"$$$ Highway" Estado de Quintana Roo Transportation Tip by Jawnuta

The highway between Cancun and Merida is the fastest way between those two towns. It is
-long,
-boring - there is nothing but jungle on both sides,
-expensive - even if you make your $$$ outside of Mexico
-safe - the opposite direction lines are separated from you with pretty dense jungle so no worry about head on collision. There are some local people wondering around but they are quite careful not to get in a way of speeding car. There are also really fast cars passing you every few minutes, but for such a long and boring ride it is almost a blessing and a fun game trying to guess how fast they are going if you are doing 120 km/h and you didn't even notice the brand of the passing you car.
You have a couple of toll booth on your way to wake you up. One is located on the border between Yucatan and Q Roo, next is on the exit to Chichen-itza....after that I don't know :-)
Once you get on that highway in Cancun, the only way out is to turn around (there is few places to do so) There is also a gas station between exit to Chichen-itza and Valladolid. Looked to me as every car was stopping to get the gas there so if you can gas up in any of those two towns you will save yourself time on standing in line.
The basic rules for driving in Mexico:
- never have less than half of the tank of gas
- always fill up!
- always step out of your vehicle when the attendant is filling up your car and be nice to him ;-) I don't know if the stories about gas station scams are true or not, but hey, you need to stretch your legs and it is a great opportunity
- let the man clean your window if he ask politely and smile to you. Give him $1 tip and enjoy your clean window. It will make you feel good and he will earn his living. We always kept 10 Pesos in our packets for people who actually did something for us and 5 Pesos or less for kids who offered to "watch our car". Why not? Be good!

Mode: AROUND
Type: Car/Motor Home