Suchitoto El Salvador

Suchitoto you are a wee gem. And you have great coffee. 

I had nothing planned for this morning other than a lie in and pancakes for breakfast at 10:00. I set the alarm clock for 9:00 but I needn’t have bothered. 

No dog, no rooster but the peal of the church bells at 7:00am put paid to that. It wasn’t all bad, I got to hear the excitement of my group who were partying till late last night but up early for their hike today. 

It gave me time for a few coffees, doing some of my morning puzzles/lessons before I wandered off into the town. 

Just a small place which revolves around a central square bordered with cafes, restaurants and a beautiful church. 

As I write I’m looking out to the square and can hear a church service on one side and some Latino music on the other. It is magical. People all nod, smile or give me a good morning welcome.  

The markets were cool, food neatly divided from other goods and a foodhall upstairs. 

There are obviously tourists around as there are a number of tourist stalls but it looks like the locals shop at the central markets which not only have food, clothing, household stuff but a food hall as well. I’m kinda regretting ordering pancakes for breakfast now. 

My espresso at La Casa de Abuela packs a punch. Coffee is so good this part of the world and I am always tempted to buy some. But then I have to carry it! It stays here. We have superb coffee at home anyway. 

I went back to the hotel for a very average breakfast of fat pancakes and bruised fruit. It was dead quiet and I decided to have a quick nana nap while I had the chance. Well the church bells had other ideas. It seems they ring whenever the feel like it or when I close my eyes. 

The pool beckoned so swimsuit garnered and off I went. A couple of people from our group who didn’t go on this morning hike were there and just me so it was a great way to spend a bit of relaxation time. 

The rest of the group soon returned from the hike and were in the square dining. I wasn’t hungry but joined them anyway and ordered an avocado dip. Sadly it was kiwi style mixed with dairy so I left it to the others. I was strongly persuaded to try a bit of sausage from someones plate. I feel that sort of persuasion needs some retaliation so thanks Shaun but the coke was better than the sausage. 

Everyone disappeared after lunch to catch up on sleep but I kept wandering. What a pretty wee place. The views down to the lake were spectacular if not a bit blurry being quite a distance away. 

The money museum was as boring as hell but with some beautiful birds flitting around. They just wouldn’t keep still for me to grab a pic.  Nor would the cat with the bluest eyes. 

I wanted to go see how the indigo dyes were produced but the only thing on offer was a chance to make a tie died scarf with indigo die for USD35. Yeah! Nah!  But whilst in the shop I tried on a cute ring and then couldn’t get it off so am now the proud owner of a wee silver ring not too dissimilar to one I have at home. 
I kept wandering. It is very cute. 

It was getting hot. The sun burns but quite differently to what it does at home so I headed for home, had a quick dip and here I am again. 

Tonight we have a cooking lesson making Pupusas. A pupusa is a thick griddle cake or flatbread from El Salvador and Honduras made with cornmeal or rice flour, similar to the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa. In El Salvador, it has been declared the national dish and has a specific day to celebrate it. We get to cook and then eat. I’m looking forward to it. Nana nap time. 

Papusa time. That was really fun. Oil your hands 

Take a chunk of dough made from either ground rice or maize flour and water

Flipping it from hand to hand make a flat round

Select your toppings: pork, cheese, fried beans, garlic, loroco flower cheese

Blob it into the middle of the dough circle

Fold it over to enclose the filling and then flatten into a pancake shape. 

Flop onto a hot oiled grill until brown and crunchy

Serve hot with tomato polpa and pickled cabbage. 

Keep your knife and fork away from it. Hands were made for eating. Lick fingers when done. 

Lick lips to show how damn good it was. 

I only had simple ones with pork, cheese, mora (herby stuff) and garlic but they were absolutely delicious, if jolly hard to eat without losing the filling. 
We got back to the hotel to fund a wee bat on a pillow in one of our rooms. Heroic Andrew carefully took the pillow outside so the wee guy coukd go on its way. They give me the creeps. 

The young ‘uns retired to the pool.   I sat outside writing and watched little salamanders crawling round the wall until they gave me the creeps and I went to my room. 

A lovely chilled day.