama of Aussies parting with their money.

We hit the road. 5 hours they say on the shuttle booking website. We arrived at 15:50…making it almost an 8 hour travel day. Far too much time to sit in a cramped little bus with backpackers and surfers but we got the chance to chat with a couple gals from northern BC (Smithers and Houston) as well as some of those rowdy surfers.

Now as for check in, this place we booked seemed a bit on the pricey side for El Salvador at about $120 per night. Sure the images showed a private pool and 2 bedroom place, but there are only a couple of us so maybe a bit too big. We finally arrive and find what seems like a massive space. 2 rooms stacked up above a laundry room which make up ‘the house’. An open air living area, complete with hammock above the garage area. A private pool! An open air kitchen and dining area. We really should have a bit of a party with a few new found friends but that must be why they specifically state in the listing…NO PARTIES. I am thinking when the owner is in town…this place likely becomes a real party place.

Better yet, we have discovered pupusas. Corn tortilla of extra thickness, stuffed with bean and cheese, chicken and cheese, almost anything and cheese. Each pupusa, 50 cents. We had 3 each for dinner and were satisfied.

So now we are in for the night. Friday and we will celebrate with a few beers in house and our own two person private pool party. Maybe this stray cat will hang with us for the night and keep us company too. After that, we can start figuring out which bus we want to jump on next.