Coming to El Salvador? Guatemala?
 

If you are in a "hurry" to get through to Mexico, please do not contact me, I try to assist those staying around at least couple days or more..to me people are more important than destinations, timetables and machines.

Please don't e mail me, I hate puters, on an hour or two a day, when you message me I'll give you my cell phone, if you need to contact me you will..if not Buen Viaje.

If you break down, need to buy spare parts, I live in the district of San Salvador where Moto and Vehicle parts are sold. Always carry along your old part as a sample

Not a Biker, long term Ex Pat resident, lots of local biker friends in El Salvador/Guatemala

The El Salvador Moto
Sport Website..in Spanish, but some of these guys
speak English, they ride almost every weekend.

http://motosportelsalvador.blogspot.com/

If you Surf, the Beaches of El Salvador are the best world class surfing in Central America, season begins in May 2009, May is when it starts to rain through October.

Bring your rain gear for riding!!!!! Usually rains late afternoon/late night almost every day.


Your best bet if coming South from Guatemala or North from Nicaragua through Honduras is the Carretera Litoral, Coast Highway CA-2 from La Union in the east through the Surfing Beaches of La Libertad, park your Bike safely in your hostal, don't camp alone on Beaches unless a private area where you have owner's permission. A great site that highlights camping areas from Panama to Mexico (written for the RV ers) is camping in mexico - rv trip - central america tour - guatemala tourism as well our own non profit org based in El Salvador offers camping at the Rain Forest in Cinquera view: Welcome Our offices in the capital city are located in a secure parking lot if wishing to visit us, we are able to send you to some rural eco tourism spots with a personal referral, if coming to visit us. Roads are better in El Salvador than in over rated Costa Rica, neighboring Guatemala, if you have a few more days to spend, actulally offers more than CR at half the prices!
If planning to stay awhile, there are times best to park your Bike and take public transport. All Volcano Tours in ES and Guatemala now provide security escorts for safety, lone travellers, those without native guide/security are not allowed to climb or ride Volcanoes, in ES show up at Cerro Verde National Park Tuesday-Sunday before 11AM, Guide and National Tourist Police
In Guatemala book a Pacaya Volcano Day Tour at any travel agency in Antigua.
Don't brag and run your mouth to strangers on the road nor travellers in hostels either! Keep a low profile. Don't give out your itinerary or where you are lodging to locals or travelers you may meet casually, say in bars. Never leave your bike too long in a public place or on the road, thieves just come by in pick ups, Throw your locked bike on back, and sell it for parts.

More info. More suprises..El Salvador & Guatemala Mayan World!!!!!

Story and Bloq Courtesy of
Tim's El Salvador Blog: What El Salvador has to offer tourists
And
Welcome To Cinquera - El Salvador, Central America and Mexico - V!VA List - unbiased community-created guides
And
Welcome
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“A Little Risk, Stunning Reward in El Salvador”

To make comments on this article and to view slideshow clic on url:
A Little Risk, Stunning Reward in El Salvador - washingtonpost.com
A Little Risk, Stunning Reward in El Salvador

**This Information Bloq Courtesy of:
Welcome
'Welcome to Cinquera in El Salvador'
Rural Eco and Cultural Tourism, Native Crafts and
more... contact our
organization via our webpages if interested..
¡Le Esperamos….con gusto!
Feel free to contact us via the website at any time..
English,
español, Deutsch, italiano, français
.
ARDM
Asociación de Reconstrucción y Desarrollo Municipal
Barrio El Centro, frente al Parque,
Cinquera, Departamento de Cabañas, El Salvador, C. A.
Organización sin fines de lucro. Non Profit Organization.
Saludos y buen viaje
Bienvenido a El Salvador

Why not El Salvador and Guatemala??
Guatemala - The Director of INGUAT, Institute of
Tourism of Guatemala,
estimates that is possible for the country to reach an
increase of 3
to 4 percent in the tourism industry for 2009.
The current financial crisis in developed countries
could make
Guatemala, neighboring El Salvador and the rest of
Central America a
very attractive travel destination suiting all
budgets.
World renowned publications like
Forbes Magazine and others have described how much
'bang you get for
your travel buck' in Guatemala.
Guatemala's advantage is that we are
considerably cheaper than Costa Rica and we have much
more to offer.
Actually factual.
Pacific Ocean destinations like Monterrico are a
favored tourist hot
spot. The new surfing madness brings young visitors to
the beaches.
There is sports fishing, a newly developed industry
that is taking of
with great success, so are the newly discovered
opportunities for
whale watching.
For water and adventure lovers there is river rafting
in river Cahabon
and many others.
Guatemala will have the usual culture travelers. The
Mayan culture is
a magnet that brings hundreds of people from all over
the world to
explore Tikal, Chichicastenango and many archeological
sites all over
the country. One of the favorites is Tak alik ab Aj,
down on the
pacific coast near Rethaluleu.. There are so many sites
that the time
is usually not enough to visit them all.
El Salvador
El Salvador boasts 'The Pompei of the Americas' Joya de
Ceren, the
Pyramids of San Andres and Tzumal and the recently
excavated Ruins of
Ciuhatan, City of Women.
Back in Guatemala, for nature lovers, Bird watching
tours are also a
trend that is
developing, so is the visit to the natural reserves
like Laguna del Tigre
and la Lechua.
In El Salvador don't miss the nature preserve of
Parque
El Imposible and the Cloud Forest of Montecristi in
Parque El
Trifunio, summit is located where the borders of El
Salvador,
Guatemala and Honduras meet. On a clear day one can
view the Heart of
Central America from the Carribbean to the Pacific!
Awesome! No
'tourist hordes'
Lake Atitlan in the Highlands of Guatemala is more
majestic than ever,
it is recommended as a
phenomenal natural wonder and some funky tourist towns
like Panajachel
and San Marcos, a pristine Lake village, where
continental travelers
have a lot of fun and rub shoulders with our "Living
Maya".
And
Antigua is as beautiful and charming as ever.
more Guatemala details on:
Guatemala
and those of you interested in Coffee please read:
Coffee
by Tony Ryals, Tostaduria Antigua, Guatemala acrooss from The Rainbow
Travel Agency offices. Open 930AM or so until dark.

In El Salvador 330 km. (220 miles) of unbroken pristine
Pacific
beaches, bays, islands and mangroves await, along with
World class
surfing, and yes El Salvador boasts charming colonial
towns such as
Suchitoto, indingenous villages of Panchimalco and
Santo Domingo de
Guzman , volcanoes, cloud forests and much much more..
Uncrowded.
The world is in crisis, so is Guatemala, so is El
Salvador, so is the
rest of Central America, so what!
Tourism, travel must go on. Tourism is a
motor for development.
The recommendations or precautions to not visit
Guatemala and even
more so El Salvador are unfair
and geopolitically motivated.
The following lists of countries are
promoted to the wazoo by "the powers to be" and they
share every
single problem that both Guatemala & El Salvador
possess; some of them
additionally have
terrorism. Really. Sad but true.
China, India, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Indonesia,
Russia, Vietnam,
Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, are all
on the list of
the 50 most visited countries in the world. Last time
we checked they
had crime, drugs, human rights violations, organized
crime, poverty,
inequality; etc.
So what makes Guatemala and El Salvador different from
these other
countries? One
thing: the patronage they have, the promotion they get.
"PR" Rumors
and bad press are nothing more than cheap online
gossip, written
mainly by those who never even have traveled to
Guatemala, El Salvador
or the rest of Central America!

There are of course security issues, as everywhere one
will travel way
from home, however out of thousands of visitors evey
month only a
handful experience problems and even some of those are
preventable by
using common sense and being aware!

Entonces, le esperamos……

*The week that Mumbai in India was taken hostage by
terrorist, 'CNN'
ran advertisements to promote "The exotic adventure of
India".
Colombia, who still exports the same amount of drugs as
10 years ago,
is also being promoted in the US, sponsored by the US.
The same
applies for Mexico, never mind the atrocities of the
internal drug war
that is now spilling over its borders.
*So, if anyone can give me a specific reason to not
visit Guatemala or
neighboring El Salvador, or Honduras or Nicaragua if
you prefer, using
comparative objective criteria, I will listen.
¡Digame!

The Myth: "El Salvador is the most dangerous country
for travelers in
Central America...."
The Reality: NOT SO, even in the congested capital city
of San
Salvador are many small and affordable Guest Houses,
Bed & Breakfast
and small Hotels catering to budget travelers on
pleasant tree lined
streets, in fact, next to San José in Costa Rica, San
Salvador, El
Salvador turns out to be the safest and most pleasant
capital city to
base in, in all of Central America, the Beaches of La
Libertad are a
45 minute drive or less and Suchitoto is about an hour.
Slightly more
time on public transportation. The entire country can
be seen in a few
days, no 'all day' bus rides or drives, where you
arrive exhausted.
People are friendly here in El Salvador, willing to
help out travelers
in a pinch. There exist now in El Salvador dozens of CS
members, so if
traveling here try to contact a few CS hosts well in
advance of your
arrival, especially if arriving holiday seasons such as
December & New
Years. Neighboring Guatemala and nearby Costa Rica
boast many CS
members while the number of members in Nicaragua has
almost tripled in
recent months.

'Traveling to Central America made easy'!
I, a long term El Salvador resident, am suprised
myself, despite the
ongoing 'bad press' and 'bad rep' of El Salvador, how
many travelers
are now making El Salvador their first or second
Central American
destination. Few go away dissapointed.
Of course there exist serious security issues in many
parts of Latin
America so be aware, especially when traveling alone,
and use common
sense.
The more Spanish one knows, the easier it gets, the
more common sense
one uses, Spanish skills or not, the less complicated
travel becomes.
Amazing!
As a resident, former guide and historian in the Mundo
Maya region, of
which El Salvador and it's MAYAN RUINS are an integral part, well
if you do not
believe me.....
El Salvador Mayan Ruins
Mayan Ruins in El Salvador
mayan ruins
El Salvador’s Mayan Ruins Enhance Its Scenic Landscape
Joya de Cerén - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taking a chance on El Salvador | ajc.com
'One Man's Love Affair with El Salvador & Guatemala - El Salvador
--------------------------------------------------------------
About Suchitoto in El Salvador

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081018.STRATFORD...
(English)
From Tim's El Salvador Bloq
luterano.blogspot.com/2008/10/making-suchitoto-center-for-th...
(English)

To find out more about Suchitoto and El Salvador visit
the web sites
Suchitoto, El Salvador Tourism Information and The Other El Salvador Home Page
English/Español

The 'Really Real' El Salvador we know and love!
Don't miss this super travelouge!!!!!
SuperTouch » Blog Archive » ROAD TRIPPIN’///SURFCHASING///KELSEY BROOKES ON THE LOOSE IN EL SALVADOR…
-------------------------------------------------------------
A Bloq on Driving through Central America
http://www.southboundtravels.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An article of mine on Cinquera, a village in Central
America (one of
our pilot projects on Rural Ecotourism/Cultural &
Historic sites here
in El Salvador) enjoy.
Welcome To Cinquera - El Salvador, Central America and Mexico - V!VA List - unbiased community-created guides

Surf this lengthy and informative website for Central
America only information:
AlfaTravelGuide.com - Central America hotels and travel
in English, Spanish, Svenska

An interesting virtual tour of El Salvador on...
elsalvadorvirtualtour.com site made by a Taiwnese Company!
San Salvador, SV Hotels Motels & Lodging in San Salvador, El Salvador
and
Cityguides-worldwide.com - cityguides worldwide Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
A great site for Budget-Moderate travel has many other
El Salvador city pages such as: Suchitoto, the
Colonial City where this website is based….
Suchitoto, El Salvador Tourism Information
San Salvador city guide….An amazing city with lots of
cultural and night life!
Cityguides-worldwide.com - cityguides worldwide Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Upload in pdf the 'Guatemala Revue Magazine'
online….
You shall view many, many Adverts and a few very
excellent
Articles on this on line edition, same as print
edition, which will
give one a good overview of
Guatemalan and El Salvadorian travel, all the articles
Are archived. Also Honduras and Belize Sections
pdf format only
url: Revue Magazine

"Don't EVER go up a volcano alone. Tours are cheap and
they
have some kind of guard."……" in El Salvador
escorted Volcano Tours..guide and tourist police at no
extra charge..tipping expected..depart from the main
gate of Cerro Verde National park every day except
Mondays.
In Guatemala book tours, transportation with security and guide through
Rainbow Room (best)...Guatemala Reservations... or other
travel agencies in Antigua view their adverts on Revue Magazine
Antigua Section-Travel.
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NEVER NEVER CAMP OUT WHERE THERE IS NO SECURITY, NOR IN
AREA
WHERE YOU HAVE NO PERMISSION FROM PROPERTY OWNER.....
If planning to camp in Central America, and not driving
nor renting a
vehicle best to have a travel companion or two or three
and carry
durable tents..if on a low budget and taking 'chicken
buses' in and
out of remote areas this may be often a difficult
task...in some cases
best to pool funds and rent a 4WD for a few days or a
week..
Best site to contact locals who know camping spots in
or near their
local area CouchSurfing - Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time Couch Surfing Hospex Portal
Now many members in El Salvador, mostly locals and even more members in Guatemala, check out. Non profit.

Two websites with informating on camping and
'boondocking' (may
include parking lots of Shopping Malls or Luxury
Resorts!) in Central
America are:
camping in mexico - rv trip - central america tour - guatemala tourism Has list of campsites Mexico &
Central America
and
index Good information and links.
Also Drive to Costa Rica | Drive to Mexico | Drive to Central America | Panamerica Highway
New camping group online:
http://findingfinn.com/group/camping
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SAFETY AGAIN……
Remember you are not at home, where you know where and
when to go or
NOT to go..locals on the street in many places in Latin
America will
often give contrary advice and directions if you are
lost, usually
just to be polite…ask directions in large stores, schools or local government offices if lost.

The writer's own Words…..
For El Salvador and the rest of Central America the
warnings about the same, same old, same old:
**don't walk alone or in pairs after dark and take a
taxi home (if you don't have a ride)even if your
lodging place is only three or four blocks away,
sometimes it only takes 50 meters outside the bar or
night spot if thieves are following you and they hit
hard and fast.

**Be especially aware, never paranoid, in second/third
class bus terminals, crowded outdoor markets and city
bus stops, never carry a digital camera or laptop on
public
transport unless concealed. Between countries take the
international Tica Bus or other first class bus lines,
remember all of the thieves now have cell phones, most
travelers do not carry cell phones away from home so
try and
keep a low profile, blend in if possible, got it?

THIS IS IMPORTANT, SAD BUT TRUE.........
"The Police don't really care much if you are
injured in a crime, just as at home, the police
usually have more pressing things to deal with, and
the Consuls at the Embassies have seen hundreds of
Police Reports and issued many new Passports for a
hefty fee! Never carry your passport unless driving vehicle or leaving
the country, carry a scanned photocopy."