Pacific Paradise

Our Salvadoran reality trip came to a sudden stop when the cab took a right turn onto the long driveway leading to the Pacific Paradise Hotel resort.

Seeing this place for the first time was a disorienting jolt from the very different world that clearly existed just beyond the front gates.

For $75 a night, you can take laps in the spacious resort pool, have your waiter bring out an overpriced plate of mostly Americanized food, or simply sit and stare at the privately-owned beachfront, as you sip a $4 pina colada. It's a grand trip to the other El Salvador.

On this particular day, we felt very alone. Where were all the other guests? Who knows. There were always only a couple of familiar faces each time we sat outside. It was only on our last day at Pacific Paradise when a tour bus suddenly showed up to dump a busload of American-looking guests, finally breathing some life into this very pristine but lonely place.