Volcanoes and chaos in San Salvador

I'll try to keep it short, even though a few days with lots of experiences have passed. If it gets too long, just look at the photos with captions.😅

The first full day in Santa Ana (17.03.24) had a waterfall in store for me. The 'Salto de la Malacatiupan' after a short drive to Atiquizaya and my first hitchhiking ride, I was there. What I didn't realize was that the river comes from a hot spring... So I was now sweating profusely at a waterfall that was warmer than the outside temperature🫠 It was still beautiful, the only tourists there were Germans, so I chatted with them and jumped off cliffs. However, due to the leeches that had attached themselves to my body, I didn't stay there for long. Then I hitchhiked back and was dropped off at a pizzeria, so lunch was set.😋

After that, I actually just wanted to relax, but at 15:50 I decided to join the Free Walking Tour. Well, it wasn't the best, but our guide was cool, we went to a cafe and had Pupusas for dinner.

The hike to Santa Ana Volcano was scheduled for the next day (18.03.24). Since the other 3 people from the walking tour had the same plan, we met at the departure point at 07:20 and stormed the chicken bus with 40 other tourists...

When we arrived at the volcano, we were informed that we needed a guide. In the end, everyone from the bus walked up the volcano in 2 groups, a large group of 30 people who only had to pay 0.25€ and 10 meters ahead of us was the smaller group of 10 people who paid 2€. What's the point, I have no idea. There is a path, no shortcut or anything, an absolutely easy hiking trail... anyway. The crater was very impressive, huge with a lake that looked poisonous in the middle. Unfortunately, the view of the surrounding area was completely covered by clouds. After that, nothing noteworthy happened.

On 19.03.24, I actually wanted to visit another waterfall but I didn't feel like it. So I drove to Ahuachapán, a fairly large city on the Ruta de las Flores. That is a road that leads through many small towns and there are many flowers and plants in the area between the towns. In Ahuachapán, I just walked around and ate.😁 After a $1.80 haircut in a tin hut by the roadside (the hygiene standards were abysmal🥲 but that was to be expected), I continued to Ataco. Ataco consists of 9 vertical and 9 horizontal streets😂 and is also on the Ruta de las Flores. There, I had a caramel coffee with a passion fruit cheesecake.😋

March 20th was a quiet day, I don't know why but on the 2nd day in Santa Ana, I extended my stay by one day because I had so many ideas for day trips. Well, in the morning, I just didn't feel like doing anything. Then I walked to a mall at lunchtime, food-wise it was a disappointment but at least I did something. I bought bread with cheese and bean paste at the supermarket.😂 The rest of the day was similarly unspectacular.

On March 21st, I went to the capital, San Salvador. After experiencing the terrible traffic situation here in San Salvador, I was relieved to finally arrive at the hostel. Going to the supermarket was easy, but since my hostel is outside the city center, there are no fruit/vegetable/everything markets here. So I had to go to the center, bus number 52 goes there from here. Wow, such a huge bustling market, even though the market was so big, I had trouble getting my vegetables.

'I would like a zucchini'; Vendor: '3 zucchinis for one dollar.' 'But I only need one'; Vendor: 'No'

So no zucchini for me... everywhere they shouted 20 tomatoes for a dollar, but I only wanted a few 😂 In one corner, I found an older gentleman who sold me a few tomatoes for $0.25, which turned out to be not so pretty. A complete sensory overload, as always, wonderful. Then I had to go back, where I got off, so I waited again, but the 52 never came. Hm, which bus do I take now? I asked around and got the answer 'bus number 101'. Okay, I got on and at some point, it drove onto a highway, in the wrong direction. I quickly jumped off and I was still 4 km away from the hostel. I walked a little and suddenly there was the 52. So I got on and what can I say? The routes are not the same for both directions?! How are you supposed to use buses like that? 😂 So after 2 km, I had to get off again and walk the rest, all because I didn't want to buy my fruit and vegetables at the supermarket.

The reason I came to San Salvador is the San Salvador Volcano. I went there today (22.03.24). After the buses worked so well yesterday, I thought today I'd be thrifty again and take the bus.🙃 It started with me taking the 101D bus instead of the 101B, but I thought it would be fine. Eventually, it went in the wrong direction and I quickly got off. After walking 1 km in the right direction, I waited at a bus stop and what came there? Exactly, the same bus from which I had jumped off a few minutes earlier. 😂 The street layout here is just crazy. In Santa Tecla, I was supposed to go to a specific bus stop for bus number 103B. After 40 minutes of wandering around, asking people, and despairing, I met 2 'street rappers'. One of them spoke a little English and felt ready to help me. He definitely knew where the bus would depart. The 103B apparently comes every hour, I shouldn't take the 103 because otherwise I would have to walk too far, that's what he said. But the next 103B had problems with the brakes and was canceled. After he asked the fifth bus driver, one of them said that a 103 would take me to the volcano. So let's go... what I meant by street rappers is that some people come into the chicken buses with music boxes, rap, collect money, and then leave again. That's what the two of them did, it sounded cool but I didn't understand anything 😂

After 3 hours, I finally arrived at the volcano, by the way, the distance was 20 km... Since I didn't want to drive too far again, I got off in time and walked 3 km to the edge of the crater. It was definitely not the main ascent because I walked through fields and along local trails. I still wonder how Maps.me knew about these trails... I wouldn't even call these tracks paths, but well, I made it to the top in one piece. The last eruption was several years ago, which allowed a unique ecosystem to develop in the crater, very beautiful. Additionally, there is a smaller crater within the large crater. By the way, thanks to my alternative ascent, I avoided the $2 admission fee😅 I then walked down the main trail like normal. But there was no one there to check or collect payment. On the way back to Santa Tecla, I took a pickup truck... and then it started again, where does the 101D go in the other direction? Since I got off in a one-way street, I couldn't take the bus back from there, even though 2 locals tried to convince me otherwise. After waiting and asking the bus driver for a long time, I set off. I walked two blocks down, asked a police officer, and he sent me 3 blocks back up. I thought I would finally get back now. When I arrived there, I waited again but only other buses arrived. I asked a few locals again, but the language barrier was too great and they wanted me to get on the 42D, but I didn't know exactly where it would go. So I decided to walk until I found the 101D or until I had covered the 9 km back to the hostel 😂 It didn't come to that and after just 20 minutes, I finally sat in the right bus. I could have saved myself so much waiting. In the end, I was back at the hostel after 8.5 hours for a 6 km hike🙃

This got a little detailed for such a small hike, but I hope you were able to smile a little about my adventure.✌️