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El Salvador: Suchitoto

La Iglesia Santa Lucía dominates the main plaza
La Iglesia Santa Lucía dominates the main plaza

If you're looking for a poster child for the progress that El Salvador has made since the end of the civil war, then Suchitoto is a pretty good choice. The town has long been regarded as the country's cultural capital, and even today its influence is felt far and wide. In recent times, the town's recycling system has spread across the country, so you now see separate bins for plastic, aluminium and organic material everywhere; and Suchitoto's women's groups are helping to nudge the country along the long road to equality, as can be seen in the stencils sprayed on many of the town's buildings that declare, 'In this house we want a life free from violence against women.'

You can see these stencils all over town
You can see these stencils all over town
The lovely streets of Suchitoto
The lovely streets of Suchitoto
A bean-stuffed papusa
A bean-stuffed papusa

Cerron Grande Reservoir

The view of Cerron Grande Reservoir from Suchitoto
The view of Cerron Grande Reservoir from Suchitoto

To get to Suchitoto from Santa Ana, we teamed up with Pamela and Matteo, with whom we'd climbed Volcán de Santa Ana and explored the Ruta de las Flores. As Italians they could speak excellent Spanish – the languages are so similar that it's easy to pick up one if you already know the other – so not only did we have some excellent company for our visit, but we also had translators in tow, and that always makes life easier. The journey wasn't that straightforward, as we had to take a bus from Suchitoto to the west terminal in San Salvador, then another bus across the capital to the east terminal, and then another from the east terminal to Suchitoto; but even with our very basic Spanish, it wouldn't have been difficult to do on our own, as the people in the bus stations are so helpful and only too happy to guide you to the correct bus. But it certainly made the whole thing far less stressful, knowing that we were travelling with people who could communicate with the locals in their own language if things got too confusing; in all, it was a delight to be travelling with our Italian friends.

The dock at San Francisco Lempa
The dock at San Francisco Lempa
The reservoir on a windy day
The reservoir on a windy day
The car ferry across the reservoir
The car ferry across the reservoir
San Francisco Lempa
San Francisco Lempa
Cerron Grande Reservoir
Cerron Grande Reservoir