Today, it can be difficult to know whether it’s the metamorphic movements of the volcanic Valley of Hammocks that shakes this city, or if it’s the very city itself that rumbles—such is the energy and intensity of San Salvador, El Salvador’s high-perched, ancient capital in the hills. Between its chaotic central districts, endless channels of multi-coloured traffic stream between the wide boulevards, clusters of lively locals sip coffees fresh from the plantations of Mesoamerica, looming high-rises dazzle in the sun, and city parks sit quiet and dusted with the pink blooms of maquilishuat trees.

Many a times judged away as just another urban centre, with business districts and residential pockets hemmed in by shantytowns on the fringes, San Salvador is but much more; a culturally rich city with a vibrant art scene and museums galore. And when you’ve had your fill of the beautiful exhibits at the Museo de Arte or the Museo David J Guzman (where Xipe Totec and his Aztec compadres keep watch from behind glass cabinets), head for the sprawling Multiplaza and Las Fuentes shopping malls, or the thumping nightclubs of the Zona Rosa after dark to sip cold Pilsener cerveza in the company of Salvadoreño students. Many San Salvador tour guides also recommend breaking out in the vicinity of the city, to case out the misty wilds of the Parque Nacional El Boqueron, or the shimmering heights of Lake Coatepeque to the north-west.