1

There is no cheap way to get between Central and South America. It is easiest to fly between the two areas as there is no road connecting the two, so its either fly, or take a sailboat between Panama and Colombia, about $550PP and 5-7 days. You can also take a series of busses and cargo boats, but this is a more raw and not for everyone way to cross, requires a fluid schedule and some roughing it. Usually to fly is between $500-$900 oneway between CA & CA depending on the country, regional airlines serving ES are TACA and COPA, and all the majors from the USA, usually via Miami, Atlanta, Houston and Dallas.

I am not aware of any flights between Central America and for near east, you need to get to either the USA, or Mexico to avoid the transit Visa issues in USA if a connection is needed thru the USA airports.

You also need to check the Visa requirements for ES and the other countries for an Indian Passport holder, as I think you need a Visa prior to visiting, and ES may not have a Consulate/Embassy in India.

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2

I am curious as to why you would single out El Salvador as the only country you wish to visit in the Central America region?. You are certainly adding cost and complexity to your itinerary as detailed in #1 above. Many people focus on either Central OR South America because of this, but it can be done of course if you have the money and the time.
If I was you I would fly into a major South American hub such as Rio or Santiago de Chile depending on flight deals and explore from there. Traveling "on a shoestring" will probably prevent you making it to El Salvador from there...

3

I was thinking the same Boomer, as usually people visit Guatemala for its cultural heritage or Costa Rica for the national parks/nature as a focus, but maybe its work related, as there are a lot of textile plants and cut/sew factories in ES, a common thread, (pardon pun) like India.

4

3 months isnt much for south america. you should save that for a later, longer trip. you could do justice to central america in 3 months. id check flights into mexico city.

5

Good!

6

what is the easiest/ cheapest route to get to El Salvador? via Ecuador? via Brazil? or is the only possible route via the US?

If you want to fly out of India and without going through the USA, an option would be to purchase a ticket from India to London or Frankfurt (or Paris or anyother main European hub) and a separate ticket from London or Frankfurt (or anyother main European hub) to San Salvador with Iberia (changing planes in Madrid). Be careful to choose an European airport served by Iberia, most of the main ones are served by Iberia but they are ending some routes (e.g.: Athens) so be aware.

If you finally visit El Salvador and South America and you don't want to go through the USA, it would be a good idea to pruchase an open-jaw ticket out of Europe (outbound to San Salvador, Inbound from Brazil, Argentina or whereever you end your South America trip) and a return one from India to that european airport.