On Thursday, August 8, I entered El Salvador. While I was sitting by the side of the Customs Office eating lunch, someone yelled at me in Spanish that there were lot of hungry people in El Salvador. The usual curious crowd gathered around the bike so, to please everyone, I let a little girl sit on the seat. A woman in the crowd introduced me to a small fruit I had never tasted before. It was very sweet but consisted mostly of seeds and skin. I was not anxious to get started because I knew there was a horrendous climb ahead of me.

        I approached the climb with my usual tactic - ride 200 meters and then rest. I soon started to look for a place to camp. I passed through Las Chinamas and continued the climb until I came to a relatively flat area where I camped for the night.

        The next day in Ahuachapean, I found a banking machine, an internet service and a grocery store where I stocked up on food and water. I then took the four lane paved Highway towards Santa Ana. I quickly made it to Chalchuapa where I stopped in the town square for lunch. After that, I was back on the two-lane Pan American Highway, with no shoulders, heading to San Salvador. That night, I set up camp in the dark and settled into the tent with rain leaking through and dripping on me.

        I stopped in El Congo to get food and water and shoot some video. Out on the Highway, I started on a long downhill section that went on forever. I knew, with the altitude of San Salvador, that I would soon be climbing back up. I decided to stop in Lourdes for the night to rest before the big climb. The only two hotels that I found were of the type that you only stayed for two hours with the local prostitute. However, one of the places let me stay the night for $15 American funds. I then went in search of a restaurant. The only thing available was either Domino's Pizza Campero (a chain that served fried chicken), a Steak House and the usual local Mom & Pop's. I went to the Steak House and found that they had a nice fish dinner with rice, salad and refried beans.