8/2/10 - day 61.

up at half 7 for a moving on day. destination Guatemala. got a bus just after 8 up to ahuachapan, which goes via a stretch of road called the ''ruta de las flores''. this stretch of road is infamous for being all flowery and green this time of year, and it is also home to 2 pretty little towns called apaneca and ataco which is goes through. from ahuachapan i jumped straight on a bus to santa ana, where i had to endure the worst 'entertainment' ever. some dude singing about jesus with the worst voice ive ever heard. it was like when the put the joke people on the x factor. so screechy and whiny, i was physically squirming in my seat. im pretty sure (and hopeful) no one gave him any money.

got to santa ana just before 11 and again was lucky to be able to get straight onto my next bus to metapan. took an hour and a half to get to alguita which is where i got my final el salvadoran bus to the guatemalan border. another incredibly quite border crossing, seemingly being to only person there, and then i had to wait half an hour for a bus to esquipulas which is where i was staying the night due to its convenient location to break up my journey.

it should have been about an hour to get there but the bus driver was a frustrating one. he faffed about along the way dropping people off that im sure werent on the route, like going to there houses as favours it seemed, as he knew them personally. alright fair enough, an extra 20-30 minutes i can let slide. but when he took another detour to another little town, pulled up, went and got his lunch and sat there leisurely eating it, (apparently oblivious to the fact he had passengers) while i sat inside, hungry, tired and by this point, fuming, i was about ready to slap him.

finally got to esquipulas at nearly 4pm. found an ok, basic, cheap cell for the night, showered and went for a massive plate of chinese food. esquipulas is pretty much only known for one thing - the basilica - which is a massive, white 250 year old church which stands out a mile. there's a ''black christ'' in there which some dude in 1737 pilgrimaged his way to in 1737 and got cure of whatever disease he had. since then people have been doing the same thing and on holidays and sundays the place is rammed. people were appraoching it on their knees and this was what i saw when i went for a peek.

later i went for a wander about the town and the markets, nothing special. had a rather tasty strawberry ''licuado'' then went back to my pod around 9pm for bed, a walk on which a hobo spied me and followed me for part of. i picked up the pace though and his tired hungry body could not keep up luckily.