Garage-Bound Days

While most of the time that we spend camped up in someone’s garage is spent working on Chuck, we do get to do some other things on occasion. This month of August, we had several things on the list.

First was a wedding of one of Jonathan’s college friends. This was one of the reasons why we had hurried back to Tulsa. They had a beautiful wedding in the Philbrook Museum.



Then, the next week, my mother’s family had their annual reunion. We hadn’t realized we would be back and near enough to go, but my grandmother called me up and gave me the details. I talked Jonathan into going with me and I had a grand time. I even got play (several games of) volleyball, which was just icing on the cake.

Voting to kill someone off while playing Mafia.

We occasionally help out around the Luth house. This time around, they were refinishing their fireplace. I decided to help with the sides. I soon became best friends with the tile cutter, which helped me cut the one-inch tiles thinner so they wouldn’t show from the front.



Then, right before we left, Jonathan’s family threw a surprise birthday party for him. I was probably as much excited about his gifts as he was: an HD Radio with satellite tuner and a pepper grinder! Jonathan installed the radio and we were able to listen to commercial-free radio on our travels. It is amazing how much clearer HD Radio is. You can actually hear the individual words! I actually learned the words to songs that I had never been sure what they said. Jonathan really likes the remote feature, which allows for less distraction to change channels and volume while driving.





Before we started off to the West Coast, we decided to give my family a visit. It was hard to say no, since my siblings and parents were all going to be in the same place (hasn’t happened since last Christmas, I think). So, off we went to the lake, where I got to spend time with family. We even managed to go skiing and wakeboarding a bit.





After spending Labor Day weekend with my family, we decided to start heading west with a stop in Sublette to visit my grandparents. They had fattened up my cat so much you would think they were planning on eating her! :D

I  am pretty sure she is twice the weight she was than when we dropped her off there a year ago.

We had a good time with family and are now ready to hit the road traveling again. We only have a month before we have to be back in Kansas for weddings. I have quite the list of places I would like to visit between now and then. So be ready for some more whirlwind traveling and blogging.

Chuck’s ICU Internment (or Maybe TLC)

I know you are dying to hear of what we did to Chuck during the month of August. We have been calling this his ICU visit, but perhaps tender-loving-care would be a better term. After talking to lots of people, it seems like most people simply get used to the small annoyances that occur in life and just live with it. Not Jonathan and I. We will discover an annoyance then rack our brains to determine how we might fix it. Now, not to say we fix it right away. In fact, this ICU internment for Chuck was mainly to fix minor or major annoyances that were hard to fix while on the road. So, we just dealt with it for a while, which led to the mentality of “it just has to make it to Tulsa” for our return trip.
Jonathan’s half (or more than half) of the repairs consisted of:

• replacing the exhaust. Yay for no more backfiring or hear-for-a-mile rumble! He got the new exhaust kit from Foreign Auto Supply and added a catalytic converter and muffler that actually works. When we started the van for the first time after the swap, you could barely hear it inside. Fantastic!

• replacing the damaged engine mounts. Probably as a result of the damaged exhaust, which leaked, the front and left engine mounts were broken again. The other issue was that one was a bit undersized for the larger engine that had been installed. So Jonathan purchased better mounts and installed them.

The new left engine mount (after a few hundred miles).

The front mount bushings.

• converting to a serpentine belt for the alternator. Remember our battery dying on us in Honduras? Well, part of the issue may have been a weak alternator that wasn’t quite capable of charging the batteries fully. Even if it wasn’t a cause, every time we started the vehicle, we had to press the gas a little to get the alternator light to turn off. Jonathan had been wanting to install a serpentine belt setup for a while, but hadn’t had the appropriate supplies or space. He got the kit off a guy in the Vanagon I4 Google group, did some finagling, and installed it.

• replacing plywood with plastic in the ceiling. The piece of plywood that holds our vent fan in the roof was rotting and leaking (nasty-smelling water when it rained). We decided to avoid any such rotting possibilities in the future by installing a piece of HDPE plastic instead.

Interestingly (whether good or bad), this plastic lets in a lot of light.

• installing another set of lights. Our lights are fantastic, but as we traveled this time around, we discovered a weak point in our setup: there wasn’t any lights in our pop-top. So, we took our remaining length of LED lights and installed them along the pop-top and added a switch so that we could enjoy the pop-top, even when it is dark.

• replacing the driver’s door.

• adding insulation to the fridge door. In humid Central America, our fridge door would collect quite a bit of condensation overnight, which would then cause our oven mitt to collect mildew. So, we had to remove everything off the fridge at night and wipe it off in the morning. While docked, Jonathan took the door off the fridge, removed the decorative cover and added some insulation to it. So far, that has fixed the condensation issue, but we aren’t in Central America anymore, either.
• swap out the windshield fluid squirters. Our current squirters were sub-par as they kept getting plugged, and we thought it would be sweet to install Porsche ones that have dual outlets. They are better, but they are difficult to adjust.

• create pop-top bar bushings. Our pop top has always been difficult with which to deal. It got better after we installed Jack Bombay’s pop-top shocks, but they were still wobbly. Turns out, our pop-top bar bushings had been worn out, well technically, there are no bushings, so the bar was worn out, but eh. Jonathan repaired them and, voila!, oh-so-easy pop-top movement!

That cut into the metal—not supposed to be there.

• prevent the cup holder from losing drinks. My cute little cup holder that I made developed a bit of an issue. The passenger-side holder’s retainer arms had lost their stiffness (or friction, if your prefer) and would no longer snugly hold my drink anymore. So, very often on those bouncy roads, my drink would tip over and try to bathe the floor for me. While traveling, we tried to fix this problem with a rubber band, but that broke pretty quickly. With more time and tools and ease of access available, we drilled holes into the retainer arms and tied an elastic band between them, which has worked so far.

I actually worked on several projects as well. The list included:

• deep cleaning. Between several months of the hot and humid environment of Central America combined with living in a van, our seats and everything had developed a nice funk. So, I emptied almost everything out of the van and deep-cleaned, including a steam clean of the seats.
• reattaching the sliding door panel. The panel had kept trying to fall off and cause us problems. I finally gave in and decided to screw it in instead of going for the screw-less look.
• creating shoe storage. While I had the sliding door panel off, I also worked on creating some shoe (flip-flop) storage in the door. I cut holes into the panel and created pockets out of rip-stop nylon, which I attached to the panel before I screwed on the panel again. Now I won’t be tripping over shower shoes anymore!

• finding a new place for the knives. I was having trouble with my cooking utensils being hard to get when needed, and my knives were just piled on top of each other, taking up a lot of space in the drawer. It was beginning to drive me crazy, so I decided I would put my cooking utensils in the drawer where the knives were and move the knives elsewhere. We had an idea of putting them on the kitchen cover over the sink using a magnet bar, but I couldn’t find a magnet strong enough to hold the knives securely through their covers (and I didn’t want to remove the covers for safety reasons). With that idea shot down, I considered making a sort of knife block. Eventually, I came up with an idea that would use a thin piece of plywood and some of the faux leather I used on my seats. I think it is gorgeous and masterfully utilizes the space of the forward side of the kitchenette behind the driver’s seat.

• make a rear bug screen. We had a rear bug screen, but it was hard to deploy. So, I wanted a new one that 1) was easily deployed and 2) could be deployed from the inside as well as the outside. I used the mosquito net from Jo-Ann’s, ironed on a brown ribbon using no-sew fusible bonding material for the borders, and Velcro-ed the net to the cabinet and the wall. Magnets hold the top part to the van, and a block of foam keeps bugs from going from the shower faucet area into the upper shelf and into the van.

• repack. As mentioned earlier, our previous organization was beginning to stop working well for us, so we needed to repack everything (except our clothes) to better fit our current needs and supplies (we got rid of several items and gained others).

All these changes have made for an even more pleasant experience of daily life with Chuck. It had definitely been time to give Chuck some TLC, and we definitely accomplished a lot in the month we had him holed up.

Back to the US

After México City, we were ready to speed back to the States. Since Panamá, we had a mentality of “it just has to make it back to Tulsa.” As much as we enjoyed our surroundings and travels, Chuck was really wanting some garage time and we were ready to be in one location for longer than 2 days. One very visual example of “it just has to make it” was our sliding door panel. The clips were no longer sufficient to hold on the door for very long. We would pound it into place in the morning and hope it would last the day without coming off and keeping the door from opening. By the time we hit the States, it would now longer even stick for 30 seconds, so we had to pull it off and carry it in the van.

You know, we normally equate going north with getting colder, but it did the complete opposite for us. For one, we headed out of the highlands/mountains and down into the high plains. Just as we crossed the Tropic of Cancer, it really felt like the heat and humidity just swamped us. Poor Jonathan had to put up with my grumpiness as a result of the heat. “Honey, don’t talk to me right now, I am too hot.” We literally drove all day long with the windows down to get air, and then when we parked, we try to get wet. Either pool time or shower time to cool down, then we would turn the fans on and read, trying to ignore the heat. Definitely made us want to drive home quickly. But, with our driver’s door dinged in from our mishap in El Salvador, I had been looking into finding another one. However, our current rate would put us going past the most likely shops to have doors on Sunday, when they would be closed. So, we needed to take a day slowly.

We tried to stay an extra day in México, but things just weren’t working out. The movie I wanted to see wasn’t available. The campgrounds were expensive and hot. So we decided to skip our last planned camp site in México and rush to the US. The toll to the newer Colombia crossing was expensive (205 pesos, US$15.53), but the crossing was nearly deserted. We didn’t have to wait in line at all. There is a toll bridge there, though, and I had already gotten rid of all my pesos. They wanted 20 pesos. When I told them we didn’t have any pesos left, they charged us $2. We very nearly didn’t have that either, and had to scrape together some coins to pay it. The US side was pretty tame. I had to throw out an apple, but we didn’t get inspected.

Then we drove over to La Casa Blanca State Park to camp for the night. We took the next day easy since we needed to be in Austin on Monday. We stopped in San Antonio to eat lunch, shop for a few things, and catch a movie before we found our next campground. On Monday, we stopped at Austin Veedub where Jonathan found a door that he liked to replace the dinged one. We stored it in the middle of the van (good thing the door panel was out) and drove to Tulsa as quickly as we could, where we promptly started giving Chuck the attention he was wanting.

The traditional, good-burger meal when we return to the States.

The new door. Note: you can see the removed panel resting on the bench seat back. 

Teotihuacán and Tula

Thursday

We had a small dilemma. On Fridays, because of our license plate and the Hoy No Circula rules, we would not be able to drive at all (not just from 5am-11am like every other weekday). We could either visit Teotihuacán and Tula separately on different days (as originally planned) and not be able to leave until Saturday. Or, we could do them both in one day and also travel out of México City area. I figured it would be cheaper to go ahead and get out of the city.

So on Thursday morning, we went looking for a colectivo to take us to the ruins of Teotihuacán. After walking around and not finding anything that said it was going to “Los Pirámides,” we decided that we would try for a taxi. It was only 30 pesos (US$2.60), so we took them up on the offer and had them drop us off at the Pyramid of the Moon entrance.

It was early, so we enjoyed a leisurely pace with few others around. It was quiet and the weather was quite enjoyable. However, as we slowly progressed towards the very-large Pyramid of the Sun, we began to hear fake jaguar growls and the general clamors of hordes of people. Our quiet, pleasant morning had left us. The one good thing about lots of people is that there is generally someone who is available to take your picture for you.

Pyramid of the Moon in the background.

The outrageously-huge Pyramid of the Sun. Though it is believed that it was reconstructed incorrectly, have 5 layers instead of the original four that they now believe it had.

The Temple of Quetzalcoatl.

To get back, we figured we would catch a taxi or something, but we didn’t see any. So, we continued walking on out to the road to see if we could find anything. Just at the entrance as we were crossing the street to the roundabout’s center garden area, I spotted a colectivo that had “S.J. Teotihuacán” on its dash. I waved him down, and he told us it would be 3 pesos (US$0.26) per person. We thought it was a deal and hopped a ride. By now, it was about noon. So we ate lunch, packed up the van, and headed out.

We had heard Tula was a much smaller site, so when we got there, we were surprised to find a full kilometer walk to the ruins from the visitor center. Of course, it was lined with vendors hawking their wares as well. But the real treasure of Tula, the fifteen-foot stone statues of warrior kings, were still impressive.

I think I would make a good statue as well, just wouldn’t have my butt cheeks showing.

After that, we hit the road again. We had planned on going on to San Miguel de Allende, but determined as we were driving that it would be the same amount of driving tomorrow and less today if we stopped in Santiago de Querétaro instead. We made it with plenty of daylight left, as the days keep getting longer as we go north.

Explorations of the Big City

Wednesday

Tuesday evening, I had stewed about how to handle the public transportation in and to the city of México. When the owner of the campground we were staying at finally showed up, she gave me lots of information and I thought I had it figured out. However, as I was verifying the process later on the internet, I realized I knew now how to get around the city, but I was confused on how we were to get to the city. So, I went back to the helpful owner of Teotihuacán Trailer Park and asked her how to get to the city. She clarified the matter for me.

Wednesday morning, we put my understanding to the test. We walked towards the intersection of 25 Regimiento and Vicente Guerrero, where there was a bus station. We bought tickets to go to Deportivo 18 de Marzo station for 30 pesos ($2.35) each. They had provided us four slips of paper, though. I was super confused by this—did it mean that there were two buses that we needed to take, or was one a receipt? Talking to a helpful gentleman there, he explained that brown copy that said “PASAJERO” was the receipt, while the green copy that said “OPERADOR” was the ticket (note: this was really hard to read under the stamp they put on each slip). This bus company was serious. When we entered the bus, many people were frisked to be certain no one was carrying weapons. Then we drove towards the city. They let off a group of people at a random stop on the highway, and then our was the first stop in town. We only knew for certain by asking others were preparing to get off if this was the station, as they didn’t announce the stops or have any signs.

We started following everyone to the next location, which I assumed would be another major bus stop, but turns out everyone was going to the subway. Tuesday I had been given a little paper showing routes for the Metro/Metrobús system. From the conversation I had had with the campground owner, I thought this was for the buses, so I thought we weren’t supposed to go that way. Finding the bus route was a bit harder. I finally asked a set of police officers walking in the area and they pointed us to the intersection where we could find a bus going in the direction we wanted. The fee for the bus was 5 pesos ($0.40) each; we had been expecting 3 pesos ($0.23), but figured it wasn’t that big of deal. As the bus went on, I tried to keep track of stops based upon the map I had been given. Boy was that a learning experience. I got off at what I thought was the appropriate stop, but as I waited for the buses going north and south, I was beginning to think we were in the wrong area. I figured I could be one stop off, so we opted to walk one more city block down. It as at that point that I realized (one of) the issue. The bus had been stopping more frequently than the stops on the map, which looked to correspond to major cross streets. As such, we still had a long way to go westward, so we decided to hop on another bus.

This is the map we were were working off, with the circled stations our destinations. (Click on it for an enlarged view.)

This time, with the assistance of some passengers, we made it to the bus station we had been trying to reach in order to make way south to the Museum of Anthropology. The people on the bus, guided us along. I was super confused as I thought we should have just caught the bus south, for which I had seen signs right after we had alighted. Instead, they took us all around the station to the “Metro” area. We bought tickets, which were the 3 pesos each. Then we descended into the subway system. Turns out the map I had been given was for the subway, not the buses, and we were supposed to be on the subway at Deportivo 18 de Marzo. This was much faster and easier to handle, especially as each stop had names. We quickly made it to our stop at Auditorio to make it to the National Museum of Anthropology.

Once up on the surface again, we made our way to the museum. While not even a block away, it felt like we were walking forever past the museum and its grounds. It is one large place. While wandering the museum, I decided I don’t greatly appreciate artifact museums (artwork is a different story). I much prefer seeing the artifact in its context instead of isolated with a small description. I mean, the museum was impressive, but I just prefer things in their original locations. Plus, I felt like it was organized very haphazardly, making it difficult to proceed through the rooms without backtracking or getting out of chronological or topical order. Definitely one of those places where it would be nicer to visit only selection at a time when logical, such as when studying that group, or after visiting the respective ruins.



After only one major room, I was already so hungry I couldn’t stand it and I had forgotten to pack snacks. We decided to check out the restaurant there, but it turns out they only serve breakfast until 1pm, and we couldn’t eat any of the breakfast items. We found out so long as you have your ticket, you can leave and re-enter the museum, so we decided to try the vendors out front. They didn’t have anything really appetizing, so I settled for some dried plantains and Jonathan for a Coke. While wandering about, a group of students studying English approached us and asked for interview for their class. Been there, done that, so I agreed. After we had answered their questions, I asked if there was any food here they recommended. They didn’t suggest anything either—you know it is bad when the locals won’t even eat it. After something to tide us over a little longer, we went back into the museum.

Replica of a headdress they made with Quetzal feathers.

This museum is huge, and by the time we had finished one side, I was ready to zoom through the rest of the exhibitions and move on. I definitely had a hard time appreciating everything there, especially as my feet started hurting more and more.

A whale-bone musical instrument. 

Since we were already in the city, we wanted to visit what was left of Tenochtitlán, which is basically the remnants of the Templo Mayor. Heading back to the subway station, we got the train northbound to get on the Line 2 train (the shortest route in regards to the number of trains you have to take). Our destination was Zócalo station in the very center of town. When we got off at Tacuba, we followed the signs to the other line. On the way, we discovered a Domino’s kiosk! I figured we might as well take advantage of it, since we knew we would enjoy that food, whereas picking something random on the street was a crapshoot, even if it was busy. We picked up a personal pan pizza and a water for 20 pesos ($1.60)—quite the steal!



After consuming our late lunch in the station, we began to head towards the subway again. Expecting to pay for tickets to ride this train, we were surprised to learn that we could go anywhere in the subway system on the original ticket, so long as you didn’t leave the station! We were pretty excited to learn that. On the way to our stop, the train stopped a couple of times in between stations…not sure why, maybe they just had to wait on other trains to get out of the way.

When we got off at Zócalo, we surprised by the setup around the square. They had fences set up, and there seemed to be tents in the square. I guess there was some kind of protest/strike going on. Passing on, we walked to the Templo Mayor, well at least what remained of it. There was basically just the foundations on the ground, no height to it, and they were charging 57 pesos per person to get in (same cost as the other parks). For the smile pile of rubble with lack of decorations, we just felt like it was not worth it. So, we decided to take our tired bodies back home.



By this time, we were feeling like we were pros at this public transportation network (at least I was). However, perhaps to put me in my place, it turns out I didn’t know how to get back to San Juan Teotihuacán. I had thought that we would just reverse our path and take the same bus back to the town from the Deportivo 18 de Marzo station for 30 pesos ($2.35) each. Well, turns out that that bus doesn’t stop there on the way back. After waiting for 30 minutes, someone finally told us that the bus we were looking for didn’t come this way (earlier I had asked a security guard/ticket agent there if it did, and she said yes—but I guess she was wrong). He told us we needed to go to Potrero station. So, we hopped back on the subway and got off one station farther south at Potrero. We walked around, asked directions, and finally found a bus that said Teotihuacán, but they were going to the pyramids, not the town. The people there said we needed to go the station Autobuses del Norte to get on a bus that would take us straight there. By then, I was very tired, very grumpy, very frustrated, and exactly sure what to do. Jonathan was pretty much in the same boat, so not much help. We decided to try this last destination, and then if that didn’t work, go back to first station, try to get on a bus coming into México, and ride it through its turn around and back to San Juan Teotihuacán.

We made it to Autobuses del Norte, but by this time, it was getting close to 6pm, which is when the last bus departs from the city. We were getting nervous. So, we walked up and down the very large bus station, looking for the bus company we took from San Juan Teotihuacán, which was Linea Autobuses Mexico, Flecha Azul, and represented by a blue pyramid. We couldn’t find it! Just as we were giving up and turning to walk out the door, I saw a very small blue pyramid symbol near the very end of the terminal. We finally found it! I explained where we wanted to go, and the agent hooked us up with two tickets (at 40 pesos each—I guess it was more since it was a slightly greater distance?) for the next bus that left in five minutes, and we still had to go through their security checkpoint. So, we hurried over. This time, we were both frisked, Jonathan 3 times because he set off the alarm with his belt.  Nothing like delays to make you sweat it! We did make it to the bus, but it was in the wrong line, which confused me, but we went up there anyway and apparently it confused the agent as well, but she said all was good and let us on. Relief!  To celebrate, I purchased a strawberry ice cream pop as the vendor made the rounds right before we left.

The Wonders near Oaxaca

Monday

After Villahermosa, we made our way north and west to the center of México, where you can find the remains of other ancient civilizations such as Zapotecs, Teotihuacans, and Aztecs (Mexicans). Our first ruins visit there was to Monté Alban near the city of Oaxaca. It was interesting, with the majority of the plazas laid out in a cardinal grid (unlike the Mayas who seem to lay their cities out haphazardly—probably in accordance with astronomical observations).

The one exception to their north-south-east-west grid, was this building, which is assumed to be a sort of astronomical observatory.

The most interesting thing to me was the carvings. In any large rock that composed a building surface, they put a carving or design on it. Besides all the other difference that were obvious from the Mayans, the use of the canvas of the stone was different. Instead of trying to fill the entire space with runes or drawings, the Zapotecs left lots of empty spaces, focusing on a single figure.





Apparently, the inhabitants of Monté Alban were also obsessed with creating tunnels to connect buildings and such. Unfortunately, we never got to see them.

Next on the list was Mitla. I wasn’t expecting much for this one, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. It really is a crying shame that the Catholic Church disassembled quite a few of the buildings to build their own church. The design work was beautiful.

One of the courtyards was used as of the base for the church, then rock was removed from other buildings to build the church up. You can see the church in this picture.

In some areas you can still the remnants of the “plaster” and drawings they had over the doors.

I was inspired by the decor; I wouldn’t mind decorating like that. 

On our way to find our next campground, we stopped in Santa María del Tule where there was a large, 2000-year-old Montezuma Cypress. It was quite impressive, and the birds loved to sit in its branches and tweet.

It is over 40 meters (130 feet) tall.

Its trunk’s circumference is around 54 meters (178 feet), making it one of the broadest tree trunks in the world.

Topes, Topes, and More

Thursday

Leaving Huehuetenango, we immediately started encountering more topes. Between Huehuetenango and the border, we probably nearly doubled the number of topes we had passed over. Sadly, this was just a foreshadowing of what we would experience once we crossed the border.

When we got to the border, the longest and hardest part was weaving through the streets, trying to avoid people in the markets on the street. Other than that, we quickly passed through the inspections and cancelations of paperwork, crossed over into México, and got our new visas. We already a valid vehicle permit, so we were able to skip that step. Shortly, were cruising down the road and encountered our first 110km/hr (68mph) sign since the last time we were in México. We were excited. That didn’t last long, only about 2 km, before the speed decreased and we started in on the super tope run. Seriously, we encountered 310 topes (yes I counted them) in the 364km distance from the Mexican border to our campground in Palenque. Our average speed was even less than in Guatemala (43km/h versus the 45km/h in Guatemala over the tope region). Every small town had an average of 5 topes.

To top of the annoyance with the topes, the weather was almost instantly more hot and humid than it had been in Guatemala, where we had spent our time in the highlands. It really wasn’t that hot, but the humidity just made everything miserable. Between these things and overpriced, under-featured campgrounds, I remember why I wasn’t a huge fan of mainland México. But, at least the temperatures that night were reasonable, especially after a nice shower provided by the van.

Friday

By the time we arrived at Palenque at 8:15, the front parking lot was full, as well as most of the back parking lot. I was amazed about how busy the place was, especially with locals. So, when we got in, we decided to make our way “backwards” around the park, in the opposite way most people were going. This ended up being a good choice, allowing us to explore the residential groupings mostly on our own.



Palenque was a pretty cool site. While walking through the residential areas, you felt like you were one of the first people to find the ruins, as they left most of the trees up. The setting of the place is quite special too. It is at the beginning of the foothills into the mountains. There are several streams that the Mayans controlled and directed, for daily use and protection against floods, as the streams went right through the site.

One of the ancient aqueducts.

They had several inscriptions that had survived over the years and were really impressive to see. On some of the pieces, you could still see the blue and red colors they used.







One of my favorite buildings was the Palacio, where there were rooms in the base of the pyramid as well as whole another set of courtyards and buildings at its top in addition to several preserved inscriptions and decorations.



I highly recommend the site. While there, I finally found a hand fan that I liked. I had been looking for one since the last time we were in México, but had been unable to find (a suitable) one. This one was perfect! Doesn’t make up for my lack of hat, but it is a great addition to my collection.

Afterwards, we drove onto Villahermosa, where we camped again at Villahermosa. Since we had all day, I thought we might go to a movie. Besides, an air-conditioned movie was a great way to beat the humidity. I looked online and saw that they were playing Pacific Rim in 2D (we don’t like 3D), subtitled, at 5:20pm. I had originally thought it was 5:40pm, so when we finally caught my error, we were running late. We didn’t get to the theater until 5:30pm, and then I couldn’t find the subtitled 2D version of the movie in the listing. Since we were already there, we settled for The Lone Ranger at 6pm, and decided to grab some Subway for supper. While we were walking around, we spotted another theater—Cinépolis VIP—down the mall. This was the theater with the movie I saw online. Apparently for 100 pesos/ticket, there is a nicer, adult theater with a quiet bar lounge area with plush leather couches. I have no idea what the theater rooms are like, but I am picturing a large theater room in one’s house with leather recliners and such, just a guess though. I mean, I knew Villahermosa was rich—nice streets, three Walmarts, etc.—but I wasn’t expecting a VIP theater. The regular theater was nice enough with high-baked, rocking/reclining stadium seating with air conditioning and a crisp screen.