El Salvador by the Numbers

Hello again loyal followers of Shapiroadventures! We are in Managua, Nicaragua, in a very questionable neighborhood, in an even more questionable hotel. We left San Salvador bright and early this morning at 4:45 and after crossing two borders, collecting a few more stamps on the passport, and eating a boatload of "healthy" snacks we made it just before seven tonight. Maybe the neighborhood will look a little better in the morning, but at night it appears to be a little sketchy. Regardless, we are most likely going to head to a musuem tomorrow morning and then head to Leon barring a dramatic improvement in our current perception of Managua. As far as the numbers go for El Salvador, it would appear that we left the country with about $90, $25 more than when we entered. We withdrew $720 from the checking account, meaning we spent about $695 during the 14 days we were in the country. This includes the $50 we spent on transportation today. Our average daily spend was $49.64, not too shabby. It's interesting to note that the cost of a hotel or dorm was a bit more than in other countries we have visited without necessarily a corresponding change in quality. Hot water was a little harder to come by, and A/C would greatly increase the cost of lodging. Despite that, the cost of food and especially economic transportation are extremely affordable. We could have saved a lot more money by cooking while staying in El Tunco instead of going to restaurants for every meal. A couple we met had said that $20 in groceries lasted them almost 2 weeks! That said, we had a good time, stayed in budget, and are looking forward to keeping it up here in Nicaragua!