スチトト：素晴らしいエルサルバドルの最終目的地！🇸🇻

スチトト：素晴らしいエルサルバドルの最終目的地！🇸🇻

Welcome to Suchitoto here in El Salvador. This is my final stop in the country after about three weeks traveling through. And this is, yeah, been a really cool little town to hang out in. After about three weeks traveling through El Salvador,I am off next to Honduras, but not before we check out the town of Suchitoto here today. So Suchitoto is an interesting city. It is sort of a colonial looking town here in sort of the northern central area of El Salvador, but it has a long history. It actually predates the Colombian era and was home to the Nahua. Tribes here long before the Spanish ever arrived. In the mid 1520s and about 15 twenty-five, the Spanish established their first town here in the area, and then in 15 twenty-eight it was officially named San Salvador. This was the original planned capital for the country by the Spanish. The problem, of course, is that the town suffered numerous attacks by local indigenous tribes over the years, and so within about a decade to 15 years later, the town was pretty much abandoned as most people ended up moving farther to the coast to where the city of San Salvador exists today. So this is sort of a historical colonial town. That has been through a lot over the years. Suchitoto also was a flashpoint during the Salvadoran Civil War in the 80s and 90s. The population here actually shrunk by about 75% in a period of about three years, eventually recovering after the Civil War ended. But it suffered greatly through that war. There’s a long history that I don’t have time to get into today with the civil war here in El Salvador, but I encourage you to read up on it as it’s quite interesting history. So Suchitoto also sits on Lake Suchitlan, which is actually a man-made lake. In the early 70s, they created the lake to help with hydroelectric efforts for the country. As a result, a numerous smaller villages were. Sunk under the lake, and I believe the ruins of those actually still exist today. So we’re going to end up taking a walk down towards that lake later today. But I thought first we would start up here in the center of the town where there is a number of things we’re seeing, I think in my opinion, including a unique museum unlike anywhere else in the world that I’m aware of, and some other things here too. So we’re just going to start our tour here in Sushitoto in the. main square of the town. This is Plaza Mayor and it’s still a hub of activity for locals. You can see it’s surrounded by shops and restaurants and all sorts of different things. Lots of vendors in the square here. And of course, it wouldn’t be a plaza without a fountain. And of course, it also wouldn’t beA main square without the church here. This is the Church of Santa Lucia. It was built in 1853 here in the town. Suchitoto isn’t as vulnerable to earthquakes as a lot of other parts of the country, so this is actually the original building that remains intact to this day, 170 plus years later. There’s actually a service going on inside at the moment, so I’m not going to bother going in. But just wanted to show you the outside of the building, but it is a very formidable structure here in the town that is primarily single story buildings. We’re just going to take a walk down through here. This is sort of a market of local vendors. So our first task of the day is to track down a backpack patch for El Salvador. This is my last stop and I actually forgot to get one. In San Salvador. So I’ve been told that this shop here will have some. This shop literally has everything you could ever want for El Salvador if you’re traveling through. This shop literally has everything you could ever want for El Salvador if you’re traveling through. So we have found our target. It is a smaller one, but that’s OK because I am running out of space in my backpack. So this gift shop here is Casa de la Abuela, and this is where I got the backpack patch. They have all kinds of souvenirs and stuff in there, all kinds from trinkets and, you know, whatever, whatever. So I got the backpack patch for El Salvador. That was $3. And then I also got a. El Salvador keychain with the letter I on it for my name obviously, and that was $2.00, so $5 for both, which I think was a fair price. So now let’s continue down to the first stop here in the town. Museum is just down here on the left. So this is the Museum of 1000 Plates and more here in Suchitoto and. It is literally what it sounds like. They have plates from all over the world. They have souvenirs. They even have some money, which we’ll come back and look at in a minute. But a really impressive spot. So this is a really kind of funny place because it’s got a little bit of everything in it and they’re all kind of organized by areas and by topics. So down in the back here, you’ve sort of got all the different animal ones. Got some of the older like Coca-Cola Christmas plates and stuff with the polar bears on them. This is wild. I literally have never seen so many plates in one place before. So they’ve even got, oh, interesting, they’ve got paintings and then they’ve even got the Olympic pin set from 1984. And here’s the second one here from 1988, which is kind of neat. And then they’ve got through some plates, Los Angeles Olympics 84. They get some Japanese place here. Some of them have signs on them that kind of describe what they are and where they are. Maine, Salt Lake City, Japan, Wizard of Oz is a prominent space here. Casablanca, King Kong. Historical photos here from different periods. They’ve got stuff here from El Salvador. And then they’ve got different things here. Martin Luther King, Cuba, Venezuela, Dubrovnik, New York City. Season’s Greetings, 1973. Even before I was born. And I’m already old. Princess Diana. There’s an article from the paper about the Museum of a Thousand Plates that was featured. And then they got these also these little neat display cases of different currencies from around the world, all kinds of different countries represented. It’s interesting because before I started travelling, I used to actually collect banknotes from all over the world. And so I recognize a lot of them. And it’s kind of fun to always see, you know, different countries and different banknotes because a lot of places are starting to go, you know, digital currencies and that sort of thing. Or some countries like here have fallen back to the standard U.S. dollar. And I think it’s always really cool to kind of see the progression of currencies through different countries. Some have hyperinflation and that sort of thing, too, so that also comes into play. And we just got brought back to a back room here, and there’s paintings here by a local artist who does the doorway paintings, which are really cool. So it’s got different national birds speckled across them, two full-sized doors, and then a shutter there. And they’ve also got a fun little display here of Hot Wheels, Star Wars characters, all kinds of stuff here. Anyway, this is a place you’d definitely have to come and check out if you’re in town. It’s only $2 to get in. It said $3 at the front, but she only charged me $2, so maybe it was the beard. I don’t know. Anyway, cool spot. Definitely come check it out. Let’s head on to our next stop. So here in Suchitoto, this is the Performing Arts Theatre, named after Alejandro Cotto. Alejandro Cotto was a famous filmmaker here in El Salvador throughout the 60s and 70s. He was often working on productions related to life in El Salvador and the struggle of the people that were in the country. He was a documentary filmmaker who was born here in Suchitoto in 1928. He then travelled to Mexico City to study film and then returned to El Salvador to begin his work. He eventually died in 2015 at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke and is now considered a national hero and one of the most recognized filmmakers in the country. So in 1992, he was declared emeritus son by the government of El Salvador. And then in 1997, he was given a National Culture Award for his career work. So it’s a pretty prominent person in the history of Tsuchitoto. The theatre is unfortunately closed today. However, there is a museum farther along our trip here today where we are going to see a bit more information about Alejandro Cotto. If any of you know me at all, you know that I am a big movie nerd, and so I always enjoy finding. historical nuggets about filmmakers and theatre and movies in different places that I visit and here is no different. And here in one of our later stops we’re actually going to head down to the museum for Alejandro Cotto as well. So let’s head down further down the street here a little bit. Um There’s another museum here that I actually know is closed and may not even be open anymore but it was on my list and I wanted to at least drop by and show you where it is. So this building here has the Museum of Money, Museo La Moneda. I believe it’s been closed now for some time, which is unfortunate because I do like that sort of thing. But it is only a block from the theater, which was just there, and it is also directly across the street from Parque Saint Martin. Let’s have a little walk around. So this park is only a few blocks from the main square, but infinitely quieter here, much more shade. And when we get to the other side, I’m going to argue a much better view as well. There’s a nice bandshell here in the middle of the park. Pretty quiet spot. It’s got a Lots of shaded seating areas and stuff, which is nice because it’s a hot part of the country and hot here today especially. But yeah, pretty nice little location. And I was going to show you the view from the side of the park, but I found a better place. So let’s go there now and down we go. Welcome to El Mirador in Suchitoto, or the Suchitoto Lookoff. And it is definitely worth your time to come down here. So as I mentioned in the introduction, Suchitoto sits on a man-made lake, which is what you see here in front of me. So this is Lake Suchitlan. It was a man-made lake developed in the 1970s to help with hydroelectric power for the country. It was about 1972 the project started, and I believe it was completed around 1975 or so. And um it was considered, at the time, the best solution to the country’s growing energy problem. And it produced enough power when it was finished to then help support the rest of the country. Of course, with any of these sort of man-made lake hydroelectric projects, the area that was flooded was actually a series of villages throughout where the lake is now. And so in the sort of the center here, there were actually two or three villages that are still completely submerged today at the bottom of the lake. But it’s turned into quite a beautiful spot here andup here at the lookoff point, which is very easy to find. From that last park I was in, it’s only a couple of blocks down a bit of a hill, but that’s nothing and very quiet. There is nobody else here and just a great spot to sit and just kind of watch the clouds roll by. Just making my way down here to my last couple stops. Pretty quiet town once you get away from the main square, but also really pretty with all the trees and colonial homes and the cobblestone road. So I just got into the museum here for Alejandro Kato in Suchitoto, and it’s a pretty beautiful space. The admission was $3 US to get in, and they have a very impressive collection here, to say the least. This first room kind of shows some of his different awards and certificates from both El Salvador and beyond. So there’s like honorary degrees, diploma with honour, those types of things. And then on this side is more of the honours. So here was like, you know, special recognition award from the Legislative Assembly, National Department of Culture, honours, those types of things. There’s also a history of his life here sort of talking about, you know,Growing up in 1928, Cichitoto, and then going through the years, including Festival Cinema in Cartagena, Colombia, and then El Salvador, and how much of an influence he was to the country and beyond. Just a beautiful space here though. This room features a collection of paintings from artists who were both friends and inspired by Alejandro Cotto. And it’s a pretty amazing collection, a lot of different types of art. There’s a list here of some of the artists that are included. This third room has some features here. Looking at some of the lasting legacy of Alejandro Cotto in the city. So obviously there’s the main church cathedral we saw earlier. the theater that’s in his name. Some shots here from the museum. And then on this side we have pictures of Kato here in Suchitoto over the years attending various events and galas. He was a big supporter of this city and a few of his films, including his first few shorts, were actually about the town of Suchitoto. One of the things that’s nice about this place here too is that you know his story, his life story in pictures here is all in English and Spanish, so you can come and kind of read the history. There’s also some beautiful murals here on the wall. This one here is actually the Cathedral in San Salvador, painted in 2005. I think that’s the same artist we saw that did those doors at the Museum of a Thousand Plates. And then there’s another beautiful painting here, mural. So this room here is the final resting place of Alejandro Cotto. He died here in 2015 at the age of 87. And they have maintained this from some of his old clothes and a desk and bed, book on Salvador Valley. Some family photos. So I’m just about finished here at the museum. I just had a a lovely conversation with a couple from Las Vegas for like the last 40 minutes. And special hello to them. I really loved hearing the information and the back story and the history. AndYeah, those are the kind of interactions that I love. And I don’t ever record them because it’s a personal thing to me, and it’s not meant for you know exploiting on YouTube, I guess is the best way to put it. But anyway, this museum in Alejandro Cotto Casa is a really cool spot here in the city of Sichitoto and well worth your time. So if you’re in the city, come down here and check it out, because it’s really, really cool. So we’re just going to continue on to our last stop here. It’s about 10 or 15 minutes down the road and I did double check and there are taxis to get me back up afterwards, which is nice because I’m going to be way too hot and way too tired to walk back up. So let’s continue on our way. Just on the final stretch here, down to the port where I’ve been walking down towards. There was a old cobblestone Rd. that came down from the museum that sort of connected with this much better Rd. and she was pretty steep. So just keep that in mind if you’re in Suchitoto and heading down to the lakefront that that shortcut through there is quite steep, but now we’re on the last stretch here. I can hear the music in the distance. And so we’ve made it down to Lake Suchitlan, my final stop here on the tour in Suchitoto. And it’s actually quite pretty down here. You’ve got these islands in the middle. And there’s all these launcher boats here you can actually use to take over to the other side of the lake because there’s more villages and stuff over there. But anyway, I had a great time here in Suchitoto, a beautiful city, so much history here and a fair amount of things to see for a small town, I have to say. And yeah, just if you get a chance, if you’re in El Salvador and you’re looking for somewhere to go that’s, you know,Sort of off the beaten path. I’ve seen a lot of tourists here, but not as many as other places. So if you’re looking for a place to come that’s a bit more local, has a lot of history to it and a lot of great local culture, I would say Tsuchitoto is definitely the place. One of the things I’ll notice if you come down to the lake here, there’s actually a little tourist kind of centre here and it’s got a bunch of restaurants and things and then little gift shops and stuff too. And it’s a good little spot here. It’s mostly local tourists, which is nice. food was delicious. And it’s not that expensive. Of course you also get the really nice view of the lake. Information for you is that when you come down here you certainly don’t want to walk all the way back up because it is too hot, too steep, and too steep. So there is a colectivo that runs from down here up to the centre of town. I just asked the security guard guy and he said it runs every 30 minutes or so. And as luck would have it, it is 3:25, so should be along in a couple of minutes. Just a quick note, by the way, that that colectivo from down at the lake up to the center of town here was 35 cents. and runs about every half hour and yeah, no problems at all. Smooth and easy, which was nice. So I thought I would give you a quick room review of where I stayed here in Suchitoto. I found this place on Airbnb and I actually had to message them because I was like, is this actually for the whole room or is it just for one bed?And yeah, it turned out it was for the whole room. So this is Hotel Ishmari. It’s run by another group, but I’ll put all that information on the screen here in a minute. And yeah, it turns out, yes, this room did come with not three, but four beds. And it was a great spot. It is literally on the main square here in Tsuchitoto. Like you walk out your front door and the main square is plaza by order right there, so it’s great for that. had a great sleep here for the nights that I was here. I got some work done at this nice little office desk space with lots of hangers. TV with all the Wi-Fi and and apps and all that kind of stuff to it. A nice strong air conditioner up on the ceiling. And then in through here there’s this little lounge area which I really didn’t use to be honest. Um But then in here there was also a private bathroom. Bathroom was great, nice hot shower. This place is listed as a suite and you can understand why given its size. Nice little place to relax and come back to. Where it’s kept nice and cold, the air conditioning and I almost thought about combining all the beds into one super bed. But And then I realized that it would just cause more chaos for the people who work here later. So that’s not very nice. But nonetheless, a great spot. Very affordable, I thought, for what you get. They had different pricing options. I believe I paid around $24 US per night for this place, which is a crazy good deal. So you’re also like two blocks from where the buses are. All the restaurants are here, all the historical district, you know all of that bit is literally just steps away. So a great spot to come if you’re looking to stay in Suchitoto for a night or a few nights. But I mean, yeah, for this price and for the size of the room, no complaints at all. So that’s going to do it from here in Suchitoto. Thank you so much for watching, I hope you liked this video. If you did, leave a like or a comment below to let me know that you’re here. If this is your first time coming across my channel, feel free to hit that subscribe button. I really would appreciate it. I, you know, I love all the subscriber support that I get. And if you want to support me further, there’s a couple different ways you can do that. I have some memberships set up here on YouTube that start at just $3 Canadian per month. Or there’s also some one time donation links down below through PayPal or Bitcoin. And of course I also have my merch store where I have some official T-shirts. Mugs, tote bags, all kinds of different things. So have a look through that too. And remember, life is short. Wonder and I’ll see you in the next video from Honduras.

📝 Description:
In this final episode from El Salvador, I explore the charming and cultural town of Suchitoto. Known as the cultural capital of El Salvador, Suchitoto is also the hometown of legendary Salvadoran filmmaker Alejandro Cotto.

We visit both the Theater and Museum dedicated to Cotto’s life and work, stop by the quirky Museum of 1000 Plates, hike to the mirador overlooking Lake Suchitlán, and take a walk all the way down to the lakefront itself.

I also review a fantastic budget-friendly place to stay, and share my final thoughts on my unforgettable time in this beautiful and often surprising country. 🇸🇻

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🧔‍♂️ Who Am I:
WanderBeard is the vagabond name of Ian Daye, former IT specialist for over 25 years who’s decided to go wander the world and share his adventures here. I will be traveling initially through the Americas overland, sharing my experiences from various cultures, peoples, and history.

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