I get woken up early by the guy running the hotel I'm staying at. I still haven't had the chance to pay him the remainder for the room. He uses Chivo wallet and the payment goes through promptly. I suppose Chivo could benefit from a "request payment" functionality, where you can share (e.g. via email or test message) a fiat-denominated payment request that the payer fulfills when they are ready.

🚗 Road trip: I'm heading to the beach today. I could take a bus via San Salvador or Usulatan, but either option will require half of the day and at least two transfers. A driver from San Salvador quotes me $135 for the ~3h ride, but through the Bitcoin Center I'm connected to a driver who offers to drive me for $95. Acceptable for me today considering he has to drive back empty, and I can split the fare with another traveller.

The drive takes us up and down the mountain through beautiful scenery towards Usulatan, then along the highway via the airport to La Libertad, which is a giant construction site, as it was already three years ago. Before "Bitcoin City" there was "Surf City," a large but reasonable project to convert the 35,000 pax coastal city into an entertainment and tourist hub. In reality, Surf City is a better description for El Tunco, where I will be staying two nights.

🏄‍♀️ Surf City: I've visited El Tunco in late 2021, and while the city didn't change at its core, it is much nicer now. Plenty of former parking lots and empty plots of land have been developed into additional luxury resorts, food stalls, bars and clubs. There is only one road going through the town, and it is partially pedestrianized. Half a dozen police officers patrol the city and ensure nobody parks illegally.

El Tunco has been relatively safe for a while, partly due to the whole town being isolated by two rivers and a thick and tall wall, rather than each individual compound having a wall. To get here from the airport, one does not need to pass through San Salvador. Historically, El Tunco is a beach resort for wealthy young people and families from surrounding countries, as well as well-off San Salvadorians looking for a fun night out on the weekend. It's El Salvador's one true party town, and as such it feels a bit empty on a Wednesday evening.

🤼 Community: Berlin is such a great place also largely due to its Bitcoin community. There are locals who are serious about learning how to use Bitcoin to their advantage, foreigners sincere in improving Berlin, and other travellers curious about how Bitcoin can achieve everything we dream of. For me, connecting with other Bitcoiners and learning about their work and ideas is very rewarding..

El Tunco does not have such a community, in fact it barely has a local population at all. People commute here from the nearby villages and La Libertad to work and cater to tourists. There is nobody here to teach people how to use Bitcoin, and even the business development departments of large Lightning payment processors seem to shut it.

As a result locals have to figure it out themselves. They respond largely to raw market demand, rather than promises, ideals and subsidies. I immediately notice a patchwork of stickers from various payment processors, and am able to quickly make a few payments, which I will share in more detail tomorrow.