Driving in Mexico: what to see and what to prepare for
In preparation for my trip to Mexico, I spent quite a few hours studying the issue of security.
In preparation for my trip to Mexico, I spent quite a few hours studying the issue of security. We had to travel across the Yucatan Peninsula more than one thousand kilometers in a family format: me, my wife and daughter. And I had someone to worry about. I studied the English-speaking and Russian-language sites about traveling around Mexico by car and did not find the answers to my questions, because opinions were extremely controversial.
As a result, after spending three weeks in the country and driving around 3000 kilometers across the Yucatan Peninsula and the surrounding area, these are the conclusions I made. The main and general rule of security in Mexico is not to intersect with the parallel world that is shown in the Narcos: Mexico series. Read: do not appear at the wrong time in the wrong place.
To do this, you must adhere to the same general rules of safety and common sense as in Ukraine, Europe and around the world. Do not walk with a provocative poster on Harlem, like Bruce Willis in the third part Die Hard, and do not ask a drunken company "How to get to the library?" at three in the morning.
There is no doubt that this parallel world exists. The next night after our departure from Playa del Carmen in January of this year, seven people were killed in one of the bars on the outskirts of the city - fights between local criminal gangs. To understand: there is no terrorism in Mexico. It does not hunt for tourists, do not kill for a different faith, a different look, different views.
What are the roads in Mexico? And what is the driving style of Mexican drivers? It was an important question for those who were going to drive more than one thousand kilometers along the roads of four states: Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Tabasco. After the road trips in Georgia and Egypt, I was convinced that each country has its own unique driving style and behavior on the roads. Ukraine, by the way, is no exception.
Mexican driving style is very close to European
Paradoxically, the Mexican driving style is very close to European. Everything turned out to be within the framework of the traffic rules. I could not understand where all this Mexican chaos and southern bustle go, and why does almost flawless discipline reign on the roads? And where does it disappear after the driver closes the door of the car behind him and, becoming a pedestrian, plunges into authentic Mexico? My assumption - that the driving culture was inherited by the Mexicans from the Spaniards, was also transmitted as a culture of driving a horse. In Spain, it is a cult and art.
Roads in Mexico, at least in those four states that I mentioned, also deserve all praise. Both the main and secondary ones are with high-quality coating, wide and, therefore, safe. And only the interstate borders look like real interstate borders, with mandatory narrowing to one lane, enhanced face control, police checks (they don’t touch tourists) and special forces on duty on special armored vehicles with machine guns and battlements. On the border with the state of Tabasco even saw military police with M-16. The goal is clear - control of drug trafficking.
Summing up, all three weeks of the trip, the three of us felt absolutely safe - in both tourist and non-tourist places. And while driving on the roads of four Mexican states, I felt much more comfortable than in Ukraine. And these are undeniable facts obtained empirically - against the fears and stereotypes imposed by the mass media.
Mexico is quite a popular destination among travelers with well-traveled tourist routes. But it is strange that almost all of them offer to drive all of Mexico in 10-14 days, get from Cancun to the capital and, apparently, “see Mexico City and die”. My friends, but Mexico City is not Paris. And it is on the peninsula that most of the greatest sights of Mexico are concentrated.
Here are our Top 5 attractions of Yucatan.
- The ruins of the city of Kalakmul in the ocean of the jungle with the atmosphere of the biosphere reserve. Impossible experience.
- Uxmal is a great Mayan city with temple pyramids.
- Cenote - karstic well - Ik Kiel, which I would rather attribute to the wonders of the world than to the sights.
- Palenque is another great Mayan city. Looks like a finished movie set. Mowgli.
- And, of course, Tulum and Playa Paraiso beach is the embodiment of the Caribbean of my dreams with shady coconut palms, white sand and azure sea. For the sake of all this, it is worth flying through half the world - to wake up in one of your dreams.
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