Ruta de las Flores
The Route of the Flowers is very popular in El Salvador. It's a route of some 36 km linking a series of small charming mountain towns. Although its name suggests that flowers can be observed, there were very few of them in the wild along the route.
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Juayúa
I stayed in the town of Juayúa for a week around Christmas Day. From this magnificent region, I explored the Route of the Flowers and its attractions.
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Chorros de la Calera
From Juayúa, a small hike leads to the Chorros de la Calera, a series of cascades emerging directly from the mountain. Indeed, the water spring forth from the rock face at several locations.
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Concepción de Ataco
Ataco is a splendid town where wall paintings are a highlight. Several dozen houses have a wall richly decorated by an artist painter of the region. It's the prettiest towns on the Route of the Flowers.
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Nahuizalco
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Laguna Verde
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Los Ausoles - Ahuachapán
The region around Ahuachapán is famous for its geothermal activity. The site at Los Ausoles is the largest one where a few steaming mud pools can be observed. Watch the video at the end to get a better idea about this natural phenomenon.
The steam escaping from the ground is boiling hot. A geothermal plant, located only a few hundreds metres from the site, produce about 10% of the country electricity from this steam.
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Termales de Alicante
Another day doing nothing... in these pools filled with thermal water. The site has ten pools with water varying from very hot to warm.
During the day, I enjoyed the site in the company of some very friendly people, but in the evening, I had the site for myself. In the evening and at night, the chilliness of the mountain air makes the thermic pools even more pleasant.
A small hike leads to the hot water source feeding all the pools.