Technically called Conception de Ataco, it came across to me as the most vivacious town of them all.

The Albania Cafe, to be precise. In USA, we would call this an amusement park. One interesting activity I found was biking on ropes. The tire basically has flanges (like a railway car wheel) that keeps you on the rope and then a hanging wire that the bike is tied to ensuring no fall. I am sure riding it over vast spans of air with the tree line hundreds of feet below it is exhilarating. And incredibly fearful for me.

There were these sisters (from the church) literally yelling at the top of their voices on the loudspeakers. From the tone of their voices, they seemed to be sternly commanding one and sundry to atone their sins. When I asked Gabriel, he said – “No way – they are gently saying prayers for all the city people”.

Go figure!

I do not think I am still pronouncing the name of the place correctly. Formed nearly half a millennium ago, this is atypical of the various colonial towns I have seen so far. The kids were just getting out of school and size wise, it seemed bigger than the previous two I went to.

I finally blurted it out to Gabriel when I saw this bus in Salcoatitan.

“Gabriel, why are there so many school buses in El Salvador? What is this bus doing at this time here in this town? And none of the passengers look like school kids”.

I was half expecting a story like we had experienced in Gustavo, Alaska. The one school bus in that island ferried us from the tiny airport to the one hotel that was there.

Turns out I learnt a very interesting story.

School buses from USA that are discarded are often sold to El Salvador. In fact, you can even see the school name on this bus. They fix the buses up and then use for inter-city public transportation!! Many of them are painted over. But some like this, are not!!

Over 3000 feet above mean sea level, this was a cool and quiet town. There was a zen-like peace in the center park. This place is famous for its local food: cassava salcochada cooked on firewood. I did not get a chance to try it since I spent only about an hour in the town.

You see that stall with that bored looking lady sitting there by herself with a bottle of water? What do you think it is?

It is a Bitcoin ATM and Bitcoin to cash conversion place! Did you know Bitcoin is an official currency in El Salvador? By far the most popular one is US Dollars, though!

My friend from the hotel – Paola Perez – who had helped me make all my arrangements had insisted that I visit Nahuizalco. I told Gabriel that we need to go there. He told me that it would be our first stop.

Very cute town. One of the colonial towns marked by the church, the central park and the market, it was a great place to observe the local people and their habits.