El Salvador - Border crossing from Guatemala

El Salvador has long been of interest to me partly because it has a history of violence and civil war that it is healing from and partly because there are not so many people I meet that have come here. People often tend to go through Honduras and Nicaragua and pass by here because I think the name conjures up some fear with the reputation of the notorious M13 gang and the violent history. The more I read about the country the more interested I became. Once again my attitude is to be a friendly smiling face who will talk to anyone and show respect for them and their culture. So far that approach has created nothing but positive interactions with people along the way. I don’t expect El Salvador to be any different.

I approached the town of Pedro de Alvarado looking for the Aduana. It was easy to find due to a long line of trucks that I rode past to the front of the line. I was waved on to a security guard who checked my papers and sent me to the immigration office in the same building. I made a new ‘friend’ who wanted to help me and was explaining how many copies I needed of what and where to go. I found that my Spanish has improved enough to move through the process quite easily and the friend soon realised I was capable of sorting out myself. He still hung around like a seagull for chips but in twenty minutes I had my passport and temporary import permit stamped for exit, photocopies of everything and smiles from the helpful officials. No costs, no approaches for bribes.

I rode the one kilometre to the border and was directed to the immigration building in La Hachadura. A man with a little English met me and explained that I needed photocopies of my documents. He was the photocopier owner. He was correct and the copies were a couple of dollars as El Salvador uses US dollars as it’s official currency. I went into the Aduana office to a window where they took my copies, checked the originals and started the entry paperwork. In about 45 minutes all was finished and the last process was to stop and give a very attractive female attendant $5 for entry into the country. Every vehicle is charged this. Less than two hours and I was riding through El Salvador. Easy, friendly, painless and honest.