Eyeing Honduras with my camera

Leaving El Salvador for new adventures. Look to the mountains and that’s where I will be for a couple days.

Eyeing the Pompeii of the Americas

30 minutes from San Salvador is Joya de Cerén which features intact Mayan dwellings preserved after being buried in volcanic ash. It is still be being excavated today by the University of Colorado.

There are homes, communal baths and storage buildings for the common people and not for the royalty. No human remains have been uncovered.

Safety: The real truth

Before I left the United States someone said, “Are you out of your mind going to El Salvador!”

He wasn’t asking a question either.

Also, the State Department suggests tourists choose another destination.

I went anyway, and I trusted Overseas Adventure Travel, the tour company I travel with often, to have their feelers out with their Central American staff.

What did I discover? A friendly, welcoming country that is learning the art of tourism. I couldn’t help but be encouraged. I can overlook the lack of English from the wait staff when there is a sincere effort to please. No matter where I went, Salvadorians were happy to meet and engage with me. They’re curious, too.

In no way did I feel unsafe, and of course, I kept my wits about me no differently than in my home area. My rule of being aware of my surroundings holds true in traveling. If what you have heard about roving gangs in El Salvador frightens you, then remember that gangs are everywhere in the world.

The wrong information is getting out to the public, and it makes people fearful. That’s such a shame. It’s another complicated issue I’ve simplified in my explanation. I’ll write more in depth later. Right now, I have to travel on.