Typically, it takes me about 30 minutes to drive from Santa Fe to the HSBC Data Center in Toluca. It is really beautiful, as the road gently curves thru the mountains. The road is relatively new, and the traffic (at least for the first half of the journey) is typically light because the road is a toll road (cuota in Spanish). However, as you crest the mountains, and reach the small village of La Marquesa, the cuota merges with the libre (or free road).
It is typically at that point that we pick up some more traffic, but usually the road is still navigable at a decent speed. The only annoyance is when drivers "park" in the fast lane.
Today was a WHOLE different experience.
As I hit La Marquesa the traffic started to thicken, and by the time I round the first corner after the town the traffic was crawling. All three lanes of traffic were inching ahead at 20 km per hour -- literally!
Immediately, I thought that there must be a terrible accident ahead. The next 30 km were extremely painful, but I toughed it out hoping that whomever had been in the accident would be ok.
As I neared the base of the mountain, I could see ahead, and what I saw started to make me very angry. I could see that I was actually near the front of what was a rolling road block. There were about 50 ancient tour buses ahead of me. And while this didn't initially cause any suspicion, then I could see that in front of them was a few pickup trucks filled with people waving flags and with huge loud speakers.
And in front of the flag waving trucks were about 15 Mexico State Police cars. It was now clear, what I was unwillingly participating in was a rolling protest of some kind. This protest was fully supported and facilitated by the police. GRRR!
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