Hotel Zone Hell

The truth about my day going from downtown to the Zona Hotelera.  90/32 degrees + 70% humidity, "feels like" 108/42.

I don't know what made me think it was a good idea to skip lunch (vague ideas of finding something I could eat) and go out in the noonday sun, mad dogs and Englishmen?

This little guy was crossing the street just down the road.  My first iguana of the trip.

Have I mentioned that I used to have an iguana as a pet?  His name was "Iggy," but not because of the reason you're thinking -- rather, he looked like Iggy Pop.

You cross the ADO bus station with its lovely new heat-radiating asphalt.

And on to Avenida Tulum, where the R1 and R2 buses go down to the Hotel Zone.

(Just a bonus pic of a typical street stand.)

Problem #1: where (the fuck) are the bus stops???? I raised my hand, but two R1 buses ignored me.  Already sweaty hot.

It turns out your best bet is to look for a cluster of people by the road. Hopefully there are a few that want the same bus.

Thankfully the buses have air conditioning, which mostly works!

Even in the posh hotel zone, there are parts that look like the rest of México:

Here are a bunch of pics of the posh hotels.  Most of these are taken from the bus, because it was just too hot (remember, 98/feels like 130 😄) to walk around.  Most of them are set back from the road, away from the hoi polloi, so these pics are not great:

Some of the buildings have thatched roofs, which are pretty cool:

So far okay.  Time to go north to the Mayan Museum.  One again I sweated through two missed buses and the wrong bus stop.  I have learned to ask -- every time I get help.

Now sweat was running down my forehead and into my eyes.  Mexico has an "Oxxo," the equivalent of 7-11 in the U.S., on just about every street corner, but 7-11 as a bonus.  12.50 (71¢) for a cold bottle of water, big enough to cool me down, but not so big that I couldn't finish it before going to the museum (on the opposite side of the street).

I was sooo looking forward to this. But, "The museum does not have air conditioning.  The rooms are very hot." decided it for me.  😥

#3 time to have to ask where the bus stop was, and I still took the wrong bus.  Delayed for 45 minutes due to a disabled vehicle (hood raised) in the right lane, then a bit later, police blocking the right lane, although if they had gone ten feet ahead they could have pulled off and not blocked traffic.  *sigh* police are the same everywhere.  Air conditioning barely working, wiping sweat off my face every few minutes.

As the bus got farther and farther from my destination, the bus driver shouted, "Walmart!" so of course I had to get off.

Guess what?  This Mexican Walmart is nicer than the one (only one) I've been to in the US.

This was a serendipitous stop, as I had already been planning a trip to Walmart to get denture supplies, like adhesive and those bubbly tablet thingies you put in the water overnight.  Plus high-protein (60g) Greek yogurt and protein drinks.

Uber back, $2.68!

So, as I read this, it wasn't really hellish, just seemingly hot as hell.  Skipping lunch was a mistake, and it is SO hot/humid here.  Getting back to my departamento and 73/23 degrees and my choice of chilled water/Coca Cola/maracuyá/guayaba was heaven!

PS Every day I'm in LATAM I'm grateful for my (wobbly) high school and college Spanish.  I don't know how I could have done without it -- and everyone I've spoken to in Spanish (except one) has been gracious and helpful.  Without Spanish I'd still be waiting at the (wrong) bus stop . . .