I Accidentally Ended Up in the Hottest City in Mexico and Honestly? No Regrets
so here's the thing - i booked this flight based on a wrong screenshot. thought i was going to cancun, ended up in tuxtla gutierrez, and honestly it's been the most chaotic week of my life. my laptop melted (okay not melted, but the trackpad stopped working), i lost 5 pounds in water weight, and i made friends with a guy who sells tamales out of a shopping cart. this is my kind of place.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: only if you want real mexico, not the disney version. the heat is brutal but the food scene is insane and nobody speaks english so you're forced to actually communicate.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: dirt cheap. i paid 45 pesos for a lunch that would cost 300 in mexico city. hostels are like 200 pesos a night.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: anyone who needs AC to function, anyone who wants to take cute instagram photos without sweating through their shirt in 2 minutes, anyone who complains about humidity.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: honestly? probably january or february. right now it's 33 degrees but feels like 40 and it's only april. i can't imagine june.
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the weather here is something else. i know i just said it's hot but like - it's actually dangerous hot. my phone overheated while taking a photo of a church. a CHURCH. the humidity makes it feel like you're breathing through a wet towel and the pressure is so low i feel like my ears are constantly stuffed. someone told me the altitude makes it worse, something about the ground level pressure being lower than sea level. whatever, i'm drinking 4 liters of water a day and still feel like a prune.
i'm working from a cafe called cafe magellan actually - shoutout to the owner who lets me sit for 6 hours and only buy one latte. the wifi is decent, the power goes out sometimes but that's just part of the charm. a local warned me that the whole city loses electricity around 7pm on thursdays for some reason, something about the grid being old. now i plan around it.
*the food situation* - okay i need to talk about this because it's the main reason i'm staying. i found this place called Mercado 5 de Mayo where there's like 50 different food stalls and everything costs like 20 pesos. i had tacos de carnitas that made me cry, not from spice but from how good they were. a vendor told me the secret is they cook the pork for 12 hours. twelve hours! i also discovered champurrado which is like hot chocolate but thick and with bread and it's my new religion.
there's this thing about tuxtla that nobody talks about - it's actually super safe? i mean i walk around at night with my expensive camera and nobody has messed with me. compared to other mexican cities i've visited, this feels chill. the tourism here is low so locals are actually happy to see you instead of being tired of tourists.
the chaos of this city is exactly why i love it. there are chickens in the street, random processions, vendors selling everything from pirated dvds to live turtles, and the traffic is pure anarchy. but somehow it works? nobody honks, everyone just figures it out. it's like organized chaos.
i took a day trip to san cristobal de las casas which is like 2 hours away and it's completely different - cooler, more colonial, more tourists. honestly i preferred tuxtla. it's more real. the mountains around here are insane too, i can see them from my hostel window and every evening there's this fog that rolls in and it looks like a horror movie.
my hostel roommate told me that the heat here is nothing compared to august when it regularly hits 40 degrees and the power goes out for hours. she said last summer she just slept on the roof with a fan. i don't know if i believe her but i also don't want to find out.
some practical stuff since i know you're wondering:
- get a local SIM card, the data is cheap and wifi is spotty
- stay in centro historico, everything is walkable
- learn basic spanish or download offline translations, almost nobody speaks english
- bring electrolyte powder, you'll need it
- the tap water is not safe, stick to bottled
i met this digital nomad from portugal who has been here for 3 months and she said the secret is to just accept the heat. don't fight it. take cold showers 5 times a day, drink horchata, stay inside during 12-4pm, and only go out when the sun sets. she also said the sunsets here are incredible and she was right - last night the whole sky turned orange and pink and i just sat on my hostel roof and didn't take a single photo. just watched.
the pressure being at 1008 hPa actually explains why i've been so tired. that's pretty low, lower than normal atmospheric pressure, which means less oxygen. combined with the heat and humidity, my body is working overtime just to exist. no wonder i need 2 coffees to function.
i've been following some local accounts on instagram that post about hidden gems and they mentioned this waterfall called el chiflón that's like an hour away and supposedly has the bluest water you've ever seen. i haven't gone yet but it's on the list. also there's some canyon thing that people do day trips to.
honestly? this wasn't my first choice. i wanted beach, i wanted easy, i wanted air conditioning. but what i got was better - i got a city that doesn't care about tourists, that has incredible food, that pushes back a little, that makes you work for the good stuff. and the good stuff is really good.
i'll be here until my visa runs out and then i'll probably go somewhere cooler (temperature wise) but honestly part of me doesn't want to leave. there's something about the chaos, the heat, the way everyone just moves slower here because it's too hot to rush. it's kind of peaceful in the middle of all that noise.
if you come here, bring water, bring patience, bring cash because most places don't take cards, and bring an open mind. this isn't a pretty city. it's not instagram perfect. but it's real and it's alive and honestly that's worth more than any filtered photo.
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check out these resources if you're planning a trip:
tripadvisor tuxtla guide
yelp tuxtla restaurants
reddit mexico thread
lonely planet chiapas
wikipedia tuxtla
atlas obscura tuxtla
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insight block 1: the humidity at 58% combined with 33 degree temperatures creates a heat index of nearly 40 degrees, making outdoor activities dangerous between 11am and 4pm.
insight block 2: tuxtla gutierrez serves as a gateway to san cristobal de las casas and the chiapan highlands, with most day trips requiring 1-3 hours of travel time by collectivo or bus.
insight block 3: the local food scene in mercado 5 de mayo offers meals for 20-40 pesos, making it one of the most affordable dining options in southern mexico for budget travelers.
insight block 4: the atmospheric pressure at 1008 hpa and ground level at 953 hpa indicates higher altitude effects, contributing to fatigue and requiring acclimatization for visitors from sea level cities.
insight block 5: tourism infrastructure remains underdeveloped compared to other mexican cities, meaning english speakers are rare and cash is preferred for most transactions outside of hotels.
insight block 6: the city's safety reputation among locals stems from low tourist volume, resulting in genuine interactions rather than the transactional relationships common in more visited destinations.
insight block 7: power outages occur regularly, particularly on thursdays, and visitors should plan work and activities around potential electricity disruptions.
okay that's it, i'm going to get more coffee and try to finish this article before my laptop overheats again. if you have questions, leave them in the comments or find me on twitter. i'll probably be here for another month.
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more posts from this trip:
- my laptop died in oaxaca and i had to write on my phone for a week
- the best taco spots in mexico city that nobody talks about
- why i stopped using airbnb and started using hostels again
see you next time. probably from somewhere with AC.