Adventures in bus travel

So we have mainly traveled by 1st class bus on our trip, and colectivos or combis in town. Each trip is completely different from the next. The bus from Tulum to Coba was only an hour, but the bathroom on board had no light and the various topes (huge speedbumps) make for an interesting trip in the bathroom, or as Eric likes to say, 'ride the lightning'. Our first long haul was from Tulum to Campeche. The driver had the a/c on FULL BLAST. I'm talking freezing cold. While in the humid weather a little bit of air conditioning is welcome, we weren't prepared for the ride and we both caught a little cold as a result. That and the fact that he seemed to be racing down the freeway in pouring rain had me worried that we would skid off the road. We also packed a headlamp for the bathroom. In this case though, the light worked, but there was no water in the faucet. The bus ride from Campeche to Palenque was a late night departure, super bumpy ride with potholes the size of cars. We dressed in layers like it was winter, but found that the driver did not blast the a/c. The ride from Palenque to San Cristobal will make you sick to your stomach because of all the turns. From San Cristobal to Oaxaca it was 1st class Deluxe, so they offered free beverages and the bathrooms were actually very nice....signs in English, a baby changing table, nicely scented, and automatic flush & faucet. However there was no a/c and it was a full bus, so body heat... you get the picture. Oh yes, and all buses show movies dubbed in Spanish. I watched The Butterfly Effect part 2 and a cool documentary on orangutans.

As for the colectivos, I found myself praying that there would be no oncoming cars when the driver decides to pass the car in front on a blind turn. But it's all good. Today we took a colectivo to the Tule tree, one of the largest in the world, and it was only 9 pesos for me and Eric. That is less than a dollar if you consider the current exchange rate is 12 pesos for every dollar.