San Salvador and Ahuachipan

We left the coast behind and travelled an hour into the gritty heart of San Salvador. We visited the cathedral and crypt of Msgr. Romero, who spoke out against the military regime and was assassinated in 1980 while giving a sermon. He is iconic in this country.

Mourners outside the cathedral at his funeral were also shot. That’s just a taste of some of the horrific stories from the civil war, which ended in 1992, 25 years ago.

We also saw Rosario church, with a plain structure of concrete but gorgeous light panels inside and art made from the concrete pilings.

Here locals were rounded up again the front of the building and shot. 21 died. Their bodies were pulled into the church by survivors where they were held for days. The floor was dug to try to cover the rotting bodies they were trapped with.

After those uplifting stories we drove on to Ahuachipan, where we stayed at the only hotel in town on the main square.

We walked the cobbled streets to see the town, and there weren’t many restaurants either. Here as in San Salvador we saw uniformed men with big guns and rifles, guarding everything from banks to hotels. I saw two tall slim men in camo with big rifles and balaclavas pulled up to show only their eyes. We went around the corner, came back and they were gone, like ninjas.

We found a Mexican cantina close to the hotel for a few $1 beers and a bit of telenovela watching on a big screen. This was one about drug runners. Tomorrow we will travel on La Ruta de las Flores.