We awoke to the clouds misting around us and drifting across the car park, and a bit of light rain accompanied breakfast. By 8:00am the first bus load of workers and tourists arrived, among them the man who controlled the main gate, so now we could leave.

The drive back down the mountain afforded some wonderful views out to the Pacific Coast and of a nearby crater lake, Lago Coatepeque. We followed the road to the town of Santa Ana, along the rim of the Coatepeque crater in the hope of finding a laundry.

Santa Ana proved to be quite a driving adventure for we spent maybe an hour negotiating the tight streets of the town. Thanks to a young women who got into Norms car in order to direct us we eventually succeeded in finding a laundry but it was way too expensive.

From Santa Ana we visited a historic site named San Andres a small pyramid ruins of the Mayas, and then onto another historic site named Joya de Ceren. These sites are about 5 kms apart. The first is thought to be a royal ceremonial site whereas the second is a village site, preserved because it was covered in ash following a major eruption in AD 595. The only village site discovered in Central America. It is thought that they are part of a single settlement.

Sightseeing finished for the day, we headed towards the Pacific Coast along highway CA-2, and the town of La Libertad. The coast is quite spectacular with very steep mountains dropping down to the ocean. Just after Playa Sunzul, an apparently famous surfing beach, we pulled up in front of the locked gate of a tourist center that was to be our home for a few nights. It took a while to attract any ones attention but eventually the elderly manager of the place opened up and let us in. At one level the place is wonderful, huge palm trees all over the property, right on the beach front, with a big swimming pool. But on another it's depressing. Except for the swimming pool everything seems to be broken or missing, the gates to the beach and the pool are locked. This must have been a wonderful place at one time, but it is well past its time.

A few beers to cut through the stifling humidity, a walk around the local community, some idle chatting, and then we called it a day.