In our last post, we said that we were headed to Puebla. Going to Puebla via the toll roads required us to go through Mexico City, something we really wanted to avoid. We´ve heard a lot of negative things about the horrible traffic and the corrupt police. One source told us that we had a 50-50 chance of getting pulled over by the police there, even if we had done nothing wrong. The hype might be overblown, but we decided to avoid it and try a different kind of adventure — driving the single lane highways.
Taking the single lane highways allowed us to get around Mexico City, but resulted in more mileage and slower driving. Freight trucks on these highways often drive at a mere 30mph. Passing these monsters via the oncoming traffic lane was challenging. A 120 mile trip took us about 3 hours. On the other hand, a 200 mile trip on the toll roads took us about 3 1/2 hours. We weren´t able to make it to Puebla, but decided instead to settle in a smaller town called Pachuca.
Pachuca was a cute little town with a great zócalo (main square). We sat in the zócalo watching the skateboarders and munching on $.60 pasties — just like the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) ones. After our snack, we just wandered around.
We spotted a large indoor market and decided to check it out. It was pretty claustrophobic in there, consisting of many small booths selling shoes, Playstation games, car radios, backpacks, and just about anything else you can think of. As we soon found out, the layout was designed to disorient you and keep you inside. It reminded us of a labyrinth. We eventually smelled some fresh air and saw a few rays of sunshine and were able to make our way out. Phew!
In most of our travels through Mexico, we’ve taken advantage of the excellent toll roads. They are quite expensive — at times as much as $1 for 15 kilometers (about 9 miles). The tollways are ideal for quickly travelling between large cities. Few people use them because they are so expensive. And because there are 2 lanes, you don´t have to worry about getting stuck behind slow trucks.
However, the principal highways allow you the opportunity to experience small town Mexico. We´ve only been able to experience it from the windows of our car so far. Travelling with cats does not afford us the flexibility to stop whenever we feel like it. Once we´ve settled in at our final destination, we can leave the cats to their naps at the casa, and spend more time exploring.
Our next stop is Veracruz. Beach, here we come!
