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Wed Oct 02 2013: Surf's Up at El Tunco

It seems like such a long time since we've visited the ocean - since coming back from Cuba, I think! So, on the advice of a few people, we headed south from Juayua to the Pacific shore of El Salvador. I am not a morning person, in fact, I'm a bit of a night owl. My normal bed-time is about 2-4AM local time regardless of what time zone we find ourselves in. However, rainy season in Central America has me performing unnatural acts: every night before she falls asleep, Neda reminds me that we have to be up at 5:30AM so that we can get an early start so that we're not riding in the afternoon rains. Easy for her, she's turns into a pumpkin at 11AM, a whole hour before Cinderella does!

I can't wait till rainy season is over. I''m gonna sleep in till noon every single day.


On our way to the coast, we encounter some kind of roadblock.
And then these guys parade right past our stopped bikes!

Right in the middle of nowhere, close to no town, traffic is stopped both ways to let a parade through, complete with a marching band, baton twirlers, dancers, etc. There must have been 500 of them. So bizarre. I Google this later on and find out that it's probably a rehearsal for El Dia del Nino (Children's Day), which is the day after - October 1st.


One of the marching band guys with the big drums thumped Neda's pannier with his drumstick as he walked by! LOL!

We had a lot of fun on the twisty coastal road (see map above)! Every once in a while when the road curved towards the shoreline, we'd get a glimpse of the Pacific ocean through the trees and then the asphalt would ribbon itself back towards the coast, just as quickly.


Road tunnels through the base of some of the coastline mountains a few times

Our destination on the shoreline is El Tunco, a really laid-back surfing village that attracts both foreigners from all over the world and locals alike. We don't surf, but we do enjoy a good beach, so we booked into a hostel for a few days.


Beach is littered with surfer dudes and dudettes

El Tunco means "The Pig", because this big rock by the shoreline looks like a pig. I don't see it...

Early morning surfer hanging ten. I have no idea what that really means...

Also sharing the surf: local fishermen throwing nets into the waves.

We spend the morning watching a surf competition. Two judges with clipboards behind us score the surfers

I don't know how to score surfing, but if this was a motorcycle stunt competition, I'd give him a 10 out of 12 o'clock wheelie...

This is Boobah. I'm talking about the dog. That's the dog's name...

Boobah hangs out at the beach full-time. He doesn't belong to anyone. Yet everybody knows his name. Can't figure out how everyone knows his name is Boobah? I really want to meet whoever's naming stuff around here! :)


Hanging out with the beautiful people

There are some really fit people hanging out at El Tunco. It's like there's a convention of Ab Roller spokespeople this week or something. I glance down self-consciously at my Pupusa-fueled Skinny-Guy-Pot-Belly... Maybe the shirt stays on for the next few days...


Dude! Sweet!

The beaches here are black volcanic sand that's littered with large rocks. You don't get many beach-blanket sun bathers here, it's purely a surf haven, well known for its consistent rolling waves. We're just here because there was a twisty road around the corner!


Neda takes a Pilates class at our hostel. Her instructor is ripped! Check out her delts!
The only deltoids I've ever had were breath mints. No wait, that's not right...

You can tell she's not a local because she's using her hands

Evenings at the beach become a magical moment

Surfers calling it a day

Everyone pauses to check out the sun disappearing below the horizon

Nightlife on the main strip of El Tunco

The last few days at El Tunco have been awesome! We've found a favorite restaurant, which we go back to every day. It's such a small village, everybody knows we're the motorcycle people. Because we're the only ones here with pasty skin and not carrying a surfboard everywhere we go...


More Boobah on the beach!

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