Topes-The speed bumps of Merida

Driving through the streets of Merida is quite an adventure. It's not like driving in Texas. In Texas there are long stretches of road and wherever we would go, it took about 20-30 min to get to. The interstate is 80mph. People run red lights and the road rage is real. Honking happens out of frustration mostly.

Here in Merida things are a bit different. The speed limit on the main highway is 90km which feels fast but we looked up what it was in MPH and it's only 55mph 😁 There is a lot of windy roads and a lot of stop and go. Alto signs are more of a suggestion. Honking happens to let you know that someone is next to you.

There are a lot of round-abouts which we still are trying to figure out the proper way to go about them. We've concluded it's a free for all and people do what they want. Imagine 4 entry points to the round-about and if there's an opening you go. Now the lane you decide to start in is not the one you necessarily finish in. Others may decide from the inner lane that they are going to cut across and exit the round-about, which either forces you to go that way as well or you just let them cut in front and continue on. It's fun! Keeps you guessing!

There are also topes(pronounced "toe-pes") which are the speed bumps of Merida and prompted this post.

Here you are driving along, watching how many lanes people will make up and who will straddle them. Getting distracted by giant trucks with 2 levels of chonky pigs passing by... remembering to watch for the light changes. Avoiding drivers crossing the street and blocking your lane, avoiding random pot holes, trying not to hit a motorcyclist who sneaks up next to you. And on top of all of that... Topes. 

These suckers are huge speed bumps that, if you hit too quickly, will have you leaving the belly of your car behind and Flinstone-ing it the rest of the way to your destination. It's pretty much a right of passage to hit a topes at 40 mph and catching air. No one can say they haven't hit a topes at record speeds. They do have signs warning of one coming up... sometimes. These topes blend into the rest of the road and are not painted any shade of noticeable color. Thank goodness for other drivers or I'm pretty sure we would have already destroyed our rental car. Seeing others slow down and see their trunks come up is a great warning.

At night it's way more complicated spotting these bumps of destruction because they are the same color of the road. You think you see one coming up but, nope, it was just a shadow. We were riding along one night with hubby driving. He was joking around because he spotted a landmark we had passed before and he starts saying "I know this place like the back of my..." BAM! He slammed on his brakes at the last minute because, you guessed it, a tope was right in front of us. 

via GIPHY

The slamming of the breaks was not enough to shield us from the whiplash we experienced hitting that thing. We all got jolted all over the place, bounced 2 inches above our seats, and as things settled down afterward we all started laughing. W said he thought we got in a wreck 😂 We were all perfectly fine of course and our bodies were hardened and prepared for when, two days later, Hubby hit the EXACT same tope again. The third time he successfully and gingerly got over it without incident.

He isn't the only one who had to slam on the breaks. I as well saw one at the last minute. The scraping of the underbelly of the car was enough to make you cringe and question whether you left your undercarriage behind.

Overall, we actually really enjoy driving around and exploring the city. Keeps you on your toes. There is an understanding among drivers and people are very patient here and realize that things are slow sometimes. It's what is so great about living in a tranquilo city.

We can't wait till friends or family come visit so we can share the experience of topes with them! 

~Bee