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Last Updated: May 9, 2022
I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I was sure hoping it had nothing to do with me.
He walked past me with his shotgun and out the front door. It was starting to make sense why he didn’t care to help me and why there wasn’t going to be anybody around to watch my stuff. This man had bigger things on his mind.
I was nodding in and out of sleep on the couch of the bus terminal/hotel lobby in San Salvador after 48 hours of travel from Bogota, Colombia. My comedy of errors spending the night at the El Salvador International Airport meant that I missed the 5am bus to San Pedro Sula and had to settle for the 11am to Tegucigalpa.
How to Bus From San Salvador to Honduras
The terminal to get buses direct from San Salvador to Honduras is at the Hotel San Carlos in central San Salvador. It’s hardly a terminal but Tica Bus and Cristobal Colon bus companies operate out of here. Tica Bus has a friendly website where you can find their schedules and book tickets. Cristobal Colon, to my surprise, seems to finally have their website up and running – when I used it in the past there was nothing there.
Here is a Google Maps link to the location of the terminal.
You could also take chicken buses the whole way which would be a lot cheaper but require a lot more work on your end. You’d probably end up with somewhere around 4 different buses to get you to the border and then have to take 4 more to get you to whatever your destination is. It’s possible, a lot cheaper, a lot more eventful, and will require you to ask a lot of questions to figure out what the next bus is and where to get it from – the choice is yours.
After my eventful ride from the airport to the bus terminal, I had about 4 hours to kill before my bus to Tegucigalpa. The first hour I passed sitting in a chair, playing games on my phone. I had my bags with me and didn’t want to go walking about the middle of San Salvador with them for two reasons: the city has a reputation for crime, and it was hot as balls – I didn’t need to sweat any more than I had already done in the past 48 hours.
There was a crusty old man eating pupusas at what I guess you would call the reception desk of the hotel – it was a simple wooden table with a few papers strewn about the surface. I didn’t want to bother him while he was eating so I patiently waited for him to finish his breakfast. I wanted somewhere to stash my bags while I went out to get some food and explore the city for a couple hours.
When it was clear that he was done with his meal I approached the desk.
“Excuse me? Can I leave my bags here for a couple hours?”
“No. There’s nowhere to put them”
“Is there just a small room I can leave them in out of sight?”
“You can rent a hotel room here and lock your bags in there.” It was clear at this point that he really didn’t want to help me. I figured alright, whatever, I’ll just pay him a couple dollars to keep my bags locked safely somewhere.
“Okay. How much would it cost to lock my bags for 2 hours?” I wasn’t gonna pay more than $3-4.
“A room costs $15/night.”
“No. I don’t want the room for a night, I just want somewhere to put my bags for a couple hours,” I thought maybe he didn’t hear me the first time. But he knew that I was taking the 11am bus to Tegucigalpa. Maybe my presence in his lobby was annoying him and he didn’t feel like helping me out.
“$15 for the night. That’s all we do”
I couldn’t believe it. Did he expect me to accept this offer? Didn’t he want to make a few bucks by holding my bags? Did I say something earlier to put him off?
“No, come on. Can I just leave my bags in the corner over there?” I pointed to a corner that wasn’t exactly hidden but it was out of the way and close enough to the reception desk that it would be obvious if anyone walked over and tried to steal my stuff.
“No. There won’t be anyone around to guard your stuff.”
But isn’t this a hotel? How could there be no one around? Where was everyone going? Where were you going?
I didn’t understand much of this transaction other than that he didn’t feel like helping me, which is fair enough. He’s not obligated to lift a finger for me but how hard is it to just chuck my bags in a back room somewhere?
I accepted defeat and just kind of sunk back into the couch with my leg looped through one of my bags and my arm hugging the other. I didn’t want to fall asleep, but it was inevitable after the last couple days I had.
I was nodding in and out of consciousness when I saw the old man return wearing a very official-looking uniform. A bit odd for the style of this place but I didn’t think too much of it. He reached back into one of his rooms where I was hoping I could stash my bags and pulled out with one hand something that brought me right back to full consciousness.
A big ol’ single barrel shotgun was in his left hand before being quickly slung over his shoulder using the attached strap as he rummaged for a couple of other things.
I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I was sure hoping it had nothing to do with me.
He walked past me with his shotgun and out the front door. It was starting to make sense why he didn’t care to help me and why there wasn’t going to be anybody around to watch my stuff. This guy had bigger things on his mind.
I really had no idea what to make of this. Like, who just goes walking down the street with a shotgun in hand? Maybe San Salvador’s reputation for danger was really living up to the billing.
I stayed put, hoping that my bus was still going to run and that I wasn’t going to hear any loud bangs coming from somewhere down the road.
The Tica Bus employee arrived about an hour later at 8:30. I let her get settled in before I went over to see if there were still tickets available for the 11am to Tegucigalpa. Making my way over to her desk I walked past the hallway that leads to the entrance and saw none other than our old man with the shotgun standing in the front doorway. Has he been there the whole time? What the hell is he doing? And what does he mean that nobody will be around to guard my bags? He’s standing in the doorway with a bloody shotgun! Who’s stealing anything from here with that looming presence?
I put those questions to the side and took care of business first at the desk. I had already paid for a 5am ticket to San Pedro Sula but my airport gaffe made me miss that bus. I mentioned this just as a bit of good morning conversation and that I was hoping to now catch the 11am to Tegucigalpa.
She had a quick conversation on the phone with her manager and printed me a FREE ticket to Tegucigalpa. I guess it wasn’t free seeing as I had already paid for the 5am bus but I was fully expecting to pay for another ticket, so it certainly felt free. What a great, weird start to my day this has been. I asked if I could stick my bags behind her desk and she told me of course I could.
I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Tica Bus – except that they are a lot more expensive than catching chicken buses the whole way to your destination. But they will certainly save you some hassle crossing borders in Central America.
With my bag situation taken care of I asked politely for permission to get past the old man and his shotgun, and head out into the wide world of San Salvador. Congested, dirty, and old was my first impression of the city centre. Not a very appealing place, but there was a lot of life in the streets, and that I liked.
I quickly learned as well that nearly every business owner in San Salvador stands in their front doorway wielding a shotgun. I have no idea what kind of policy this is a part of but it kind of put me at ease about the old man back at Hotel San Carlos. All these men seemed in decent spirits as well as I greeted them along my walk.
I didn’t find much on my walk but managed to grab a quick bite to eat and pick up a few snacks for the road. I had about a 9-hour journey in front of me and I was just looking forward to catching up on some sleep.
I found my way back to the hotel/terminal and waited for the bus to begin boarding.
I met the driver in the lobby and we had a brief chat. We’d normally arrive at a certain hotel in Tegucigalpa he told me, but we had to re-route because Kamala Harris was in town and staying at that hotel for the new president’s inauguration the following day. Security was so heavy around the hotel it would take forever to get near there. Xiomara Castro was being ushered into office the next day as Honduras’s first female president.
Such an interesting first day in Central America I was having. Check out what’s next as I arrive in Honduras and have a Couchsurfing experience that was fantastic at the start but had me wanting to get out of there as fast as I could.
Happy travels!
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