I’ve always loved a good road trip. So when a friend said, “You want to go visit my family in EL Salvador?”. Of course I said yes. Until he said, “We can drive there”. At first I thought, ok how? What route? Then we started speaking to his Uncle in Santo Tomás, Salvador and he began to tell us how, when, and the route for one of the safest routes. I began to think this isn’t such a great idea. It sounded great until my friend said we’d drive his 1982 LiteAce Van, Now I felt like a surfer from the 70’s planning the next epic trip. And what a trip it was. Los Angeles to Brownsville, Texas. Then crossing over into Mexico and traveling south to Tampico, to Veracruz, through the Chiapas, into Guatemala to Salvador. If you haven’t ever ridden in one of these vans, look it up. It’s as if you're sitting in a chair inches away from a 80 inch tv. That first 300 miles driving in Mexico was like a roller coaster that I was controlling mixed with the beautiful scenery that is Mexico. After driving for over two days in Mexico we crossed into the Chiapas state, over the mountains and into the desert before our final push to the Guatemalan boarder. As we left the final gas station before Guatemala, we heard a loud bang and the van shook. We knew we had to turn back to the gas station. When we got back to the gas station, we saw no mechanics. Just gas, and food in the middle of the desert with over a 100°heat. As we continued to look around. Down the road we saw a wall, with one small house, painted on the side of it with blue paint was a wrench. We drove over, van shaking, stopped and knocked on the door. A man came out,We showed him the van. He crawled under it, came up and then smiled, walked over to a car covered with a big tarp. He pulled the tarp off, and there sitting on bricks was an old Toyota truck with no wheels on it. But what it did have that we needed. A bushing and shock that had broke off the van. 20 mins later. He had fixed our van. When we tried to give him a payment. He refused. He said he would not accept any money from us. Just then we saw these cute girls, his daughters, poking their heads out of their home. We said “We have food, drinks and candy, can we give you and your family some?” He happily accepted and we sat together and shared with the man and his family(Pictures below of his daughters). Depending on where you get your news or information, people say Mexico is dangerous and tourist are taken advantage or worse. From my experience, That information is wrong. I don’t recall the mans name from that day in the desert, But I will forever remember his kind heart. Without him, We would’ve been stranded in the desert. Instead, it turned into a fun afternoon with his wonderful family. His adorable daughters loved the candy pops. To that man and his family, Where ever you are now, Thank you. I will always remember your kindness.