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Monday, May 5, 2014

Day by Day in El Salvador - Day Five



street in Suchitoto


On Day five, we get out of San Salvador for the first time.  We will travel to Suchitoto, a cultural center in El Salvador. This is a beautiful town with a great deal to see and do.

Day Five will bring us to Suchitoto, a beautiful town quickly becoming the cultural center of El Salvador.
A visit to the colonial town of Suchitoto in Cuscatlán province for a tour of the historic town, the Joya de Cerén Mayan ruins (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and for an introduction to the work of SalvAide sister organizations CRIPDES and CORDES in the region.


The Los Tercios Waterfall is just a 1.5 km walk from the city center. Its uniqueness and beauty lies in the vertical wall behind the water that is composed of large hexagonal columns of rock. This very rare rock formation is the result of nearby volcanic activity, although numerous folkloric legends also claim to explain the origins of the shape of the rocks.

Los Tercios has water between May and November, although it is worth a visit between December and April too in order to see the stones most clearly.



There is a great amount to see in this town.  There are wonderful old buildings to visit and the history of Suchitoto stretches back to the 1700's.  There are lovely restaurants and a Spanish school for those who are able to return to become more fluent.


cigar making in Suchitoto

Suchitoto was also a major conflict area during the war and you can still visit some of the insurgent bases that were located in the area.  Suchitoto was also the site of a more recent confrontation between members of CRIPDES and the the military.  The Suchitoto 13 were detained during a protest on the outskirts of the town.  The group were eventually freed after international pressure came to bear on the government of the time. CRIPDES is our host while we are in El Salvador and we have met some of the people who were detained.



For more information on tourism in El Salvador, please take a look at Tim's Blog - he has over 50 posts on this topic.
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