All's Well. Not So Much For Blogger

The blogger server has been s*it lately, I was not able to publish any posts..Sigh. Well, the illness lasted 3 days and then we were off and running!
First was Ruta de la Flores. Two of my cousins, hubby and I were off to follow the Route of the Flowers. El Salvador has brilliantly designated towns or points of interest in certain geographic areas or with common themes as a "route". There are a few: Route of the Flowers, Route of Volcanoes, Route of Peace (more on that one later), Route of the Sugar Cane.

All of these routes are encompassed within a project called "Pueblos Vivos" or "Living Towns" and the major attraction is that tourism is still in its infancy and you are not bombarded by Mayan Spas or Colonial style Mcdonalds restaurants (more on that later also), but actually get to see how people live. This is Flowers route sure delivers. It si in the mountains of the Ahuachapan and Sonsonate Departments on the western side of the country. Here there is a large Nahuatl population who are not living quite in a traditional, aboriginal way, but sure are living in a traditional country side Salvadorean way. The people in this area are of mainly Mayan blood and it's obvious the moment you see them and hear them speak, this area of the country has seen an amazing resurgence in its quality of life because whole towns have become involved in the rebuilding, clean up and security. No one is rich but no one is poor, everyone is happy. A kind of open-market socialist utopia.
Here is a snapshot.

El Salvador's economic engine is micro-businesses. Here is a sample

First Stop on the Route: Izalco (not actually officially on the route but worth seeing.

Izalco Municipal Market. Hard to see but most people in town is 5'5 and under.

Izalco Church, an impressive volcano which erupted non stop for 95+ years sits in the distance behind the church, this day it was covered over.

Second stop, Nahuizalco, 12 Km up the mountain, a heaven for woven arts and artisan creations

This town is completely safe and well taken care of, though having an active volcano nearby has its consequences.

Next. Juayua! Great church and gastronomic fair.

but we were late. Sad times

This is just for the white horse.

Apaneca! On top of the mountain, 23 more kilometers of steep climbing (for the car). This is the rebuilt church after it fell in 2001 in an earthquake

Our hotel on the left.

Sometimes murals are even more beautiful with the passage of time

12 km. down the other side of the Mountain, the last stop of the route. Concepcion de Ataco, This is the view from the cross on the hill.

A kind of easily found route Marker in the forests here.

Ataco's market

Goodbye Salvadoran mountains and hello Guatemala!