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Cynthia

Jul 28, 2002, 6:32 PM

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Matamoros to Chiapas: times and tolls

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We got back from Mexico a couple of weeks ago...I see a lot of questions about roads and tolls, so thought I would post our times, in case they may be of use to someone. Day 1: Crossed at Los Indios. (Easy crossing site, though they are not open 24 hours). Matamoros to Tampico: 320 miles (5 hours)Tampico to Tuxpan: 145 miles (3 hours, 10 min--this was a bad road, lots of potholes...the only bad stretch of road on the whole trip.)Tuxpan to Poza Rica: 27 miles (30 minutes)Poza Rica to Costa Esmeralda: (55 minutes) There are a lot of hotels on the beach here, and some cheaper ones on the non-beach side. (We paid 280 pesos for an air-conditioned double with a swimming pool. They would not let us take the dog in the room, but she was fine in the car in the shaded courtyard. There are a lot of trailer parks advertised in this stretch of road. This was about halfway for us, and where we broke up the trip. Good, and cheap seafood, too!)Day 2: Costa Esmeralda to Veracruz: 2 1/2 hoursVeracruz to San Cristobal: 9 1/2 hours--sorry, my navigator/recorder fell asleep most of the way! We went from Veracruz to Acayucan, and then south through the state of Oaxaca on 185, and then turned east towards Tuxtla Gut. THe last part of this trip is through the mountains, from Tuxtla to San Cris, but we have driven this many times, so we were able to negotiate it at night. Actual driving time, including gas stops, was 23 hours from the border to our home in San Cristobal. (I was the only driver.) We took toll roads whenever possible; the total cost of tolls was $365.5 (pesos), if I haven't lost any of the receipts... As far as I could tell, tolls were only taken in pesos, but I could be wrong about this. Military checkpoints were more prevalent in the state of Veracruz than in Oaxaca and Chiapas. And, for the first time ever, (well, six years of driving in Mexico), we actually saw federales stopping people for speeding. Hope this helps. Good driving, Cynthia