Art and Boredom in the Mountains

My journey to La Palma was, as usual, eventful. Firstly i was wedged into a bus with a TV at the front which played VERY bad 80's and 90's rock videos for the emtire journey. the Salvadoriansa are OBSESSED with this kind of music- every bus i've been on has blasted forth anything from Whitesnake to Vanilla Ice with every other 90's disaster hit in between! I was unceremoniously dumped at the roadside to await another bus and had to endure half an hour standing in the baking heat being beeped at by every single truck that went by- now i don't mind being a bit different when travelling a country but this was verging on the ridiculous! I eventually caught the bus which was customarily packed out and i had to sit on my backpack most of the way whilst a chap who seemed a little mad shouted random english phrases at me. This would normally have amused me but i wqas hot and fed up so it merely served to darken my mood!

By the time we reached La Palma I had been thrown around the bus by the reckless driver so much that my bags contents had scattered and i was thyrown around even more trying to pick them up. I stroppily stormed into the nearest hotel and easily secure da huge but run down room for 8 dollars a night. Once I'd calmed down i went to look around La Palma which only took 10 minutes- it really is the tiniest town ever and the only redeeming feature is its signature artwork which is colourful childlike paintings on wood. I bought a few things then spent the rest of the day reading a novel and being bored out of my mind! There was no one else in the hotel to talk to and no other tourists in town so an early night was the only way forward!

The following day I decided that if i wasn't going to die of boredom i was going to have to bite the bullet and climb to the highest peak in el salvador. this involved 2 bus journeys (during which the lady next to me took great delight in telling me how hard a climb it was!) up a ridiclously steep mountain pass on which the bus could only manage 10mph at best! I finally reached the start point and headed up a very steep looking road into the mountain. Well, it was my first hike alone but that didn[t stop me from moaning constantly out lous as it was HORREMDOUSLY steep and hot and i was soon sweating hideously as i asceded through cloud level and beyond (the peak is at 2850m)

I stopped frequently, took a wrong turn which added a km onto the walk and finally reached what looked like the summit. There i was met by a very happy looking dog who accompanied me for the last 10 minutes of the walk up and shared my lunch at a hugely scenic picnic spot. The views from the top were once again awe inspiring and well worth the horrible climb-despite the cloud cover, i could see into honduras and far into El Salvador too.

The dog insisted on accompanying me all the way down (it was only on the descent that in realised how far i'd climbed!) wagging its tail and faithfully waiting if i stopped1 At the bottom i rewarded it with the rest of my crisps and, as there was no sign of a bus, i began the walk down where the bus had brought me earlier. I hadn't gone far when i was pickeed up by a man and a woman who were olive oil salespeople from the capital. They chatted away to me as we descended and i waited in San Ignacio whilst they pedalled their wares to shop owners before getting a lift all the way back to La Palma. the lady told me it was a bit of a lull time after semana santa and that there were normally more tourists around the area- scant consolation for me when i returned to my silent hotel (not before the lady tried to set me up with her friend which i politely declined!)

After one more night of solitude i could bear it no longer so the next morning i boarded a bus for the capital. In between the stereo blasting out rap music (90's of course!) i chatted to a lady who asked me what i did for a living. When i told her shelaughed and said i'd got my spanish muddled- i'd been telling people i was a narco trafficker not a drug rep- ooops! Am glad she told me before i got into any trouble!! I arrive din the capital, checked into the bus terminal hotel and went for a wander around downtown. It didn't feel dangerous but there wsn't a lot there either so i got a cab to mall land and enjoyed a massage, facial and haircut- absolute bliss!

that night there was the loduest thundestorm i'd ever hear dand i was concerned tha the roof would cave in with the rain but it held firm and, at 5am (eeeeew!) I made it up for my bus to Guatemala City and on to Antigua for my volunteer work placement.