San Salvador

This city is beautifully situated between hills and volcanoes, and it is huge. Just about everybody lives in a building on the ground, and the streets are wide with trees and bushes all around. The population of the greater city is some 6 million, and the same as in other Central American cities there are as many cars as people. We learned that rush hour is at any hour, and public transport is poor.

We went on our usual tour with a taxi driver to see the main sights. The tour took four hours, with walks in the Botanical Gardens and around the historical center. The center is being refurbished and will be fantastic once it is ready. Already people say that it is best at night with a crowd milling around to enjoy the freedom to be out and about without the previous restrictions due to the criminality.

Not far from the hotel where we stayed are a couple of areas with shopping malls, movie theaters and restaurants. People started to arrive around 7pm, and it was easy to see that many of them would stay and enjoy the milder evening temperatures. It was very hot during daytime hours. We took a walk around the local neighborhood one afternoon, and it was very tidy with wide footpaths and pretty gardens. The only sign of the previously dangerous situation was gates to all the different blocks.