04/10/24 San Salvador - south - CycleBlaze

April 10, 2024

04/10/24 San Salvador

Clouds and an early departure made this a much nicer ride than I expected
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I woke up with the roosters and was out the door at 5 am. I had a fair bit of climbing to do and although it wasn’t particularly steep I was worried the heat had the potential to make things brutal. As it turned out, there were clouds all morning so it never got truly oppressive. The exhaust and noise from the traffic was noxious and continuous but in spite of that I enjoyed the ride,  mostly because the hills were no challenge.  I was still soaked with sweat when I got to the outskirts where I’d planed to stop but it was early enough and I wasn’t tired so I went all the way into San Salvador proper.  I found a comfortable $30 Airbnb that’s between the hip Zona Rosa and the place with all the malls. 

My initial impression of San Salvador is that it’s a big city and not very walkable, but I’ve decided to stay a second day. Partly because it’s 8 pm and I’ve yet to plan any routes beyond the city but mostly because I need new shoes and I have a much better chance of finding something appropriate here. I don’t plan to go into any large towns again for a while. 

On the road before sunrise
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I’m at the point in this journey where to go south you have to go east and it’s seriously screwing up my sense of direction
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Izalco visible this morning. This is another picture that looks a lot nicer than it felt at the time. The noise that was present when I took this was intense. The traffic and the insects make terrible racket!
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Not my favorite sign. But the Guatemalan hills are still fresh in my memory and these were nothing like those
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Volcanic wall and (I think) sugarcane. And litter too, which I only saw in the photo because my eyes have grown numb to it. The litter and the hills of Guatemala are my new benchmarks
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I’m concluding that gaudy bird ornaments is a Central American thing
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I stopped for breakfast at a roadside stand. There’s always a roadside stand and there’s always been a roadside stand. Since entering Guatemala I haven’t gone more than a mile or two without encountering people or some sort of building by the side of the road. I’d like a bit more cycling solitude to be honest, but for that I’d have to take more remote and difficult roads with less chance of finding a shower and a bed at the end of the day.
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$3 breakfast, included melon juice to wash it all down
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This pretty scene decorated the outside of a fortified house
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Full metal entrance with a mail slot
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Ah shit, this is going to be such a major pain in the ass. My kickstand just fell to pieces because of metal fatigue and now every time I stop my foot automatically whooshes past the rear wheel
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Brick factory
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There’s always a pallet guy
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This appeared out of nowhere and lasted for a minute
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Karen PoretWake up call!
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8 months ago
Fred and Wilma!
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Karen PoretYabba Dabba Do!!!
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8 months ago
A bus dealership
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Both Thomas and Blue Bird and busses, but the model with the engine in the rear. One day I’ll ask the Internet to tell me how it came to be that retired American school buses became the backbone of Central American transportation
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I’ll be in Jose’s YouTube channel but he’s disappointed I don’t have one for my trip. I gave him my Instagram, but static content is so 20th century
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Pretty
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Bright
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Grim
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Single board tables!
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Back onto the Pan American Highway
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Where some asshole in a semi decided to pass another on a hill. The air was pretty nasty from all the exhaust
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Patrick O'HaraNow, that looks grim!
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8 months ago
No shoulder and a moat to fall in
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“Poor President, you’ve forgotten about the people”. I don’t know what this refers to. Everyone I’ve spoken to is enthusiastic about the president. Most people I’ve spoken to are small business owners and they are glad he ended the gang problems (by building new prisons and jailing thousands)
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Bill ShaneyfeltMaybe the previous one?
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8 months ago
Looking dry, but rains are expected to start in a few weeks. There are two seasons here. Summer runs from December to July, winter from July to December. The rainy season is from May to November. Right now is the hottest time of the year and the temperatures this year have been higher than usual. The old usual, I fear
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Major slope stabilization project
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Karen PoretHave them tackle Big Sur, please!
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8 months ago
And a big three year highway expansion in progress, adding four more lanes
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This looks so sad. With a spare camera and spare kickstand back home I should start thinking about a new shipment
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I love watching large civil works. I think I would have made a good civil engineer
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Not my fault
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Felix Montoya, recently retired professor of languages and literature at the University of Central America stopped me to talk. He dreams of doing such a trip on his motorcycle but claims to lack the courage. I explained no courage required, you just have to really want to do it. Having enough money to cushion the rough spots helps a lot too
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Passing a fancy gated community in the San Salvador suburbs
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After all the noise and the smoke I’d been in during the climb up I happily stopped at this Starbucks at the top of the hill and relaxed while deciding what to do next
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What I decided to do was leave the suburb of Santa Tecla and go the last little bit into San Salvador. Based on previous days I expected to be wiped out by this point, but the tropical heat was thousands of feet below
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Nice bike path for a brief while, then a busy city ride with no time for photos
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At my Airbnb they are cutting up this tree with machetes. They have a chainsaw but only use on the big ones
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Karen PoretWhat is up with the concertina wire ?
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8 months ago
David ChavezJust your basic security. Every business that isn’t a mom and pop also includes an armed guard. It’s just part of the overhead. Often an elderly man
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8 months ago
Plaza Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World Plaza) looked kind of drab when I rode by on my way in, but looked pretty cool at night
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Especially with the fountains
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Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 3,380 miles (5,440 km)

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