History
Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Spanish: [ˈtuɣstla ɣuˈtjeres], Nahuatl: [ˈtuʃt͡ɬa]) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, the most developed and populated in the state. A busy government, commercial and services-oriented city, Tuxtla (as it is commonly known) had one of the fastest-growing rates in Mexico in the last 40 years. Unlike many other areas in Chiapas, it is not a major tourist attraction, but a transportation hub for tourists coming into the state, with a large airport and a bus terminal.
The Zoques made the first pre-Hispanic settlement at the site. They named the valley area Coyatoc, which means ‘land or house of rabbits’. The Aztecs intruded into the area between 1486 and 1505 and named it Tuchtlan, which means the same thing in their language.
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and the subjugation of the local Chiapan people in 1528, the Dominicans constructed a monastery in nearby Tecpatán. There is no official founding date for Tuxtla, but it is known that the Dominican monks gathered dispersed Zoques into communities organized around churches in the 16th Century. A church dedicated to San Marcos (Saint Mark) was founded by the Dominicans for one of these communities in 1560.
The existence of the town of San Marcos Tuxtla was first recorded in 1748, and by 1768 it became the seat of a mayoralty in Chiapas. [Wikipedia]
ARRIVAL
The landing at Tuxtla Gutiérrez was absolutely professional and one of the best landings on during my travels. Following the approach to the terminal the off-boarding was smooth and without chaos. Travelers seemed to be patient as each person had retrieved luggage from the overhead compartments. The airport is a central hub for nearly all southern Mexico destinations with flights directly to some of the most common places such as Mexico City, Cancun and several others.
TRANSPORTATION
The Tuxtla airport certainly was no stranger to the service industry. As we passed through security and onto the exit area, we were greeted by a plethora of transportation options. Everything from colectivo’s to shuttle buses were readily available and made regular and frequent trips to our desired destination, San Cristóbal de las Casas, where we would meet with Jos, Jurgita and Nate before traveling to Guatemala.
The shuttle we chose for a direct trip to San Cristóbal de las Casas was the bus that involved no transfers between destinations. There were other, more affordable options available, but for $450 MXN Pesos and no complications I was happy to pay the fee and board the bus directly to San Cristóbal de las Casas.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
The shuttle driver assisted us with getting all our gear on the bus and waited for other travelers going arriving on other flights with San Cristóbal de las Casas as their destinations. It was less than 30 minutes by the time the passengers boarded the shuttle and we were on our way to San Cristóbal de las Casas.
It is worth mentioning that the other transportation options take the passengers into Tuxtla where the passengers will be dropped off at a different shuttle bus station and then a collectivo will be taken to San Cristóbal. This option may suffice for those more familiar with the transportation system and have time to figure it out. Because it was slightly longer than an hour drive and it was already nearing 3:00PM on a Saturday, we chose to reduce complicating factors. I am happy we did because sunset near winter solstice was rapidly closing in.