El Salvador, Part 10: The Ruins

Ruins day. Started in Chalchuapa, where the whole town leans into its history — murals of the pyramids painted right on the street walls, which we had to pose before we even got inside. The murals here are just on another level.

Tazumal was the main event. A big stepped pyramid you can walk right up to, with a grass-covered mound still sitting on top of it like the excavation just stopped partway. The boys gave their thumbs up in front of it and then spent most of the visit trying to spot the lizards sunning themselves on the ancient stairs — counted at least a couple of iguanas treating a 1,000+ year old pyramid like their personal tanning bed.

From there we hit Casa Blanca, which is the quieter of the two — grassy pyramid mounds, a small museum with a courtyard fountain, and excavation pits where you can look down and literally see the layers of volcanic ash between time periods, with structures buried underneath. There’s something wild about seeing history stacked like that in a dirt wall. There was also a giant carved boulder with faces worked into the stone that’s apparently been sitting there for a couple thousand years. Its bonkers to know that any random hill could be an ancient temple under it.

Not bad for a country most people only think of for surfing. The boys tolerated the museum portion better than expected — the lizards helped.

#unpavedparenting