El Salvador

My day started at 3:30 am, then flights to Calgary and Houston. A 5 hour layover there was not so bad with my Priority Pass lounge card (comes with Royal Bank Avion visa, highly recommended!). The flight to San Salvador was bumpy and noisy, with most of the passengers friendly Salvadoreans with screaming kids.

I was talked into checking my carry on bag for the last leg of the trip, and was relieved to no longer have to lug it around, but still had separation issues since I really dislike arriving to no bag. But after customs I quickly found my bag, then exited to the warm still night to immediately find a girl holding a sign with my name. I’m staying at a hotel in Playa El Tunco, 50 km from the airport, and had contacted the hotel who agreed to pick me up for less than what I expected to pay for a taxi ($30). Due to a currency devaluation a few decades ago, the US $ is used here. 

A guy in a pickup truck with windows rolled down drove me along deserted roads to the beach (playa in Spanish). In my limited Spanish I asked him where San Salvador was, since the airport is outside the city, and he showed me where it was 38 km in a different direction. San Salvador is one of the most dangerous cities in the world, with daily violent crime, so I had been relieved to know I was skipping it.

We reached the town where the roads were lined with small vehicles. This place is a weekend getaway for the wealthier city folk, and it’s Saturday night. At the entrance to a road with my hotel name on it, my driver handed me off to another guy who grabbed my bags and dumped me in my room. It was around 11 pm by now. In my room I could hear sound much like our blizzard last week, but it turned out to be the pounding surf close to my balcony. I changed quickly to see what was up at this place, but after walking down the lonely gated road seeing only the luggage guy, I decided I should just go to sleep. Back at the room the key would not work. So, back to the luggage guy who I asked to help, which he did, and then explained that he was just security and showed me his gun. No no not that, a real gun tucked into the back of his pants.