El Salvador and Nicaragua

I have been remiss, thus far this season, in posting to this blog. It is so much quicker and easier to post pictures to Facebook that I took the easy way out. I will try to make up for it now.

We left the Rio Dulce on February 10th and spent the next two weeks traveling through El Salvador and Nicaragua utilizing public transportation except for the few times that we took taxis or a private tour to a particular destination. The international buses are clean,air-conditioned and show movies, sometimes in English w/ Spanish sub-titles. The Pullmantur bus which we took from Guatemala City to San Salvador was downright luxurious, with large leather reclinable seats and excellent service including a light breakfast and drinks. This was a 6 hour trip leaving the up-scale Zona 10 in Guatemala City and terminating at the Sheraton Presidente Hotel in the like-wise safe and upscale Zona Rosa in San Salvador. On arrival we immediately got a taxi for our first destination, Suchitoto, an hours drive N. of San Salvador. This is an old colonial village situated on Lago Suchitlan, a large man-made lake and one of the largest in Central America. We stayed at Hotel Villa Balanza in a room that boasted a balcony and a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding mountains.There was a TV and full kitchen downstairs where I could make the morning coffee. All this for a whopping $20 per night.The town was fun to explore and there were several good restaurants. We celebrated Valentines day at Los Almendros Restaurante which is part of the expensive hotel of the same name. The food and ambiance were quite nice and we almost had the place to ourselves. From here we will return to San Salvador for a few days.