El Salvador

As we took the ferry to leave Isla Ometepe there was literally a plague of flies that swarmed around the port and covered everything. Apparently they are quite common here especially after rain but luckily they don't bite. The worst thing they do is fly up your nostrils, and in my case into your ears and mouth - yum! We spent half a day in the colourful colonial city of Granada before heading on to El Salvador. Our plan was to make it to the mountain top village of Alegria but our bus river and some of the locals on the bus advised us that the area was well dodgy so we headed for the capital San Salvador instead.

Here's an extract from the Lonely Planet travel guide about the city.

"Crime is a serious problem in San Salvador...violence continues to permeate all of El Salvador. The crime tally rose last year including an increase in murders (3,596) and extortion. ..gang violence looms large..travellers may see headlines of gang wars, meet survivers of the civil war or bump into a rifleman guarding the village ice cream parlor."

We had a security guard with a shotgun at our hotel and the place had a big iron gate locked after 10pm. Although I'm a hardened Dubliner and a Northsider at that, it's hard not to be intimidated here especially as you don't see many other tourists. The locals are extremely friendly and curious however. We hit the road again - Next stop Honduras.

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