When my alarm clock went off at 7AM this morning, I hit snooze. When it went off again a few minutes later, I moved the alarm back to 8AM. Then 9AM. Then I turned it off altogether. I was stuffed with the man-flu, had hardly slept, and couldn't be bothered getting out of bed.
I'm not sure when I caught the cold. Was it on Tuesday when I got caught out in the tropical rain on the streets of San Salvador. Was it on Wednesday, when I climbed Volcan Izalco in the trousers that were still damp from the previous days rain. Perhaps it was from too much Pollo Campero and not enough fruit and vegetables since I left my Guatemalan homestay? Surely it couldn't have been from the three Pilsiner beers I enjoyed with my Salvadoraña amiga Jessica and her friends the previous night?
Sod it, I thought to myself, when it got to 09:30 when I couldn't get back to sleep because of the traffic outside my hotel, and the noisy other guests inside it. I might as well get up and head out to Suchitoto as I originally planned to do before I caught my cold.
Suchitoto has a warm climate all year around, and you are advised to wear light clothing if you visit the town. That is what the travel guide says. The travel guide that the girl in the tourist information centre in Suchitoto gave me when I rocked up in the colonial town in jeans, a heavy t-shirt and thick woolen hiking socks.
The heat hit me like a clenched fist as soon as I stepped off my #129 bus. The sweat was lashing off me by the time I had walked the short distance from the information centre to the main attraction of the town: the church. It was closed. By the time I walked the 1.6 km down a hill to Lago Suchitlan, my tshirt was soaked through and I was limping bandy-legged in my increasingly sweat-heavy jeans. By the time I walked the 1.6 km back up the hill, it looked like I had swum fully clothed in the lake.
Exhausted, I bought a bottle of water and sat in the shade in the main square for a while, feeling sorry for myself in my sweat-soaked clothes as I watched locals walk about under umbrellas to protect themselves from the midday sun. I sneezed a lot, and I wiped my nose occasionally, but mostly, I just cursed myself for not staying in bed this morning.
