Suchitoto

The bus ride to Suchitoto, about 47km from San Salvador, took an hour and a half. Lots of stops and driving through narrow, congested streets of small towns. We learned a new word: cora (quarter), for a 25 cents US. They use US dollars as the currency here. We bought two little bags of sweet peanuts por una corita.

Armed guard at a shop

We arrived with the idea of staying in Villa Balanza. We asked a few people and dragged our broken-wheeled suitcase there. Rooms are $20 instead of the $11 it says in the book, but they are quite nice, although with a shared bath. The other people in the hotel have been really nice too-- An older American couple and young British couple. We had to carry our poor suitcase down a very steep hill with cobblestones to get to the actual rooms. I don't know if we'll make it back up. We have a beautiful view of Lake Suchitlan.

View from our hotel

After settling in we took a walk back up the hill, which was hard even without the suitcase, and wandered into town. We had pupusas for dinner. Several people had told us about a Canadian Classical guitarist, Ed Honeywell, who was playing as part of the February Arts and Culture Festival of Suchitoto. We stopped in and heard him play a few songs. It was excellent. I was feeling a little ill from the pollution in San Salvador so we left early from that event, went home and played a game of Skip-Bo (I beat Alaine), took a shower and went to bed.

Today we slept in a bit; well, I woke up at 6:30 and got Alaine up at 7:45 because we were wasting the day. We went to a little cafe and had coffee and bagels with scrambled eggs, plus wireless internet, which is where I posted the last entry and where I am again now, drinking beer.

Havin' a beer

The American couple from our hotel had recommended we walk down to the lake by a back road. It was quite interesting. There were a lot of pigs and ducks in the road. We didn't see a single car. There was quite a lot of trash. It was a steep walk down, but we took a bus back. At the lake there is a Turicentro. A bit disappointing, but we bought some chicha and some sweets. We shopped a little in the square by the church. Alaine bought a cool tank-top and scarf dyed with indigo, and I bought an FMLN headband and bracelet.

Tomorrow we are headed to Antigua.

Expenses:

	Since last entry	Total
Transportation	$1	$129
Food	$21	$54
Lodging	$40	$64
Beer (and other spirits)	$14	$47
Activities	$6	$6
Souvenirs/Gifts	$19	$55
Misc.	$2	$12
Total	$103	$367