Before heading to Puerta del Diablo stopping at Parque Balboa for some top notch pupusas and a stroll. We paid a dollar for the entrance.
Any pupusa you can think of is here at these pupusa stalls. The waiter gives a piece of paper to mark off what you’d like to try, I recommend frijol (bean) and jalapeño and Danny likes the OG revueltas which is chicharrón (pork), frijol (bean) and egg.
After grabbing pupusas enjoying the beautiful park is lovely. We looped Parque Balboa, and found a skatepark! There also are jungle gyms, soccer fields and nice shaded paths.
Only 2.4km or a 5 minute drive away is Puerta del Diablo. This cliff side features three free hikes with views of the city, many volcanoes and the coast.
Parking and admission to Puerta del Diablo is free. Food stands line the corridor between a hike and parking. Serving pupusas, empanadas and other fried favorites.
Puerta del Diablo has urban legends as well as true stories of terrible acts being committed here during the civil war. Luckily the El Salvadoran people have taken this place back for recreation and never ending vistas.
We went to both these places on a Sunday. Normally we try to avoid places on the weekends because of crowds but we were able to keep our distance. Both places had people but we never waited on anyone and it didn’t feel overcrowded in any way. Sundays can be fun too!
A big reason we went to San Salvador was renewing our visas. With Costa Rica land border still being closed at the time and running low on days left we had to renew at some point.
The visa for Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are all combined with only three months of visiting. You can renew, or head to Costa Rica or Mexico when the times up. With COVID the Costa Rican land border is still closed so we had to renew (as of April 4th it is open!). Many travelers also renew in Nicaragua but we found out it’s cheaper to do it in El Salvador.
Need for Renewal
Passport
Copy of passport
Copies of all pages enlarged 150%
Passport photo
Reason for stay (Surfing is a good reason)
Copy of TIP
El Salvadoran address
The office first said they’d be ready in an hour but it actually took two days. It was okay though, we were so excited to see 90 more days when we picked them up! We had to sign two papers and got our passports. It was super quick.
Our reason for staying was surfing and Costa Rica land border being closed.
We paid $25USD each to have it extended.
While we waited we took Sombrita for a bike ride around San Salvador. There’s a nice park with a bike path we enjoyed together.
Once we picked up our passports we got a PCR test and headed to the hostel we’ve been sleeping out front of. The very nice employees and owner invited us to a little birthday dinner they were having for their daughter. The best finale to our time in El Salvador!
Check out our next blog for our border crossing into Honduras!
We also made a YouTube video about our experience!