Achievement Unlocked: 40th Country Visited

A replica of President Bukele's office right next to baggage claim in El Salvador International Airport.
At least I think it's a replica. I don't think he uses this particular office space during normal business hours.

Achievement unlocked. I have now visited my fortieth country on Planet Earth. And for number 40? El Salvador!

San Salvador has gone from the most dangerous, most deadly city in the Americas to the safest capital city in Latin America. All in the space of a few years. President Nayib Bukele gets much of the credit and deservedly so. And I decided to be the horde to arrive before the tourist horde gets here en masse.

I am staying in the Hotel Barceló in an upscale neighborhood west of the historic city center.

It's an interesting mix of historic and modern.

I will explore this neighborhood and maybe the historic Centro tomorrow. Then it is day trips to Mayan ruins for the next two days after that.

First observation about San Salvador: my tourist-level Spanish is going to be taxed very heavily. San Salvador is not yet a player in the world of international tourism and I cannot expect bilingual people to be prevalent. Even people working at the airport in positions where you would assume bilingualism -- customs and passport control for example -- do not speak English. So I will be saying: "Mi español está terrible. Lo siento."