Hi all! Today I continue through the adventure I had earlier this year. Last time I wrote on this I wrote about San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Today I will be writing about a day trip I took from Sab Salvador, to the highly recommended town of Suchitoto, a little under 50km north-east (ish) of the El Salvadoran capital. A town famed for its colour and beauty and also its museum devoted to plates. It sits just about Lake Suchitlan, which provides great views.

Getting to the lake was in my plan but didn’t eventuate as it was a lot further from the centre than I thought, it was super hot and as usual I had not left enough time to make it down there. I also missed the nearby waterfall. I would recommend spending a night or two in Suchitoto if you visit, not that there’s a lot to do but it is a nice place to take it slow!

Getting to Suchitoto from San Salvador by bus was a little bit tricky. Following the information you find online will not always work in El Salvador, to be honest, but there may be very little else to go on. I was directed to a spot to catch the 140 bus to Suchitoto. However, once there I found the bus but it was not going to Suchitoto. Mini-bus, to be more accurate.

I took this bus to a large bus station, newish, modern, where another 140 bus was waiting. This one had ‘Suchitoto’ written on the front windshield, so I figured I was at least in the right place. The bus moved off after a short wait, it would fill more on the way, picking up and losing passengers as we went.

The total time to get there was a bit under 2 hours. Which for the distance isn’t fast but it’s about what you’d expect with constant stopping. The quoted time online is around 90 minutes, and that would be possible at the right time of day I guess. I got off at a steaming hot Suchitoto (hotter than San Salvador and much hotter than Santa Ana) right next to the market.

The market wasn’t that big, or to be honest, that interesting, but it did mean I knew exactly where to go when it was time to return to San Salvador. The walk into the centre was along cobblestone streets. And immediately it’s clear that you’re in a pretty town. The colonial history of the town dates back to 1528 when it was planned as a capital to be called ‘San Salvador’, but due to indigenous attacks this was abandoned. Later they established the town of Suchitoto there and in 1824 it was incorporated into El Salvador.

I walked to the main square (as far as I could see) in town, which is very pleasant surrounded by colonial buildings and has a nice little fountain in the centre too. Google won’t be helpful in giving me a name for the square, but on one sides sits the grand Parroquia de Santa Lucía, a church with a beautiful white façade.

Here there are seats and plenty of shade, and it’s the perfect place to relax and take in your surroundings. Suchitoto was the hottest place I visited in El Salvador and it was really baking that day so look for water and take breaks in the shade when you can find them.

Not far from the church, just next to it really, is the Museum of Plates. An incredible collection of decorative plates from around the world with famous people on them (For example royalty) or plates made for special occasions. Yes, even plates from Australia, and the owner appeared when I was looking through and I chatted to him for quite a while. He lives in the house and showed me a little of it and then started talking through all the plates he had. It’s… unique, that’s for sure!

A number of blocks away, maybe a 15 minute walk, was an Arts Centre (for Peace!) – Centro Artes Para La Paz. Some colourful and interesting works here, mostly paintings and a few sort of sculptures. There’s a church and whole centre there for the artists which is great, the works are displayed in a number of rooms around a courtyard.

I then walked back to the square, boy was it hot but the streets are full of colour and very pretty. Sadly the church Santa Lucia was not open that day, but I did wander the streets for quite a while, heading in the general direction of the lake before I finally accepted – it was a lot further away than I thought it was!

And instead I found myself a restaurant and had some lunch and admired the views, still a fair way from the lake. I didn’t pick up the name of the restaurant but it’s not the only one with such a fantastic view.

Other things to consider visiting when in Suchitoto are the Museo Casa de Alejandro Cotto, a museum of/in an old colonial house, and of course the Cascada Los Tercios, a very pretty local waterfall, best reached in the heat probably by car if you can. All in all, a lovely place, but super hot and quiet when I was there, probably because I was there in the middle of the day and therefore the hottest part.

And that folks is a very simple summary of a lovely town. Thanks for popping in today and having a read! More coming of course as from Central America next week as I take a bus across two international borders from El Salvador, via Honduras to Nicaragua. Take care wherever you are in the world today, and May the Journey Never End!