Tuesday July 6th 2004
This morning we woke up in managua. It was going to be a long day becuase we were headed back to Guatemala, or at least starting our journey back. Today we were only going to make it to the capital of El Salvador, San Salvador. The good news was even though we were going to be on a bus for the next 13 hours or so, we would be taking a Tika bus the whole time. A tika bus is nothing like a chicken bus, they have air condidtion, you actually get your own seat that is a nice chair that can recline and you get to watch movies during the ride. And there is a restroom which is a nice bonus.
We had to wake up around 330 am to make our 4 o clock bus. The station was right around the corner so at least that wouldnt be a problem, but when we woke up we realize that we were locked in the hotel. Almost every hotel you stay in down here has a steal gate with a key lock on the inside of it for security. Most of the time this is not a problem because they seem to wake up at like 5 am and since we usually dont get up until about 8 or so the door is always open. But at 330, we realized we had no way to get out of the place and to make matters worse in a hotel of about 12 rooms or so, we had no idea where the owners were sleeping. For about 15 min we just kinda walked around kinda looking into rooms and checking the near by kitchen for a key, with no luck. It was getting close to time that the bus would be leaving and I was starting to get a bit nervous. I kept walking around and finnally at about 10 to 4 I found a random set of keys sitting on a far back table, way in the back of the hotel. I ran up to try them but couldnt get them to work. I handed them to Nick and said you try, luckly for us I was retarted and just couldnt do it, Nick got the lock to open and we were on our way. I guess we must have made a bit of noise because just as we were leaving the woman of the hotel came out, I quickly handed her the keys and we were on our way. Like I said the station was just around the corner so we did make our bus with no problems.
After that the ride threw the countries here pretty boring, not to much happened. At the boarders we just handed our passport to the guys from the tika bus and they took care of everything. We did have to get out and fill out a form once or twice but it was really no big deal, only about 20 min or so and we were back on the buses on our way. We even made some stops at gas stations so we could get some drinks or a snack, whatever you wanted. The bus was pretty empty so we actually got to sit in two seats, nick went farther back in the bus and I stayed in our assigned seats. It was nice, made it a lot easier to sleep. We also go to watch Mr. Deeds in english and pirates of the carribean in spanish, both were enjoyable. Towards the end of the trip as we were driving threw the city of San salvador, it was good to know that we would be able to get out of the bus for awhile, stretch a bit and get some real food, we would have to wake up again at 5 am the next morning but it would only be a 6 hour or so ride back to guatemala city.
We pulled into the tika bus station, just before we had seen a few hotels that we thought might be ok to stay in. This time we didnt have a lonely planet book to use so we really had no idea where we were going to stay that night. So the two or three we say coming in were just as good as anything else, plus they were right next to the station which would make it easy to get there in the morning. We got off the bus and got our bags and headed to the office to check in for the morning. Nick and I were some of the first in line. Also on the bus was a water polo team, at least I am pretty sure they were. Anyway they must have had someone take care of there tickets because they were all standing in the very small hallway leading out to the streets. Normally this hall would have held about 4 people. Nick and I were ready to go and it was a kinda pain to get threw the crowd, as we made our way threw the crowd we had no idea what was waiting on the other side, waiting in the street.
As soon as I stepped into the street, I realized why there were so many people just standing there. Nick was still behind me working his way threw the crowd, but as he came forward there was a mad push to get back inside the building. Not more than 30 yards from the tika bus station was an angree mob advancing on a police force of about 50 cops. At this time we had no idea what was going on, but it was clear that there was a riots on the streets of San Salavador. The street that the tika bus station was on went one to meet another road, were it dead ended at a T intersection. The mob was to the left of the intersection and the police force to the right. Again just to clarify the tika station was about 30 yards away, so not imediately in danger but very close to the action. Nick and I both walked around to were the tika bus had pulled into the station, there from behind the saftey of a huge gate that was just ever so much opened up we watched as the riot unfoled before our eyes. The police would make a push forward and then minutes later you would see them all come running back. Now I have seen my share or riots, at least small ones at both Michigan State and Western. The cops in the states were very prepared to deal with an angry crowd, packing sheilds, masks and tear gas. The cops down here had none of that, they were literally picking up the rocks and bottles that the people had just thrown at them and sending them right back. The police to hid behind anything they could find in the streets to try to give them some protection from the mob. This went on for about 15 min or so as we waited and watched from the saftey of the gates. Sometimes the mob would come closer and the gate would slam shut and small port holes were opened, not that any more than one person could see just a fraction of what was happening, but when it calmed again the gates reopened just enough for the rest of us to see. After awhile I told nick, I dont think we are going to stay down there tonight so lets just go the other way and find something down here. I started to make my way threw the crowd again and finnally got to the outside. I kinda made the mistake of assuming that Nick was right behind me as I made my way down the street away from the tika station and the trouble on the other side down the street. By the time that I turned around I saw the cops come running towards me (not close to me still about 30 yards away) but towards me and then the shocking and scary suprise of the tika bus gate slamming shout. I was locked outside with litereally no where to go and no idea what to do. I just took of running down the other way for a min or two, looking over my shoulder, to thankfully see the police pushing forward again. The gate slowly started to open again and I quickly ran back and forced my way back in again. The whole thing took only about five minutes but I was like, lets just wait a bit longer.
After that we did wait a bit longer untill again we thought it was clear to go the other way. This time we both made it out successfully and went walking the other way. The only trouble was that we couldnt find anything that was reasonable. I am not sure if they were just charging more because of the riots or if that was the normal prices, but hotels that looked the same as the places we had stayed before, that had cost us 3 to 4 dollars in the past were now 10 dollars. Despite the risk of being on the streets we decided to continue to look for a cheaper place. It had been about 30 min or so since the tika bus had arrived and the crowd attacted and the streets that had once been so busy and dangerous with people now seemed to have emptied out a bit and residents where out looking a bit, cautiously. Nick and I had again made it back to the tika bus station and still had not found anything, the street looked clear and I thought we could make it to the hotels that we saw on our way in. We literally ran to a hotel we say, the guy said 5 bucks and we were in. The time was about 4pm or so give or take an hour. And there was no way we were going anywhere. It had been a long day anyway so we pretty much went to bed almost straigt away and didnt get up until 430 when we got right back on the tika bus and headed back to something familar, back home.. guatemala. (who would have ever thought I would say that.
Turns out the dispute between the cops and the mob was about the market place. The police wanted to close the market for the day and I guess the people were just not done quite yet. We have a paper that has all the details about the affair and a few pictures. As of yet I have not had a chance to read it yet. But I did hear that there were a number of injuries both from incoccent bystanders, participants in the mob and police officers. There were also two deaths during the event that I am awear of. All and all a pretty scary day and night for us.
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