Juayua

Day two of our trip started late - again.

I've grown accustomed to waking up at 6am everyday. Crazy, right? I've never consistently woken up this early in my life! Getting up early isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. But on Tuesday, we both independently decided to sleep in a bit. It was raining in the morning - which is kind of rare - and neither of us relished the idea of starting a trip in the rain, so we snoozed for awhile. Also, there were geckos in our room that were chirping during the night.

After the rain let up, we grabbed breakfast at a little restaurant that Nealy had spotted the night before. It was delicious and really cheap. Beans make a really solid, long-lasting breakfast, and almost every Guatemalan breakfast includes beans. So with some beans and eggs under our belts, we set off for the El Salvador border!

The rain held off for awhile and the views were fantastic!

It started to rain shortly before we arrived at the border. The crossing from Guatemala into El Salvador would be the easiest of the trip. No wait, no hassle, no kilometer long line of semi-trucks to maneuver through. Very easy and pleasant.

Having crossed into El Salvador, we noticed changes immediately! The houses, the people, even the landscape seemed to change subtly. We were surprised to see that most of the houses in El Salvador were made of red brick - not the cinder blocks covered with plaster that're the staple of Guatemalan homes. The people of El Salvador are fairer complected than the people of Guatemala - they must have less Mayan heritage ...

Not too long after entering El Salvador, we made it to Santa Ana. It's a pretty decent sized city, and, of course, we got lost. Central America really has issues with road signage. We stopped in central park to get our bearings and soon were back on the road to Juayua (pronounced "why-ooh-ah") and once again, it began to rain. The rain let up long enough for us to stop at a scenic overlook and interrupt a couple who was making out to ask directions.

Nealy thought I looked like a Lego person with my helmet on so she had me strike the Lego pose :)

We were on the right road, and soon we turned off the highway onto the small windy mountain road to Juayua! And then it started to really pour. We were both completely soaked almost instantly! There were lots of buses that were powering through the rain - pretty impressive considering the road conditions. We even saw one truck that had run off the road! Several mudslides and small over-road streams later, we made it to Juayua.

Juayua is a great little town! Very pretty and friendly. And for the most part, cheap! Our first stop was at the local grocery store to use the ATM. It was weird to get US dollars! The whole country uses US currency - pretty interesting. Anyway, we cruised around a bit and ended up at a restaurant called RR. We ordered some steaks, which were ok, but the the salads that came with them were fantastic! Also, their bathroom was awesome. They realized they weren't going to use the tub, so they got creative!

Our meal was pretty expensive. Actually, throughout the entire trip we seemed to manage to find the most expensive restaurants, so we learned not to always go with our first choice.

After our late lunch, we cruised around looking for a hotel that a Lonely Planet guide had given good reviews. We couldn't find it, but we did find a street vendor cooking some kind of delicious coconut corn bread between banana leaves. She and her daughter had no idea where the hotel was, but eventually, a couple ladies came by to get some coconut bread and one of them was able to tell us how to get there!

The hotel/hostel was nice, if a bit expensive. Plus, I was able to park the moto in a nearby hostel!

Nealy and I wandered the town for awhile. It's a fun little town - wouldn't have minded spending a couple days there! For dinner, we found a pupuseria. We ordered 3 or 4 pupusas and a couple drinks and our total was only $3.80! The pupusas were fantastic.