The Land of Bukele (El Salvador, 2025)

After moving to Austin after graduation, Central America became a light skip, hop, and a jump away. So, I decided to take a solo trip to El Salvador and Guatemala. The flights went through Houston and were quite affordable, especially for an international journey.

I struggled getting through immigration after stumbling through the questions in Spanish (and unknowingly admitted to having over $10,000USD on me), but after a smooth Uber ride, I made it to San Salvador in the blistering heat. Instead of getting a standard hostel, I decided to splurge and got a room at Hotel Citlalli in the famous Zona Rosa district. Everyone there was very friendly and the fact that there was someone at the door 24/7 was great. After stumbling through somemore Spanish to ask for a pupuseria recommendation from the front desk, I walked to the Bambu City Center mall to try Tipicos Margoth, which is a local traditional chain in San Salvador. I opted for a traditional lunch (consisting of a tamale, plantain, and a roll) and a bean-and-cheese pupusa. Since the entire interaction here was in Spanish (common in El Salvador), I was little worried about the ordering and eating process, but everyone was so nice and helped me out. A pupusa is an El Salvadoran classic: a thick corn tortilla traditionally stuffed with cheese, beans, and/or pork. This was my first time having them, and it was delicious! Combining them with the traditional vinegar-y salsa and fermented vegetables made them so much better (although I was scared for my stomach). Photos are included in the slideshow below of a pupusa and a pupusa-maker for reference.

Afterwards, I took an uber to Parque Cuscatlán, which was the start of a free walking tour hosted by Dave from GuruWalks. The uber driver was so friendly and was visibly overjoyed by the fact that I was a tourist visiting his country and city. The park was beautiful and bustling with kids playing soccer, a martial arts class going on, and families going on walks. I met Dave in the center and we soon gathered a small group of about 10 people, after which we started the tour.

Dave was extremely passionate and genuinely in love with his country, which was amazing to see. As a side note, the turnaround this country has had in the last 5 years is nothing short of a success story. The country once known as the homicide capital of the world was now safer than my current city of Austin! He, and many others, attribute it to the former mayor of San Salvador and current President of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele. He noted that the beautiful park used to be a crime-ridden, run-down area that people would avoid at all costs. And now, it was bustling with families and children.

Throughout the tour, which included famous churches, buildings, schools, markets, and the city center square, he noted the improvement that the city has gone through in the last half-decade. It was apparent the impact that Bukele and his allies have had on this country’s residents. Halfway through, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and tried an El Salvadoran quesadilla: it was more like a cheesy, sesame seed-topped cake rather than a tortilla filled with cheese. I think I prefer a mexican-style quesadilla but it was a great opportunity to try these local dishes.

We ended the tour in the bustling city square, which was gearing up for a night 10K run, complete with neon lights everywhere and runners warming up outside the Palacio Nacional. When I pictured El Salvador, I did NOT expect a neon-lit square with thousands of people walking around at 10 PM on a Saturday. During the walking tour, I met other solo travellers, and a few of us went to get some more pupusas for dinner (from Dave’s recommendation). It was cool to chat with a teacher from California, a biologist from the UK (Jasmine), and a student from Germany (Niels), while having amazing pupusas (this time, with garlic, so it tasted like a pizza). Afterwards, Jasmine, Niels and I visited the National Library. It was a funding project from China (Belt and Road Initiative!), open 24/7, and featured 6 stories. It felt futuristic and I was jealous of their library system, compared to American libraries that close at 6 PM on weekends.

The library was unique, even having a video game section and a balcony to look out into the square, although not as many books as we thought. After checking out all the stories of the library, we headed down to see the start of the 10K run, and enjoyed the fireworks at the starting line. Our last stop of the night was a tour of the National Palace, which was unfortunately in Spanish. It was a cool palace and had some great pine trees, but I was exhausted and could barely understand the guide, so we left early and caught an Uber back to our accomodations.

The next morning, I woke up early to a hearty breakfast of eggs, plantains, beans, bread, and strong coffee at my hotel. It was the perfect pick-me-up before being picked up by my Viator tour guide for a day trip through the Ruta de las Flores—a set of scenic and colorful colonial towns. I was joined by an Indian-American couple from Seattle on a quick weekend trip to El Salvador. About an hour later, we reached the first town of Nahuizalco. We walked through the local market, which felt a lot like a market from India. Our guide, Gerson, even got us a small, acidic, fruit called a pocote to try. The city was so colorful; even the cemetary we walked to was colorful and more of a celebration of life than a depressing reminder of death. The dormant volcanoes in the distance were picturesque and the vibes were great.

Our next stop was Juayua, where we took picture with a gigantic yellow python, visited a beautiful church, and had a traditional lunch at the markets. I had to balance being respectful and finishing the delicious fresh food and avoiding potential digestive dangers. Afterwards, we headed to a coffee tasting spot at Entre Nubes, stopping along the way at a lookout point high above the lush greenery with dozens of dormant volcanoes in the distance. The coffeeshop itself was also beautiful and a bright atmosphere that made the coffee experience 10x better. The barista would brew various coffees and ask us for the underlying notes, but I could not correctly guess a single one. It all tasted like coffee to me! I guess I wasn’t the intended audience, but it was a great time and the coffee was strong and fresh.

The last stop on the route was Ataco, a beautiful mural-draped city. We visited a church, did some souvenir shopping, and even ended by trying some local chicha made by storekeeper that was friends with our guide. This local alcoholic drink was very vinegary and quite strong. After a short drive back, it was time for some more pupusas! I revisited Tipicos Margoth, this time armed with the confidence of how to order and eat. I tried some more exotic types of pupusas, both in terms of the flour used (yucca) and the flavor (jalapeño). Even though it took a long time for the food to arrive, I was entertained by the illegally-stremed Cavs-Grizzlies game they were playing. The pupusas (which cost less than $3 for two) were delicious and hit the spot after a long day.

Afterwards, even though I was full, I realized it was my last night in El Salvador and decided to have Dinner 2.0. I stopped at the nearby Relajo Cocina Salvadoreña for some yucca fries. They were okay, but nothing special. I’ve had had better yucca fries from Austin to be honest. My last stop was, of course, McDonald’s, to try some of their menu items that weren’t available in the US. The first feature of this McDonald’s that was a little different was an armed guard (with an AR15-style gun) at the door. These guards were present all over the place after nightfall in San Salvador, especially around the National Library area, but seeing one outside of McDonald’s was a little off-putting. I got a cheese pie and some pops (similar to donut holes) and walked back to my hotel.

Along the way, I passed a massive Google campus and the famous Barceló hotel. Even then, the walk back was still a little nerve-wracking. There were many spots that were open 24/7 and had armed guards stationed nearby, but were also completely empty at 9 PM on Sunday. It was very strange, and seeing a vehicle marked as “US Embassy Security” drive by added to the feeling. Ultimately, I was in the richest part of a city with a crime rate lower than Austin, so there is and was no reason to be worried.

My McDonald’s verdict: the cheese pie was delicious but the pops were definitely a miss. I packed my things, and enjoyed my last night with a private room and bathroom for the next week.

After a smooth check-out and Uber ride to the airport, I got a pain au chocolat for breakfast and boarded my short flight to Guatemala City.

El Salvador was a spur-of-the-moment addition to the trip, and I’m so glad I made it. It’s a beautiful country with beautiful food, beautiful views, and beautiful people.

Takeaways

• The people in El Salvador are some of the nicest and proudest people around. They love the fact that tourists want to see their homeland
• Pupusas are amazing and literally 5-10x cheaper than in the US. You’re not doing it right if you’re not eating this for every meal
• Free walking tours are great options to explore a city and meet other travellers
• San Salvador is now one of the safest cities in Central America and the world, but it will take a while to lose its old reputation
• You WILL improve your Spanish skills, whether you like it or not. Besides English tour guides, I had zero English interactions with locals

Rose-Bud-Thorn

Rose (what went well): I had a great time meeting some really interesting people, including friendly locals, other solo travelers, and even digital nomads working remotely. From uber drivers to tour guides to shopkeepers, everyone was more than happy to help out, even with a language barrier. It made the trip anxiety go away completely
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): I definitely overspent on this trip in a couple ways. Staying in a hotel was relaxing but definitely not needed (and my nerves about staying in a hostel in San Salvador were baseless), and taking an organized trip through Viator for Ruta de Las Flores could have been circumvented. The experiences themselves were great, though they clashed with my identity as a “rugged solo traveler”
Thorn (what did not go well): A common theme on this blog. TIME. I regret treating El Salvador like an afterthought to my Guatemala trip (6 days/2 days split been Guatemala and El Salvador), and a couple more days doing some volcano hikes, exploring Santa Ana, and even visiting the beach would have been great. While my trip was constrained by the amount of PTO I had, I could have balanced my time better, such as spending my second night and some extra time in Santa Ana.