El Salvador is a relatively small country and we have been surprised by how near things are. We estimate journey times looking at the map, but then get there in half the time! Another surprise is how different each part of the country we have seen is from the last. Juayua, river of purple orchids, is a small town in the hills surrounded by 11 volcanoes, 6 of which we could see from our hotel window. The area is famous for coffee farms, waterfalls, hot springs and gastronomic fairs. Unfortunately for us, here rainy season really means rainy season and we couldn't explore as much as we would have liked to, although we did visit some other towns, Apenaca and Ataco, and the weekend food fair. But we didn't try roasted iguana nor guinea pig! We took lots of photos of the many murals that decorate the walls of shops and other businesses in each of the towns. Homes are often painted in bright colours and even at this time of the year, their wet season or winter, there are flowers everywhere.

Our hotel was lovely, with a huge garden, a long covered porch with sofas and armchairs to relax and watch the rain in, and a pool. The views were incredible as were the pupusas, which are type of tortilla stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. Cheap and delicious, everyone told is we had to try them! We had our 'tipico' breakfast every morning, eggs, refried beans, and plantain, with strong cups of coffee.
Despite not seeing many of the things we wanted to, we really enjoyed our time there, though Daniel was not to enthusiastic about the horn honking bread salesman who went by, cycling up and down the street, at 6.30 every morning!