Entering The Land of Volcanoes

Quezaltepeque, Guatemala – Santa Ana, El Salvador

One of my first jobs was at Little Caesar’s. Not a great place to work, but I did learn a little about tossing dough – a skill that I’ve honed ever since. 

What I didn’t anticipate was the role that this seemingly basic take-out pizza place would play in the world. But as we have made our way through Mexico, Guatemala, and now El Salvador it has become increasingly clear that this “franchise” is up to no good. 

Everywhere we go the Roman mascot guy seems to follow. 

“Pizza, pizza” indeed!

I’m not sure what they’re up to, but who believes that there are really that many people in Mexico and Central America who want to eat Italian pies all the time? And the thing is, Caesar was an ambitious Roman emperor, wasn’t he? Seems to me that Central America is the Italy of this part of the world . . . It all makes sense . . .

But we know what they’re up to . . . And we’re going to be keeping our eyes on those guys . . .

Will have to do some additional research on this insidious trend . . .

There seriously are a lot of Little Caesar’s down here. Who knew?

Another good day of biking. We started with a pretty good pass up out of the valley that Quezaltepeque was in – and as soon as we emerged on the other side it was like we were in a different world. Rather than big mountain ranges we are now surrounded by smaller and more ragged peaks with lots of rock around – making for a hilly ride with more ups and downs. (The exposed rock kind of reminds me of Duluth . . .)

Regardless, we still ended up with almost 5,000 feet of climbing on the day. Which, by the way, is kind of a lot. We’re hoping that things moderate a little as we head through this beautiful new country. 

We’ll see . . . But I guess after reading that El Salvador is known as the land of volcanoes I’m not that optimistic. They have over 100 volcanoes – with 20 still active. Which is crazy – because El Salvador is about a tenth the size of Minnesota. In other words, if Minnesota had the same density of volcanoes as El Salvador it would have over 1,000 volcanoes, with 200 still active. 

Wow!

Okay, El Salvador has a lot of lava and stuff. I get it. But what is it like otherwise? Well, I grew up in the 80s – and during the 80s El Salvador was in the midst of a long and brutal civil war. So my impressions of the place are all about violence and ugliness. Mind you, these were not well-formed views – but they were there nonetheless. I think Diana’s thoughts were pretty similar to mine.

So imagine our surprise when we arrived at the border and found . . . Nice people, no military-like guards or anything, a nice and obvious building where you go to get your passport stamped (in contrast to both Mexico and Guatemala), nice pavement, and no signs of anything close to violence or anything. 

Seriously, we’ve only been here about nine hours now, but we are impressed. The roads are great – smooth and wide, with none of the craziness of Guatemala. (By the way, this was one of the most common warnings we received about Central America generally: The roads are horrible, people drive fast and crazy, etc. I’m not sure whether all this may still be yet to come – but, except for Guatemala City – which was, indeed, horrible – we have really enjoyed most of the roads down here. A lot better than Iowa – that’s for sure . . .)

The houses look nice as well. (Diana found us an airbnb in Santa Ana tonight – for $38 – and I always feel like these places provide a little window into the countries. This one is not fancy, but it’s nice. There is a lot of security though – with bars across all the windows and doors.)

It’s a little confusing because if you look up the average income of people in El Salvador it is pretty meager. But somehow the place feels like it is doing better than Guatemala and maybe even better than Mexico. (And now that I think about it – I would say that it feels like El Salvador and El Salvadorians are doing better than people in the Ozarks . . .) More on this in a few days – just our first impressions.

Also impressed with some of the signage we saw along the way. Little things like turtle and deer crossing signs – and a brown sign for a nearby national park. The very thought that turtles and deer might exist here is kind of a big deal. I’ve kind of concluded that in Mexico and Guatemala all such creatures have long since gone into the cooking pot . . .

On this nature type theme, we saw the first windmills we have seen in a long time today as well. Good to see. And it was windy . . . I think the “cold” front that seems to be hovering over the Midwest has made its way down here – with a Canadian wind bringing in frigid temperatures – like in the high-70s. 

No day down here would be complete without meeting some fun people . . .

Before we even finished breakfast we met a big group from Turkey. They were staying in the same hotel as us (not our favorite place – our room was literally crawling with tiny ants . . . And they didn’t even bother to provide a second sheet . . .). Seemed like a really fun family – they originally flew in to Brazil and, as best as we understand it, they then flew to El Salvador. They are taking mini-buses up through Guatemala and Mexico now. Hopefully they’ll connect with us again on the blog . . .

And then on the ride we received lots of positive beep beeps – and one particular young man flagged me down altogether. 

“Agua?” he offered.

Can’t remember his name because it was a very quick exchange, but he is a biker and seemed super enthusiastic about our trip. 

Kind of follows the common theme of this trip. There are a lot of good people in the world!

Last thing for the day . . . It’s been a while since we’ve shared info on one of our meals. Tonight we had our American version of fajitas – but with some pre-marinated pork from the grocery store. So good! Love cooking with Diana. Except for that horrible night on the Pacific Coast in Mexico I think all our homemade meals have been great. 

Tomorrow? Past some volcanoes I think – and on to San Salvador. Thanks to Reader Tiffany D for her quick and helpful advice on El Salvador. 

Keep it coming! We love to hear from you . . .

Postcript . . .

The night was not good to me. Keeping to our theme, let’s just say that there were some eruptions. I don’t think the volcano is active anymore – but hard to tell . . . Not feeling good generally – but it’s a relatively short trip to San Salvador so hopefully we’ll make it okay . . .

What do I blame it on? Yesterday when we came into town we were both hungry. I tried to buy some pupusas (the national food of El Salvador) but both of the places I went to were closed. I was forced to get a hot dog at what I thought was a New York style stand.

What I got instead was reminiscent of Mr. Bean in Love Actually. Alan Rickman is trying to buy a bracelet or something for his mistress while his wife is away making another purchase. He obviously wants to do it quickly so his wife doesn’t see, but Mr. Bean is taking forever to wrap the package – always one more little embellishment.

Similar situation here. I just wanted a quick hot dog. Diana is waiting, and, obviously, doesn’t want one. But when I go up to the guy he is busy putting all of these different condiments on a bun. First some ketchup. Then some mustard. Then some white stuff – I think mayonnaise. Then some relish or something. Then more ketchup. More mustard. A different kind of relish.

”Come on buddy,” I think. “Are you making a Picasso, or a hot dog?”

Sadly, when he finishes his work of art he doesn’t hand it to me, or anyone else. Instead, he places it in the stand and starts over on another one.

”Umm, I just want one hot dog. Por Favor.”

This happens several more times. There are now half-a-dozen such loaded buns in the stand.

Eventually I do say something.

”Solo un hot dog . . .”

Then the guy makes another one – and I try to tell him I don’t want ketchup – or, really, mayo either. Mixed success on that . . .

Finally he’s done and he hands it to me.

Except there is no hot dog. He has just handed me a very condiment-laden bun.

I want to say, “where’s the beef?”

”Umm, hot dog?” I say, handing it back to him.

Now he goes through a whole other operation – because apparently actual hot dogs are not part of this hot dog stand’s general fare . . .

Eventually he gives me my laden bun with a pretty pathetic, only half-warm hot dog inside. One of those hot dogs where the bun is like twice as long as the hot dog. I hate that.

By this time I just want to get the food in my system so Diana doesn’t kill me (and I don’t kill her because I’m hangry). So I just wolf it down.

Don’t think about it again until 1 a.m.

But in retrospect there were lots of possible volcano causers involved here. Mayonnaise sitting out at room temperature. Relish. The hot dog itself – which, given that hot dogs don’t seem part of the regular food service at this place – might have been there for a week before I ate it . . .

No more “hot dogs” for me . . .

Hopefully the ride goes okay today. Even yesterday morning I told Diana I wasn’t feeling well. We’ll see . . .