The roads of Juayua, even during its acclaimed food festival that attracts Salvadorans and tourists alike each Saturday, are much easier to navigate than those of Santa Ana. We climbed out of our taxi almost at the town center, and walked through a maze of food stalls to survey our options. A selection of fried yuca, skewered meat, and desserts piqued our interest, and we almost sampled one of everything.

The market is picturesque, situated along the perimeter of Juayua’s church and the leafy garden outside of it. We ordered two Micheladas — beer infused with tomato juice — and watched as kids played soccer in the street and a snake charmer advertised his services. Micheladas aren’t my thing, and neither are snakes. Eventually, I managed to drink about half of my rather large beer mug and called it there.

We wandered some more, but Juayua’s main tourist attractions are the aforementioned market and a waterfall outside of town. Since it was approaching dusk, we decided a hike was a poor idea and instead tried to find a place for dinner, and perhaps another beer. The few restaurants recommended on Google Maps were deserted, as most everyone else was still sauntering around at the food festival or headed home for the day. We stumbled into a bar, which had the feel of a local haunt, and sat as a band set up to play live music for the night. It was around six o’clock, and we knew the last bus for the day was about to leave. Having tried our luck and succeeded with taxis and Uber, we decided to stick around for the music.

The band’s lead singer, who said they would begin in about an hour, promised an enjoyable show. We left the bar for a bit, found some pupusas at another local spot, and set up shop. Pupusas are a stuffed flatbread of sorts that are usually filled with cheese, meat, vegetables, or some combination of all three. I ate them religiously in El Salvador, where they are the national dish, and found them to be delicious. They are served with salsa and slaw.

We talked with the family at the table over from us, who made good conversation and offered fascinating stories about their history in El Salvador. They headed out, and we did too, finding our table still unoccupied at the bar from earlier. A few others had begun to trickle in, and the show seemed on the verge of starting for about an hour. There is only so much to talk about when covers of American music are blaring over a speaker that makes the person next to you difficult to hear.

After some time, a guy sat at the table next to us. He struck up a conversation, and told us about his upbringing in Mexico and current life in the United States. He ran a successful electrician business and came to El Salvador to visit his uncle. We talked for a while about life, history, politics. He bought us each a beer and we returned the favor.

The band started, at last, and were quite talented. They played classic rock songs by The Eagles and everyone sang along. At about nine o’clock, we decided to call an Uber home after we were warned that taxis were hard to come by in Salvadoran hill country at night, where road visibility and demand are both rather low. The Uber app loaded and loaded, but sprang up with an error message after about five minutes. No drivers found.

We practically begged the bartender and our new friend to help us find a taxi, which they did after the fourth or fifth ask. The guy showed up about an hour later, and we felt relieved that we wouldn’t have to find lodging for the night in Juayua. It was well worth the hassle, as we covered ample ground and still had time to experience live Salvadoran music, with a touch of home.