EL SALVADOR: San Salvador

Year number two of my five year journey has begun. 2016 will be spent primarily in Central/South America. Of course all of that could change at a moments notice, but I begin my current wanderlust in a particularly troubled, poor and unsafe Central American Country. Why am I here? Why not. It will give me a better perspective on the region overall, and frankly the people here are very nice in contrast to their living conditions.

I basically just took a one day tour in El Salvador. It’s a pretty dangerous country with men armed with shotguns outside the local restaurants. There is very little tourism infrastructure as well so I just bided my time until I was due to leave for Nicaragua.

On the weekends they have lots of booths selling food where locals come with their families.

This deck belonging to a group of restaurants on the mountain overlooks the city of San Salvador.

Sadly El Salvador has not gone through the positive transformation so many countries in the region like Nicaragua and Panama have benefitted from. Its troubles began with gangs of glue sniffing teenagers terrorizing the country, then graduated to major drug trafficking, and morphed into a Mafia styled construct where paid protection money became the scourge of the land.

The good people of El Salvador are wedged between a corrupt government and a bunch of thugs who both use fear to further their interests. Kind of like the Bush administration. The people sit at home imprisoned behind barred windows and razor wire topped fences watching the latest violent crimes broadcast on TV. It’s so sad. It’s a pretty country, and these people deserve so much better than the fear they are being force-fed on a regular basis. Imagine going to your local pizza joint and having a guy armed with a shotgun outside.