Decker Trip - Panamerican Highway 1966

Oct 12. Everybody got a shower in the morning (except Ronny). Got on our way and drove through Matzatenango. Today is Columbus Day--a big holiday here. We passed a girl carrying pasteles on her head and bought some delicious marshmallow-filled ones for 5 cents. In the little town they wear a typical skirt, hand woven and wrapped around the hips with a wide sash of the same material tied around.
Another interesting fact: everybody carries either a knife or a machette.
We stopped at a fruit stand by the road near Los Cocales and bought huge grapefruit, papaya, oranges and 1 sapote to try. The coconut are all over here, but they don't seem to eat the coconut, just drink the juice.
In [Escuitla], we stopped to see if we could find any of the handmade materials used for skirts. Found some in the mercado and bought a piece. They sure are suspicious of American money around here, though the exchange is the same. Ken got a haircut for .25. We stopped outside the city under a big tree to eat lunch just as it started to rain. The grapefuit were too dry to be really good. We tried the sapote but it was rotten, so we still don't know what sapote tastes like.
Since it was still quite early, we decided to cross the border. We ate lunch on the road under a big tree while it drizzled on us. Went on to the border. They charged a small amount extra because of the holiday. However, we had no trouble on either side of the border. They didn't even look into the car. The Aduana on the El Salvador side is called "Las Hachaduras," and is really a filthy, muddy shacktown. Reminded us of Puerto during the rains.
We looked for quite a while for a place to stop, but didn't find anything for a while because the ground is all wet--in fact, everything is wet. Everybody just mushes around half the year in the muck. There are certain advantages to the dry season, though everything looks prettier now.
We finally found a place wide enough to pull off the road, and drier than most. We made soup which really tasted good, and set up camp. Were afraid of rain, but it only sprinkled a bit toward morning. We all slept quite well.