After some problems and delays in Nicaragua we found ourselves having to scale back our plans through El Salvador. Fortunately there is only one WHS to visit and it remained our priority. The worst thing you could do when visiting this site is expect it to be anything like any of the well known Mayan ruins in the region. This one is small scale and has obvious OUV that is more archaeologically technical than of broad appeal to the casual tourist. There are no major structures here and the village is believed to have only existed for 30 years or so before it was abandoned and buried by ash. Having said that we enjoyed our visit and found it to be a nice compliment to our overall understanding and appreciation for all things Mayan. The small museum on site is informative and a visit there first is necessary preparation for understanding the rest. 

Although more have been found there are about a dozen structures, divided into 3 separate covered areas visible from above. Unlike many other Mayan ruins there is no climbing on and touching these ones. The path is above and you look down through the 14 layers of ash at what has been uncovered. The details are hard to pick out but you can get some sense of the size of the homes and their relation to one another in the village that once was. We were through it all in about an hour and entry was only $3 which was refreshingly affordable. 

The site is easily reached by public bus. We visited as a day trip from Santa Ana and even with a required change of buses still made it there in under an hour. For those wanting more there are many other small archaeological sites in the area including the larger Mayan city of San Andres which was the administrative center for the region that included Joya de Ceren.