Week 12 – My last week in Salvador

This week a friend of mine visited me in Santa Tecla and now I have a story to tell about hostels in Santa Tecla.

About hostels and motels in El Salvador

My friend’s visit was quite spontaneous as this was only possible as I last-minute extended my stay by a week. I had met her first in Costa Rica in July and since we had the same countries in mind for our sabbatical, we changed numbers and met again a few weeks later in Leon, Nicaragua and now in El Salvador. I thought she will stay in a hostel in San Salvador given that Santa Tecla is just 20mins away. In El Salvador, she first visited Suchitoto and the hostel owner there convinced her to go to Santa Tecla instead. He arranged the hostel for her and a few hours later she arrived in Santa Tecla. Given that the hostel owner knows Santa Tecla and the hostel, and the hostel in Santa Tecla was just 50m away from the residence of the “rich and famous” I assumed, that the hostel will be ok. I picked my friend up from the bus and we walked to the address given to her just to find a hostel in construction – most rooms had no ceiling yet. The craftsmen were so nice to call the owner to clarify what is going on. Shortly after the women owning the hostel arrived and told as she has another hostel one block away – so ok, we followed her to the other hostel. My friend wanted to stay for 3 nights, the lady then asked, whether we need the room for the nights only or day and night. At this moment I realized, that this is not a normal hotel. It became even stranger when the first room, my friend got, was locked and no one had a key to open the door. So, we waited until another room was cleaned and I left her alone to rest for a little bit before exploring Santa Tecla. When I came back to the hostel to pick her up, she told me, that she had to move the room again as the hostel had no key to lock the door and of course you do not want to sleep in a hostel – or leave your things there – without being able to look the door. Now, in the 3rd room, she also had a beautiful mirror on the same level as the bed. So, much too low to see your face when standing in front of it – but ok this mirror serves another purpose.

We also asked the lady of the hostel about security and whether the front gate will be locked in the evening. She said, “yes at 9 pm we will lock it”. But this turned out not to be true… I finally asked my contact at the NGO and he told me to get my friend out of this hostel asap as it is not safe there. My friend, however, was convinced, that she will survive one night in the hostel and that we can search for another place tomorrow. So, I picked her up from the hostel first thing in the morning and she told me that she hasn´t slept at all – all night long people were coming and going – the front door was of course not locked. The guy from the NGO also told me afterwards, that a murder happened in this hostel a year ago and that it was in the media all over the country. Lesson learned – be very careful with recommendations!  It is no surprise that you won`t find hostels in booking.com for Santa Tecla, given that all hostels are actually motels you can rent on an hourly basis as in many Latin American countries. As you usually live with your parents until getting married or even after this, couples, etc. tend to meet in such motels instead.

My last day at school

The teachers and pupils are so cute. I will miss them. As a goodbye I got so many hugs from the kids and the lots of presents, from nice letters and painting stating “I love you ticher [teacher]” and many girls saying “No vaya” [Don`t go]. The teachers also gave me a very nice t-shirt from El Salvador and a traditional shirt. The people are so generous here. It was an awesome experience for me to see how the education system in school is working in El Salvador and I hope I taught the girls more than just a little bit of English.

Why you should visit El Salvador and the must do’s in the country

Overall, El Salvador is a beautiful and safe country if you stay out of the areas controlled by gangs and you stay in proper hostels, not in motels 😊

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The must do`s in El Salvador – are the visit of Suchitoto and the centre of San Salvador, where you must see the church El Rosario and the National Palace from the inside. The architecture is stunning. Furthermore, you should not miss out Santa Ana and the hike of the Santa Ana volcano as well as the beautiful Ruta de las Flores. For more information, please check my blog entries from week 8 to 11.

If you like surfing and you do not mind having a town full of Gringos and touristic prices, you can also go to the town “El Tunco” at the sea. However, if you like beaches you should better avoid this place, as there is no beach, but just 15-20cm big stones. I am not sure, why everyone (locals and other gringos) recommended me to go to the “beach” in El Tunco – it is not a place I would go again.  It seems that the nice beaches in El Salvador are further in the south at the Costa Del Sol.

When it comes to food 1) eat Pupusas you will love it. Either the vegetarian options like cheese, cheese + Jalapeno, cheese + garlic or my favourite cheese + loroco or with meat like Chicharron or Revuelta. I love loroco – if you get a chance also try Lasagne con Loroco at Pizza Hut. 2) Try out the different fruits at a local market or a street food stand – Mango with spices; Annona, Mamonchillo, etc. 3) Drink lots of coffee 4) Try tamales either veggie or with meat. When it comes to drinks, there are two very traditional drinks, one is brown and the other pink. If you love sweet drinks and lots of sugar, give it a try. For me, it is far too sweet.

Every country has its good and bad sides

As you have seen in my last posts, I really enjoyed my stay in El Salvador a lot and even prolonged it by a week. Like every country, there are of course good and bad sides to it. When it comes to criminality and gang violence, the new president is doing a lot to reduce it and so far (after 3months in office), he has been quite successful in reducing the homicide rate. Even in safe areas you now see lots of police and military patrolling the streets to keep the areas safe. As a woman supporting human rights, there is one thing I need to mention. El Salvador has one of the most stringent abortion laws in the world. Abortion is strictly forbidden no matter what the circumstances are – if the pregnancy is a result of a rape – the women are forced to go through the pregnancy and give birth to the child – if there is a health issue – still, no termination is allowed. There are even cases of women who suffered a miscarriage or a stillbirth and ended up in prison for it. Miscarriages and stillbirths are unfortunately part of nature and occur more often than one might think. As if losing a baby is not enough, many women are being set on trial for this, which is horrible and a huge violation of human rights. (for further information please visit for example https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/09/el-salvador-fiscala-debe-dejar-criminalizar-evelyn-hernandez/ )