San Salvador, 20 march 2009
Nothing could have prepared me for San Salvador. I enter the city in the dark. From La Libertad (along the coast) it’s only 33 km’s but about 10 km’s are under construction. So I arrive in the dark. The guys at the Texaco are friendly and direct me to a safe hotel according to them. Unfortunately it has no own parking but a guarded parking further down the street. I decide to look further. In between buses I cross the market. in front of the rundown, downtown buildings I pass a layer of one, sometimes 2 or 3 rows of market vendors. The smell of food, diesel and waste are mixed and mostly disgusting. The hotel I aimed for is closed. Going further I ask armed security for directions, eventually I find a nice place. The bike is parked in front of my room and in the hall are two armed guards.
In daytime I visit Oscar Romero’s tomb. He is the bishop who suspended the building of this cathedral to finance projects for the poor and who was killed during a sunday service in 1980 (in 5 days exactly 29 years ago). I always wondered how 3 (or 4) men could enter a church, shoot the man up front and go a without being catched. I know now. The cathedral is in the middle of this crazy market with it’s thousands of vendors, hallways and noise. His tomb is under the cathedral. In the cathedral only a stained window with a dove in between stars made of broken glass, reminds the visitor of it’s bizar history. The possible problems I was warned for due to the elections last sunday, didn’t occur, although a party won that were ligitimate targets in Romero’s days and were a Dutch journalist was also killed for (see e.g. oliver Stone’s movie ‘San Salvador´). The times they are a changing, also here, slowly.
My route goes on via the Panamerican on to San Miguel and the border with Honduras.
