San Salvador

El Salvador fills many with visions of war, gangs and general chaos. But from the very first encounter with the border guards (female, she said the Spanish equivalent of "Hello Luv") onwards, El Salvador has been without doubt the friendliest place in Central America. Also in its favour it has the least amount of tourists in the region. In fact I spent Saturday afternoon moseying around San Salvador's bustling city center and did not see a single gringo. Which made me a bit of a novelty as when I chose a tiny comedor in the main plaza for a hamburger and a Pilsener (more plus points for El Salvador, the beer is great and it costs a dollar a bottle), I attracted a small, but fascinated crowd as the Matron D´ clucked around me and kept providing fresh refreshments any time I looked thirsty. I left a couple of hours later, sated and inebriated and 5 dollars lighter for the pleasure.

San S. also has some lovely suburbs (where I stayed), well tended and clean, with an array of bars and restaurants. I headed to El Arfa Irlandes ("The Irish Harp" for those with translation diffuckilties) in the evening, yet again to be the only Gringo there. Well, except for the owner that was. I expected to have the red carpet rolled out, but it turns out the owner is actually German. So there I was in the suburbs of San Salvador in an Irish bar chatting in German as salsa played in the background.

As Vinney would say, the needle on the "Oddometer" was definitely in the red zone that night.