Breakfast with a view at Bourbon Hostal
Our first stop today was the 1961 Los Naranjos Bar & Cafe, where we paid way too much for six Salvadoran craft beers to go. We were pretty desperate at this point for some beer with substance, but we were sad to pay North American craft beer prices. Oh, well, hope they're good! Spoiler alert: They weren't that great, but we had a lot of fun trying them.
Craft beer bar and store
Jana's kind of shopping!
Valle de Chalchuapa
The archaeological site Tazumal, in the town of Chalchuapa, is considered the best-preserved Mayan ruin in El Salvador and is the country's first archaeological park. The Tazumal settlement marks the southwestern boundary of the Mayan civilization. The name “Tazumal” means “the place where the victims were burned,” hinting at some interesting history...
Best-preserved Mayan ruin in El Salvador
Archaeologists estimate that in its heyday, the city of Tazumal covered an area of some 10 square kilometers, most of which is now buried beneath the current city of Chalchuapa, with only a small section of the original Mayan settlement having been excavated and preserved. Further excavation is an expensive proposition that this small and often troubled country hasn't had the luxury of prioritizing, but the work slowly continues.
Tazumal Archaeological Site
Tallest pyramid in El Salvador
The main structure at Tazumal is a multi-tiered pyramid rising to a height of 75 feet (23 meters), making it the tallest pyramid in El Salvador. You're not allowed to climb to its top, but from elsewhere on the site there's a good view of the surrounding city of Chalchuapa, with Volcan Chingo beyond, which lies on El Salvador's border with Guatemala.
Cool cacti
Volcan Chingo
Los Ausoles are a group of hot springs and geothermal features located along La Ruta de Las Flores, outside the town of Ahuachapan. There are multiple places to access Los Ausoles, some more commercial than others, and we chose to visit a family's back acreage.
This must be the place
We Waze'd our way to our chosen site, parked along the road, and paid a lady who emerged from her outdoor kitchen $1 each to access her property. She gave us a few short safety instructions in Spanish, which we didn't fully understand, waved us down a path, and off we went meandering over the thin, hot crust of the earth.
Watch your step!
It was a fun adventure wandering around on our own, with not a guardrail or warning sign in sight. They'd never let you do that in the US. We could feel the heat of the earth through our shoes. There were no astonishing geysers, but we saw plenty of bubbling mudpots, a thermal stream, and lots of sizzling steam vents. A fun, off-the-beaten-path adventure!
Sizzling steam vents
Bubbling mud
The earth is alive!
We returned to Juayua in time for the end of the weekend food festival, but we'd snacked too much earlier to be ready for a big meal, so we just walked around and observed the commotion before relaxing back at our hotel.
That looks fun
A different kind of fun
Later on, we went to dinner at Don Timmy Asados & Taqueria al Carbon – carne tampiqueña for Tom and camerones al ajillo for me. After I ordered, I realized that I'd probably have to peel and devein the shrimp myself, and that was indeed the case, but they were delicious! Two big platters of food and four beers for $27. Not bad!
To end our evening, we went up to the Bourbon Hostal rooftop bar for one more beer and some nighttime city views. Living our best life!
Delicious imperial stout from Guatemala
Iglesia Santa Lucia from the bar