Santa Ana – Juayua

 The Travel God of Health desperately tried to make amends by at least giving me the strength to get up mid morning and get ready for the day. I decided to chance checking out and slowly wander around Santa Ana with regular rest intervals. I had a tasty breakfast at a local little restaurant and drugged myself up for the day. Had I more time up my sleeve, I would have gratefully rested for the few days it would taken for the worst to pass. As it was, I had to forgo a volcano hike I had planned. 

  
I wandered down to the Central Plaza where some most magnificent buildings lined its outer limits. I went into the Teatro de Santa Ana and was completely blown away with its ornate splendour. Built in 1902 in a neoclassical French style, this fully functioning theatre retains most of its original features, including period light fittings, theatre chairs, and doors opening to individual stalls. Together with opulent decorations throughout, including the two foyers, one felt like adorning oneself in a pastel French muslin gown and promenading the room with a dainty glass of champagne in one’s hand. Instead, I clomped around in a pair of shorts with a massive camera in hand. Sort of the same…

  
From there I went over to the adjacent Cathedral. I was bemused by the signage inside the Cathedral warning people of the dangers of feeding pigeons and the health risks that they expose themselves to, when right outside the door are vendors selling corn for people to do just that! So much for a community working together to solve a problem. 

  
By now, I had reached my practical limit for the day and decided to cash up and head out of town. A wander through the local market on the way back to the hostel, lead me to the crazed woman from yesterday sitting on the steps of an old building. She was still calling out her impassioned gibberish and then sitting quietly watching the world go by. 
I collected my pack and got directions for where to catch a bus to Juayua, my next port of call. On the way to the bus terminal, however, I was distracted by an old ruin and went for a quick explore. I couldn’t find out any information about it, but it looked as if it would have been a grand building in its door. 

  
I found the bus I needed and jumped on board. As it was just on dusk by the time we left, I didn’t manage to see much of the countryside on the way. We did skirt the Volcán de Santa Ana and were able to see the city lights spread out in the valley below. Travelling of an evening does put things into a different perspective, as you get brief glimpses into local life after dark. Of course, having a beautiful moon illuminating a lacy sky adds to the experience. 

  
I’m Juayua, I located my hostel and checked in. A UK expat runs it with a Norwegian girl and they have done a great job creating a really homely place with a lovely garden outside. I ended up joining in a board game before I had even got myself organised and had a great night with some fun people.