Well, even though it’s been 2 months since I got home, this was just one of those things to catch up with… Ironically, today is exactly one year after I set my sails to Panama - the rest is history (and rather unplanned :))

So, here’s a little overview of semi-useless data - after all that’s the kind of stuff I wrote down here all the time so why break this tradition at the very end, right!? Here we go, one more time… (sorry for not putting up a decent table… blame Wordpress!)

So the million-dollar question (or 28 Euro, that’s the subscription fee for this website ;))for now is: is this where it ends? The answer is short and simple: NO! After a month of boredom I found a job in a utility company (this one - for those that can be bothered) and can now start “walking new roads”… for the time being I’m keeping the details to myself, but there’s new stuff coming down! At the moment I’m working on ReneMiltenburg.Com v2.0 (myboringlife.com was already taken so I’m sticking to this one ;)), which should reveal a bit more of the details. All I can say is: keep coming back - at some point you’ll be surprised ;)

Many thanks to all of you for your interest so far - even though comments don’t show up, this site attracted more visitors than the average hey-i-am-going-on-a-trip-and-use-a-free-cheesy-unoriginal-prefab-website-such-as-waarbenjij.nu webpage :)

-René

Right - new article, new country: Bienvenidos a El Salvador! It`s a relatively small and well-developed hub in Central America… also it`s supposed to be the most violent country in the region - sounds like fun! ;) It seems like there aren`t too many tourists here (apart from the beaches) but nonetheless there`s plenty of stuff to do, so let`s take off…

The border crossing between Guatemala and El Salvador (known as Anguiatú) was the most intriguing until now. While crossing, loads and loads of questions ran through my head: “Why am I being let through without trouble?” , “Where are the 25 bicycle-taxi-guys that try to run off with my bag?” , “Where are the regular 50 money-changers?” , “Why is nobody trying to rip me off in general?” and “Why is the migracion-guy not trying to make me pay some non-existent tax?”. Very strange. A little scary, even.

Once I got into El Salvador it was another walk to a point where buses (to Santa Ana) would pass. Fortunately I ended up in some funny watering hole; while waiting for the bus I got into a talk with a guy that threw about half a month salary into the jukebox, only to hear this song over and over again. Welcome to El Salvador - woo-hoo! :)

I decided to hit the western highlands first, in an area called “Ruta de las Flores”. That`s right: lots of flowers, but no hippes. Crashed down in a town named Juayua, which is mainly famous for its food fair. You could probably guess: I stuffed up quite a bit! Next day decided to rent a bike and visit the following spots:

Apaneca: A nice climb up (what the hell happened to my physical condition!?) - the town is quiet but nice. Had fun watching a colourful procession with locals - after all it was Semana Santa!

Laguna (not so) Verde: Crater lake in a volcano, just outside Apaneca. Nothing verde about it as it was blue :) Makes a nice ride though and chatting with locals was - as always - fun!

Concepción de Ataco: Upon entering the town I instantly noticed one thing: everyone was smiling! It took an instant to realise why; never seen so many colourfully painted houses together. If you´re in a bad mood, go here - a cure is guaranteed! Even I was smiling at the end :) Trivia: Missed the entrance to town and as a result had to bike an extra 5km uphill. Could use the exercise though!

Next day agreed to climb a waterfall - something different from all the swimming, right? :) My assumption the climb would be up proved to be wrong; we went down instead! No secured ropes, belts or other gear, it was all bare hand- and foot-work for the 15-20m difference in height. One word: amazing! Later on my guide told me he was one of very few people that were allowed to guide this tour, and even then not many people did it. I asked him why and the answer was as simple as astonishing: A short while ago a large group of guides and tourists got killed down there. Ever since it`s been quiet… even though locals figured out who did it and “took care” of the problem. I don`t want to know any more details…

As Easter weekend was approaching, which basically means all of Central America`s infrastructure gets jammed, I decided to chill out at a spot I really miss: the beach! Playa San Diego became the place of choice; not too crowded, nice waves and a really cool place to hang out!

As this trip continues, I moved back to the mountains, slowly digging into El Salvador`s history. Stay tuned for more news… soon!

-René

[Show as slideshow]

Juayua - heart of town

Biking material

Procession Apaneca - nice dresses btw! :)

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