Our last destination in El Salvador was Santa Ana which sits close to the Guatemala border. Santa Ana is the country’s second largest city.

Our journey from Los Cobanos took us along the popular Ruta De Las Flores, a route that runs through the western highlands and a number of scenic towns.

We visited Juayua, a pretty town that has a well known food fair every weekend, that was enough to lead us to check it out!

The food stalls sit under a number of marquees that run from the main town square. Each stall lays out their food options on sample plates for you to choose from.

All the options looked good to me and good value too, although I only tried one!

We left the scenic route and once in Santa Ana, we decided to visit the Tazumal Archaeological Park which is a short distance from the town.

Tazumul is one of a number of pre-columbian/Mayan sites in the area and dates back to around 1200 BC. Many ancient artefacts were discovered here in the middle of last century when excavations were first undertaken.

Below is the Stone of the Victories, an ancient monolith that shows different engravings on its four sides, dated around 700 B.C.

We plan to visit more ancient sites in Guatemala and Mexico in the future and hope to learn more about these ancient peoples.

Our next visit was to Lake Coatepeque. The lake sits within a large volcanic crater surrounded by wooded hills. The small island within the lake is Teopán Island, once a sacred site for the ancient Mayan people.

Boats and restaurants line the lake side and the area is a big local attraction.

Near to the lake is the Cerro Verde National Park containing the Santa Ana Volcano and the conical Izalco Volcano.

We did the Santa Ana volcano hike, a 1.5-2 hour moderate level trek up through the forest up to the top.

There are great views of the other volcanoes along the route up to the crater which is just under 2,400 metres above sea level.

Once at the top you can smell the sulphur in the crater lake but its not at all overwhelming, just don’t slip into it!

We were told by our guide that the crater has a circumference of around 3km!

The picture above is the view down to Lake Coatepeque.

Two trekkers make it to the top unscathed, me rather sweaty though!

We stayed in an airbnb that was just outside of Santa Ana itself so we took a walk into the town centre to check it out.

The town is quite large and its historical centre is rather limited, if impressive. Along the way we passed a very busy local market with some great looking produce. Above are some very big radishes for sale!

An armed guard stands in a pharmacy below.

We felt safe throughout our time in El Salvador and the people are the most friendly we have met on this trip, but the presence of police and security guards is a reminder of the nation’s recent history and struggles.

You can see the traces of the city’s colonial past in places as you walk closer to the centre.

But there are plenty of signs of dilapidated buildings too.

The now re-elected and somewhat controversial president seems well liked, at least in terms of the amount of produce that you can buy with his face on as in the market below.

Not a trend likely to take off in my home country!

The most impressive colonial architecture is set around a small square where the Theatre and the Cathedral can be found.

El Salvador has been a great experience, we have felt welcomed at every turn and seen so much in a relatively small country.

Tomorrow we get up for a 4am transfer to Guatemala!