5th - 11th September
I returned to El Balsamo and took up my old bed in the dorm at the bottom of the garden. The next six days all kind of blurred into one salty, relaxed, Papusa fuelled mess.
I had leisurely breakfasts and read the Malcom X autobiography which was an amazing read, such an incredible life and insight into an incomprehensible world. I surfed El Sunzal most mornings, skyped with Thea and then after lunch I would ride 15mins North to a break called K59 for some much less crowded and punchy right handers.
K59 is an awesome wave and my favourite in the area. On my first exploratory mission I rode until I saw the Km59 marker, stopped and asked a local guy for directions, he pointed to a tiny rocky lane which disappeared into a load of bushes... intrigued I took the turning and rode down a steep and sketchy track for about 50m until I came to a river! Jumping off the bike I took my shoes off and waded in. The river bed was covered in uneven boulders about the size of my head, the water was over a foot deep in the middle and moving rapidly, It didn't look like a route often driven and I spent a good five minutes considering my options. On the basis that this was a well known surf break, there were a couple of hotels on the beach and that there was no way I was going to spend my last days surfing with seventy people at Sunzal I figured it must be passable and that I should man up and get on with it... I am an idiot!
I didn't want to ride through as the boulders were too uneven, so, barefoot I walked the bike into the river. With the front wheel just touching the water I immediately regretted the decision and wanted to turn back only I couldn't, the slope was too steep and the rocks too big to get the bike around, there was only one way out. With the bike running, I slowly rolled it forward on the brakes as I tried to get a decent footing on the slippery rocks, the current was strong and trying to tip the bike over away from me and onto my board which I had stupidly left in the racks. Halfway across the river water was gushing up around the motor and the rear wheel became stuck on a boulder, I looked up stream to see two local ladies washing their clothes and watching the stupid gringo with a nonplussed expression, they certainly weren't about to help. I revved the bike and the wheel span and squirmed but remained stuck... with a bit of wiggling and a big hand full of throttle the back end skipped and suddenly hopped forward dragging me with it and as I scrambled to get my footing I felt a sharp pain in my foot, lost my balance and unable to hold onto the bike I let go and watched helplessly as it fell with a crunch onto a rock. Amazingly the entire weight of the bike was supported by the rear board rack which balanced on a rock that was raised up out of the water... the engine was saved from being flooded and my board was unscathed, I could not have been more lucky.
With a lot of cursing and painful skitting around on the rocks I managed to heave the bike upright and with a determined fury I gunned the bike out of the river and up the rocky bank on the other side. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I thought it was going to explode, I could very easily have ended the trip with this little misadventure...
On the otherside of the river I pulled up out front of a beautiful little hostel and with shakey hands lit up a cigarette, my foot was bleeding and I needed to wash the dirt out and check the damage. A guy from the hostel came and said hello, opened the gates and told me to park my bike inside for safety while I surf and allowed me to use the shower. I had put a deep gauge into the ball of my left foot, a thick flap of skin only about the size of a finger nail but about half a centimetre thick flapped back on itself as the blood ouzed out. There was no way I could leave it like it was without catching it on every little grain of sand, the skin was too thick to cut off and would have left a deep divet that would fill with sand and dirt and get infected. I remember hearing once that superglue was originally intended for use sticking soldiers back together again on the battlefields... far from the battlefield but with a bottle of glue in my surf repair kit, I decided to stick the flap back down and see how it went. Turns out it's a beaut, sure it stung and walking on it was uncomfortable but it was a sealed wound, no dirt could get in and I could still surf, within two weeks it had almost fully healed!
My stay at El Balsamo was the first time on the trip I had really felt alone. Having had a great week with the crew at Tortuga Verde my experience at El Balsamo was the polar opposite, almost complete solitude for a week, the peace was nice and it was great to be able to have some proper reading time but I felt a funny kind of emptiness that surfing alone couldn't fill. Fortunately I found the solution... at around three or four in the afternoon two rotund women with huge plastic tubs on their heads would come walking down the track honking comedy horna and selling the most amazing pan dulces (sweet breads). Their chocolate doughnuts are the best I have ever eaten!
During my time at Tortuga Verde Rory had introduced me to a neat looking puncture repair kit and suggested a bike shop in San Salvador where I might find one. It seemed silly not to take the opportunity since the city was so close, I had tried but failed on the way back from Gaby's so I assigned one of my days at Balsamo to a mission into the city. With a bit of Google research I found four possible bike shops with the same name and took a screen grab of the map... my GPS located one of the shops so off I went. Traffic was busy but the roads were dry and I got to the first shop within an hour. Unfortunately they didn't have the same kit, and so the fun began... three different people in the shop all gave directions to another place at the same time in rapid Spanish and confused the hell out of me... GPS was no use now so I rode around eyes peeled looking for markers from the conversation... I stopped at a tyre shop and the same thing happened... after six different shops, heaps of random directions and having covered a large portion of down town San Salvador I was sweating profusely and was getting a little stressed. I pulled up outside another shop, pulling off the main road at the last minute and onto a steep concrete ramp just out the way of the two lanes of traffic. I lent the bike over to park it and the weight got the better of me, I can't have kicked the stand over enough and it just kept leaning until I realised the angle was too great and I pushed to lift the bike but couldn't and down she went, twice in three days!
Eventually I found the kit in a large DIY type superstore right in the very center of town. I must have driven around for about three hours before finally finding it. It's amazing how challenging getting hold of stuff can be when away from home... I am satisfied as hell that I eventually got it sorted, it was a proper testing mission, who knows if it will even prove worthwhile?!
On my penultimate day a pair of Aussies sheila's, Em and Nicole shouted through the fence and asked if I knew where their hostel was, I pointed them in the direction of the only other hostel I knew of and went off to get another fill of Papusas. 20mins later Em and Nicole walk into the papuseria and sit down opposite me. I should explain the only joint in El Sunzal for an evening meal was a small papuseria which was just an open sided shack by the side of the road with ten or so tables and a large hotplate set on top of a big wood fire pit. Two young El Salvadorean ladies worked there nuts off all night in the heat and smoke. See photos below. So anyway Em and Nic sat and we did proper introductions, Em was living in Darwin working as a marine biologist and was on holiday for two weeks visiting Nic who had been travelling for months in South America and Mexico. They were both really easy going and good entertainment and we swapped stories and hostel recommendations. Nic raved about Mexico and spent a good hour drawing me a map of the surfspots in Oaxaca, with four pages of detailed notes and tips! Legend.
On my last day I hit K59 late in the afternoon and met an Aussie bloke in the water called Stewart... intrigued by my trip and having just come from Mexico we rapidly exchanged notes on surf spots and places to stay. Stewart was a legend and I would have chatted for longer but had to get up the sketchy boulder track and back to the main road before it got dark.
Ahhh yes the dirt track, I forgot... in case you were wondering, I didn't go back out through the river when leaving K59... it turns out there was another entrance to the break that was without river, it was still a steep, rocky and deeply rutted track but it was at least possible to stay dry. There are absolutely no signs to show the track is there and without prior knowledge it is almost impossible to spot from the main road. Keeps it quiet I guess!
Anywho El Balsamo was a great spot to stay and for $6 a night you won't find anywhere better, the peace was bliss but it was time to get back on the road, let my wounds heal for a bit and check out something new...
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