The Land of the Pupusas

Good morning,

A few days have passed since my last post, what has happened in the meantime... On March 5th, 2024 I explored Antigua but didn't actually do much. The next day was the beginning of my 5-day retreat, which I won't write much about now because it doesn't concern the entire internet🫠. But it was a super insightful time and I learned a lot. There are no pictures, it was a pretty unspectacular house in a gated community on the edge of Antigua.

On March 10, 2024 the retreat was over and I went back to Antigua. During my beloved walk through the market, Alex suddenly came up from behind. I met Alex in Flores on my first day in Guatemala and we had a good chat. It's amazing that we just met there again after more than 4 weeks... His brother flew to Guatemala two days before and now they want to travel together a little more. Anyway, I gave him my number and we wanted to meet again before we parted ways. After a hearty pan of noodles, I went to bed pretty tired.

The next morning (03/11/24) Alex suddenly showed up at my hostel with his brother and a girlfriend. They had to change accommodation and by chance they ended up in my hostel. Anyway, they planned to go to a coffee plantation and take a tour of cacao. No, that's not a mistake, but cocoa doesn't grow at altitude but they still produce cocoa, chocolates and so on there. Since I was planning on doing something like that anyway, I went along after lunch together at Comedor.

Orlando, our guide, was cool and told a lot about the history and also the production method of (good) cocoa. Lindt and Milka, for example, have good chocolate and Nestlé chocolate is on the other end of good. This is mainly due to the different fermentation methods used for cocoa beans. Anyway, we were able to try the cocoa in every form and later made cocoa tea, the first cocoa, the western cocoa and chocolates. Cocoa tea is just hot water with the shells of the cocoa beans, but it still tastes very tasty. The "original" cocoa consists of water, of course chocolate (just dried, fermented, roasted and then ground cocoa beans), a little chili and honey. In any case, very interesting, you can drink it, especially the hot and bitter of the chocolate harmonizes very well. And the classic cocoa with chocolate, sugar and milk. You don't need to say anything about the cocoa...😋 And at the end we were allowed to make our own pralines, with cocoa, cream and sugar measures we formed the basic shape, then it was mixed into liquid chocolate and then into almond pieces, macadamia pieces or cookie crumbs . A dream, I'm telling you. After 2.5 hours it was over and I had to go back quickly so I could get my clothes back that were in the laundry. The others stayed there and had dinner. But then I had to pack and book a hostel for the next day. But of course I then indulged in these 3 delicious chocolates🤩 In the evening I met Alex again and we said goodbye because I had to get up earlier than her.

The day to say Adios Guatemala (03/12/24). After more than 5 weeks here in this beautiful country, I have to move on to El Salvador. Actually, El Salvador wasn't on my radar at the beginning of my trip and I only wanted to make 1-2 stops here. But thanks to recommendations from others, I'm really looking forward to the country and am planning to stay here for 2+ weeks. With the new government that came in a few years ago, the country has absolutely changed for the better. Over 80% of gang members are behind bars and the country has become super safe, both for locals and tourists. And since that was only 3-4 years ago, there are no rushes of tourists yet and you can look at nature in peace and alone. And that's what I plan to do in the near future.

Anyway, the border crossing was coming up. At 7:00 a.m. I was on the bus to Escuintla and from there we went to the border with El Salvador. It was already incredibly warm in Escuintla, it was 8:30 a.m. but it felt like it was already 30°... The next bus ride was very relaxed and I was at the border at around 11:30 a.m. Exchanged my remaining Quetzales for US dollars (official currency here) and received my Guatemala exit stamp. After 20 minutes of walking in the incredible heat next to stationary trucks, I arrived on the El Salvadorian side. Stamp in and move on, everything is super uncomplicated. After walking for another 10 minutes I came to the bus stop and went to Sonsonate. I paid 80 cents for the 90 minute journey, the transport costs here are extremely cheap, compared to Guatemala I would have had to pay around €3 (still very little, I know😅). In Sonsonate we took another bus to Juayua. When I got there I had to change again because my hostel was a bit outside. But a family showed me the way because they also had to take the bus. Yeah, now I'm sitting here between goats, horses and sheep because this is the only place where there's WiFi. In the hostel, which is on the premises but about 100m further away, there is no WiFi, only on the adjacent farm😂

Unfortunately I didn't have any pupusas today but I'm looking forward to eating some tomorrow.😋