Archaeological Adventures in El Salvador: Fun Day Trip: La Puerta del Diablo and Panchimalco

To break up the days of official meetings, talking with people about our future research, and of course manioc harvesting, we took a day trip to La Puerta del Diablo and the nearby town of... As we chugged along in our little car climbing the mountain to get to La Puerta del Diablo, we all commented on a two things in particular-

1. The road of El Salvador are amazing! I wish that Seattle would come talk to the city planner of El Salvador because the roads here are amazing. There are many cars on the road and lots of traffic but with a series of round-abouts and a commitment to keeping the roads maintained it is honestly so much better to drive around here than in Seattle! Now you will see so many things you'd never see in the States when it comes to driving- for example if there is room on the road, then it is considered a lane, if you can hold on while it is moving then you are welcome to ride on top of a semi-truck, in the bed of a pick-up holding a bar (taxis here but we refer to these as 'death traps' given if they roll you are likely to not survive) , and a family of five or six riding on a motorcycle or scooter. You are less likely to see car-seats for children (I never have here in the Joya de Ceren area)...and during rush hour the buses can be packed so full that the back of the bus has people riding standing on the bumper and holding onto the roof. I'll try to get some vehicle pictures for you so that you'll believe me! Oh and when driving here but sure to keep your eyes open for people running across the freeways. It is a common practice and somewhat startling to those more familiar to U.S. driving.

Not even a main highway- but none-the-less a beautifully paved road!

2. The beautiful views and amazing countryside are not what people generally think of when we tell them about El Salvador. As you read in my earlier post, I was warned often while in Guatemala to look out for Salvadorans and be very careful. In my experience, El Salvador is just as safe as Guatemala and other regions of Central America. It is common when I tell people in the U.S. that my fieldwork is in El Salvador to be met with worried looks and questions about my safety.Sometimes the view of El Salvador and Salvadorans is far from accurate. Much of this is colored by the 20+ year long civil war or the horror stories of nuns or Archbishop Romero having been killed here. But in reality, El Salvador is a beautiful place and I have always been touched by the friendliness and helpfulness of the people I've met here. This doesn't mean it is without danger (there is no place without danger and big cities always carry their own type of dangers). There are bus robberies, gang activities, high rates of poverty and joblessness, and a system of justice is one where you are guilty until proven innocent! So, while not without dangers it is interesting to see the perception of danger by outsiders.

Us Climbing La Puerta del Diablo

Okay, so more about our trip. We arrived at the top of the mountain and pulled into the area at the base of La Puerta del Diablo. Many people were visiting and climbing the various parts of the rock formation. Stairs have been put in and visitors take many photos of the amazing panoramic views of El Salvador. (For you archaeologists out there: As we passed an area where people had thrown trash in a cave Payson was sure to point out that we were watching the formation process of a midden!) We climbed up to a cave area overlooking the valley and snapped few photos of course!

La Puerta del Diablo

After our trip to La Puerta del Diablo we descended the mountain to the town of Panchimalco. This is a colonial style town. Check out the pictures of the town and church. There were multiple church services in place and prayer groups were meeting in the Catholic Church when we stopped by for a brief visit. We left just in time to escape a major down pour- it is the rainy season here after all!

Turned out to be a fun visit!