El Salvador Wanderings

...Then we drove a mountain road through
the thick greenery shrouded with a thin veil
of mist, a place that seemed lost in time and
appeared to be distant from the most remote 
vestiges of civilization.  Were it not for
the people that appeared like phantoms on 
the roadside from the misted greenery--a 
woman with a pot balanced on her head; an 
old man with a machete and a small bundle
of firewood; or a child with a small, black
dog in his arms--we could have been in the 
heart of the deepest wilderness...The 
vibrant city of San Salvador, teaming 
with traffic was only 45 minutes ahead...