I have been in El Salvador a few times lately. I liked a lot of things that I saw in this country. I will be returning again. The bad news, from the perspective of this board, is that I did not make it to the casas. I was visiting friends and ended up with zero spare time. However, through exchanging info with my good friends from TSM, excat and Mapache, I collected quite a bit of info that I will pass on here.

I was holding a ticket for a Thanksgiving trip to Costa Rica when I received an invitation to visit some friends in El Salvador. For a variety of reasons I decided to change my plans. Changing the ticket to San Salvador would have required a second mortgage. However, I noticed that I could use my AA points to pay for a flight SJO-SAL on Grupo Taca. It took 30,000 points, but would have cost $500 for a 400 mile flight. If my itinerary had been 1 day longer it would have only been $250. Grupo Taca ran a good flight, except the rule is only one carry on bag. If the flight is full, they stick to it. Be nice and they will probably let you slide.

My Impressions:
The airport at San Salvador (main city in El Salvador) is large and very modern. You follow the signs to customs and then go through the tourist line of the far left paying a $10 entry fee. They also have a $27 exit fee. You continue through customs and go out the door, where at least 150 people are waiting for somebody or something. It makes the San Jose airport crowd look like an English tea party. A cab ride into town takes about 45 minutes and costs $18. Give him the $20.

I highly recommend the Marriott for a first trip. I paid $110 a night, but have a membership deal with Marriott. The hotel is in a very safe section of town, is very upscale, has a classy pool area, allows overnight guests with no problems, and is in an excellent location. There is also a free shuttle back to the airport.

The local currency is the Colon. It values at about 8.5 to the US $. The Marriott will exchange $100 a day and more if they have it on hand. Whatever you have left can be applied to the bill at checkout. A friend told me that the Colon will be linked to or replaced by the US $ early in 2001, but I have no details.

I drove a bit on one of my trips. The roads are confusing, but somehow I got where I was going with no problems. I put in 2 hours studying maps and figuring out where I wanted to go. It was time well spent. My friends cautioned me not to leave the main roads or drive outside San Salvador after dark. It can be dangerous. Actually, I would only drive to see the county outside the city a little. Cabs are relatively cheap in San Salvador and the traffic is difficult to deal with.

I drove down to La Libertad and hung out at some playas for a day. Is there action here ? Undoubtedly, but nothing that got my interest. This is a poor area and doesn’t get much of our level of tourism. The beaches are not crowded and there are vendors selling coconuts with holes drilled in the top. I paid a restaurant 20 C to park there and had a couple of agua minerals. Nice day, beautiful drive through incredible scenery, occasional glimpses of staggering poverty.

Well enough of the eco-tour. I’ll add on the promised summary of the action spots that Mapache and excat sent me.

Strip Clubs:
At the strip clubs you can usally convince someone to accompany you but not in all cases. The most popular is Lips, it has about 60 girls dancing and the quality varies but there are always a handful of attractive ones. They advertise 55 pretty ones and five ugly ones and no prostitution, but the no prostitution is not really true. Some can be had after the club closes at 3:00AM. It is interesting becuase of the sheer number. The drawback is there are a lot of young guys that go there so it gets crowded. It is open at 12 noon but the day crew is small but there may be a nugget or two. It costs about $5 to get in. The higest class is Titanic which costs about $12 to get in and about $6 per beer and about $12 for ladies drinks. The girls put on decent shows and are good looking. The advantage here is that it is too expensive for the young guys so it is very comfortable. Other of my favorites were Club Best, Luxor and Illusions. These clubs have any where from 10 to 20 girls. Most of the girls at these places are not really working girls so if you don't find a working girl you will have to lay on the charm. Lips and Club Best are on Paseo Escalon. Also on Escalon is Penthouse. Titanic is between Club Best and Lips and one bloc off Escalon. Luxor in on Constitution and Illusions is off of Boulevard de los Heroes. My favorite was Club Best because they had more turnover and had a stable quality of girls.

Casas and Esteticas:
If you just want to go to a club for an onsite session, I would recommend Ali Babbas. It is one of the nicer and safer ones. Price would be between C200 and C350 or about $22 to $40. A girl could also leave for a couple of hours. I would not get there before 10 PM. During the day, there is a house called Okoles behind the Camino Real hotel. Don't have the exact address but get the daily paper La Prensa Grafica. In the classifieds are where many of the strip joints and massage places advertise. You can call and get a specific address. There are many other I know of but could not readily tell you how to get there and would not send you there alone. You can probably arrange an all nighter for anywhere from $50 to $80 depending on your negotiating skills and where you picked up the girl.

Warnings from Mapache :
Stay in the west part of the city. Do not go into the center, east or north without someone you trust. Most of the places I am giving you are west of Bolevard de los Heroes and South of San Antonio Abad which is the better area. General Escalon is about as safe as you can get but always be cautious. Almost all clubs, stores, gas stations etc have armed guards. All clubs pat you down and don't be surprised to see young guys turning in their weapons at the door. The war in El Salvador didn't end that long ago and they never disarmed the fighters so guns abound and most car windows are tinted for security reasons.

Summary from Gitano:
I am going back. Everyone I met treated me well. The restaurants in Zona Rosa are first rate. The Marriott is a first class hotel at $110 a night. Although I am going word of mouth, the ladies are lovely and they treat you very well.

Interesting report Gitano, thanks!

Aside from the remnants of war and class warfare that consumed the Salvadorans over the last couple of decades, I have heard that the most dangerous element currently in San Salvador are L.A. trained gang members deported from the U.S. who have brought U.S. style urban street crime to the city.

I have a good friend in L.A. who is a refugee from the Salvador blood letting...the stories he tells are truly blood curdling - you gotta put your heart on pause to be able to listen to them. But now he returns once or twice a year and comes back with wondrous tales of beautiful chicas performing generous feats in the sack for very little. Anyhow, I'm very interested in this place and look forward to your future reports.

And "Lips" has got to be the funniest name I've ever heard for a strip club.

Excellent report buddy, I visit this place once in a while and I really enjoy all the spots, especially La Libertad, or the San Diego beach. Plenty of local talent. Your report on the Strip Clubs is right the Zona Rosa in San Salvador is jumping, I am glad you enjoyed it.

Cityog,

I suspect that you used to post at RedSnake under a slightly different handle. I remember reading some reports there that possibly you wrote. I am returning to El Salvador in January. If you would like to exchange any info you can e-mail me at:

bushpilot98@hotmail.com

I used to post under a different handle. Also if you have close friends in El Salvador you might be interested in the following service:

http://www.floristeriatamira.com

I have used them to send flowers as well as a Christmas gift. They are a little expensive, but the recipients were tickled pink. That's tough to do to a Salvadoreña.

Luego,

Gitano

If you want to save some money from the airport taxi (and use it wisely in mongering), remember that a few chain Hotels and the Novo Apart Hotel (my favorite) http://www.novoapart-hotel.com/inpag.htm will include the transfer in the rate, you need to check this prior to your trip when you make reservations. In the greeters’ esplanade there are always guys with signs of the Inter Continental, Holiday Inn and others.