At one level today was a lot of miles, that started very early and drove without many stops for 450 miles. But on the other hand it was a day of sudden and complete emersion.
We were underway at 6:00am to get an early start at the Mexican border. Our good intentions were somewhat thwarted as the man who runs the copying machine was late to work and we had to wait for him as we could not import the Tiger to Mexico without copies of our border documents. What an amazing system. But that was only a minor delay, that could have been worse however without Norm's Spanish assistance.
From the border we travelled for a couple of hours on a good two lane road at speeds up to 75 mph, but with the added challenge that slower traffic was expected to drive on the shoulder to allow faster vehicles to pass in the middle of the road. This maneuver was performed with no regard for the oncoming traffic. After a while I got the hang of it and passed like a real Mexican.
Early afternoon we had to navigate through the city of Tempico, this was a real experience. About an hour of narrow streets and traffic that did not seem to understand any traffic rules, at least non that I understand. One of the more interesting obstacles or distractions was a man in a red devils suit doing a fire eating trick in the middle of a crowded intersection. Thanks to Norm's navigation and instructions we managed to pass this test without any problems. On the southern side of Tempico the road passed over an unusual suspension bridge with two spans like the Sydney Darling Harbor bridge.
Past Tempico the weather was even more humid, and the vegetation more tropical.
We drove until about 7:00pm and then stopped for the night at a PEMEX gas station near the town of Alamo. This positioned us for a short drive tomorrow to the ruins at El Tajin. We had a number of overnight companions at the gas station, an old Chevy Blazer on one side of us with a large loud speaker mounted on the roof; don't ask me why. And on the other side a very battered Chevy pickup truck carrying a load of corn husks. The station provided 24 hour cold showers for 10 pesos (less than $1) and coffee from the convenience store for tomorrow mornings start.
The real discovery of the day was without a doubt topes. Since noone obeys any speed limits on the highways the small towns along the highways have developed an unusual self protection scheme. They erected very nasty speed bumps on the highway as it passes through the town. These certainly slow things down, we have already experienced topes 2 feet high that bumped the Tiger suspension up against the bump stops. Hitting this thing at any speed would rip wheels off.
