Yesterday we got a taxi one hour west to Costa del Sol. We had heard that it was really beautiful and very cheap - it wasn't really either of these things. As soon as we got there we realised that the beach was blocked by hotels or big houses built right in front of it.
The hotel we had reccomended to us was unheard of by everyone that we asked, so we just stopped at the second hotel we found (US35 for a triple, which is pretty expensive considering the room had no windows and was filthy). We dumped our stuff in the room and went for a walk on the beach. To get there, we had to walk down a tiny alley-way that stunk of rotting food. The beach its self was pretty horrible too - there was rubbish everywhere, the sand was brown and the waves looked very unpredictable.
We were all in a pretty bad mood by this stage - annoyed by the cost of everything in El Salvador (prices have gone up since they brought in the US dollar), tired from the heat and disappointed that everything we had been told about Costa del Sol seemed to be wrong.
After a beer by the beach, we headed back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. We also asked the staff to clean the room for us, which was important considering there was what looked like mouse poo everywhere!
We decided to leave Costa del Sol the next day and head back to San Salvador where we could book a bus to Nicaragua for the 20th.
For dinner we went down the road to a tiny little beach-side commodore (local eatery) for fish, rice, salad and tortias. It was delicious, but expensive compared to the prices in the rest of Central America. Then we bought some drinks and supplies and went back to the hotel to swim in the pool again.
That evening we made friends with three Salvadorian kids who were staying at the hotel with their aunt. They were so cute and even though there was a language barrier, I still managed to communicate with them and we spent the evening going down the slide, jumping into the pool in silly ways and laughing. They LOVED Alex because she could speak to them in their language and was was making them laugh. She was really good with them. She took the youngest child down the big slide, on her lap. She absolutely loved it, it was adorable. :)
In the morning we were all feeling tired and sick, and as soon as we woke up we packed our bags, called the taxi to take us back to San Salvador and went out for breakfast -fish, rice and salad again.
I started feeling really sick half way through breakfast. I've been getting TERRIBLE back pain ever since I arrived in Guatemala and I think the pain killers I've been taking are making me feel nauseous. :( Hopefully when we get to Nicaragua, I can find a doctor or something (I read that they have a lot of red cross clinics there, that welcome travelers), until then I just have to put up with it - it's not so bad that I can't bear it, I'm sure I'll manage.
The trip back into San Salvador was quick and it was nice to be in a car with the wind rushing through the windows and cooling us down. We booked into the same hotel when we got back and that's where we are now.
This afternoon we tried to book the bus tickets for Nicaragua, but were told we needed our passports. We can still book, if we get to the bus station tomorrow at 4:20am (the bus is at 5:15am). They said there should be enough seats. I hope we all get enough rest before then because we're all feeling pretty crappy. :/ The humidity is a big factor I think, but that will only get worse in Nicaragua...
