San Salvador El Salvador
20th September 2020
In: Places
San Salvador El Salvador
Why was I visiting one of the most dangerous cities on the planet and why is it on my website. The plan was to pass through quickly however, 3 days later and I’m still here to tell the tale.
I travelled on the famous Tica Bus from Guatemala City to San Salvador and the plan was to simply stay at the bus station hotel for a few hours and get on the early Tica bus to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua the following morning.
I arrived into the bus station and the 2 huge metal gates opened up and closed pretty quickly behind the bus. I decided to head into the city to try and find some food along with another 2 travellers as there was only an empty vending machine at the hotel. We asked to get out through the huge metal gates, the shotgun wielding security guard mumbled something is Spanish, shook his head and opened the gate to let us out.
We got as far as a dingy shop about 50 yards up the road, bought some drinks and snacks and headed back somewhat faster than when we came.
Back in the hotel I got talking to a young woman who was also on the bus and she was in reception waiting for a lift to the US embassy, where she was going to be working on an exchange programme. The bus station gates opened, in came 2 huge black SUV’s and the woman was welcomed into one of the cars by 2 gun totting CIA types and off she went. Clearly the embassy staff did not use local taxis.
I had a few hours sleep and headed down to reception at about 4.30 am to buy my ticket for the Tica Bus to Managua, as the office in the bus station was closed when we arrived the day before. There was a line of about 30 people who had got there before me and by the time I got to the front, the bus was full, I bought a ticket for the next bus out, 24 hours later….
So I’m in the most dangerous city on the planet with 24 hours to kill, best I head out for some breakfast. I checked the guide books and it turned out there was a shopping mall in the city, Centro Comercial Galerias but I needed to get a taxi. The mall was an absolute oasis in that it was fairly safe compared to anywhere in the city. A food court and a cinema filed most of the day before heading off back to the bus station.
The journey to and from the mall was scary, I locked the door as per government travel advice however, it sems no taxi in San Salvador has a working window, they are all broken and stay open. This resulted in a prayer not to catch a red traffic light, as this tended to be a hangout for groups of not so nice looking men. It was like being an animal trapped in a cage and left me with a real feeling of vulnerability.
That evening we decided to head out to a bar attached to a rather better quality hotel, the plan was for a window less taxi there and back. We arrived and received an escort into the bar by shotgun wielding security guards, the taxi was 10 yards from the bar but we needed an escort. There were no windows in the bar just huge metal bars. There were lots of locals with blue and white stripped football shirts, banners and scarves decorated the bar. It turned out the national team were playing a World Cup qualifier. We had a few beers and some food and by this time the bar was bouncing, San Salvador did not seem so bad.
We had a few more beers and one of the guys I was with had a look at the score. He came back looking rather white and suggested we quickly get a taxi back to the hotel, the USA were beating El Salvador 5-0 with 15 minutes to go, we were the only 3 gringos in the place.
Fortunately, the taxi arrived quite quickly and we travelled the 20 minutes back to the hotel without incident, we were by now used to the sound of gunshots echoing around the city.
I was up early the next morning and got to the front of the line to board the bus. I can’t really say I enjoyed San Salvador, in fact I didn’t, it was really scary but it was however an experience , one of the things I still love about travelling, overcoming the unexpected.
Why was I visiting one of the most dangerous cities on the planet and why is it on my website. The plan was to pass through quickly however, 3 days later and I’m still here to tell the tale.
I travelled on the famous Tica Bus from Guatemala City to San Salvador and the plan was to simply stay at the bus station hotel for a few hours and get on the early Tica bus to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua the following morning.
I arrived into the bus station and the 2 huge metal gates opened up and closed pretty quickly behind the bus. I decided to head into the city to try and find some food along with another 2 travellers as there was only an empty vending machine at the hotel. We asked to get out through the huge metal gates, the shotgun wielding security guard mumbled something is Spanish, shook his head and opened the gate to let us out.
We got as far as a dingy shop about 50 yards up the road, bought some drinks and snacks and headed back somewhat faster than when we came.
Back in the hotel I got talking to a young woman who was also on the bus and she was in reception waiting for a lift to the US embassy, where she was going to be working on an exchange programme. The bus station gates opened, in came 2 huge black SUV’s and the woman was welcomed into one of the cars by 2 gun totting CIA types and off she went. Clearly the embassy staff did not use local taxis.
I had a few hours sleep and headed down to reception at about 4.30 am to buy my ticket for the Tica Bus to Managua, as the office in the bus station was closed when we arrived the day before. There was a line of about 30 people who had got there before me and by the time I got to the front, the bus was full, I bought a ticket for the next bus out, 24 hours later….
So I’m in the most dangerous city on the planet with 24 hours to kill, best I head out for some breakfast. I checked the guide books and it turned out there was a shopping mall in the city, Centro Comercial Galerias but I needed to get a taxi. The mall was an absolute oasis in that it was fairly safe compared to anywhere in the city. A food court and a cinema filed most of the day before heading off back to the bus station.
The journey to and from the mall was scary, I locked the door as per government travel advice however, it sems no taxi in San Salvador has a working window, they are all broken and stay open. This resulted in a prayer not to catch a red traffic light, as this tended to be a hangout for groups of not so nice looking men. It was like being an animal trapped in a cage and left me with a real feeling of vulnerability.
That evening we decided to head out to a bar attached to a rather better quality hotel, the plan was for a window less taxi there and back. We arrived and received an escort into the bar by shotgun wielding security guards, the taxi was 10 yards from the bar but we needed an escort. There were no windows in the bar just huge metal bars. There were lots of locals with blue and white stripped football shirts, banners and scarves decorated the bar. It turned out the national team were playing a World Cup qualifier. We had a few beers and some food and by this time the bar was bouncing, San Salvador did not seem so bad.
We had a few more beers and one of the guys I was with had a look at the score. He came back looking rather white and suggested we quickly get a taxi back to the hotel, the USA were beating El Salvador 5-0 with 15 minutes to go, we were the only 3 gringos in the place.
Fortunately, the taxi arrived quite quickly and we travelled the 20 minutes back to the hotel without incident, we were by now used to the sound of gunshots echoing around the city.
I was up early the next morning and got to the front of the line to board the bus. I can’t really say I enjoyed San Salvador, in fact I didn’t, it was really scary but it was however an experience , one of the things I still love about travelling, overcoming the unexpected.