// Driving guides — 10 destinations. Real-world useful, no filler.

const GUIDES = [
  {
    id: "italy",
    image: "images/italy.png",
    country: "Italy",
    region: "Southern Europe",
    headline: "Tuscan hill roads, ZTLs, and the art of the slow pass",
    cover: "rolling tuscan vineyards · golden hour",
    coverHue: "warm",
    issue: "№ 01",
    readTime: "11 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "130 km/h motorway · 50 in town",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Required",
    fuel: "€1.92 / L",
    drivenBy: "Sofia Marchetti",
    dateline: "Florence → Siena · Spring 2026",
    excerpt:
      "The Italian autostrada is fast, well-engineered, and politely brutal in the left lane. The real driving, though, starts the moment you exit it — onto a stradina that narrows between cypress trees and refuses to widen for the next forty kilometres.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "You can read about ZTLs (Zone a Traffico Limitato) for a year and still drive into one by accident on your first morning in Florence. The cameras don't care. The fine arrives, in English, six months later. Italy's roads ask for a kind of attentive humility that rental-car tourism rarely teaches."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Yes — 1968 Vienna Convention permit, carried with your home licence."],
          ["Headlights", "Dipped beams on outside urban areas, day and night."],
          ["Reflective vest", "One per occupant, accessible from inside the cabin — not the boot."],
          ["Warning triangle", "Mandatory. Rental cars usually include one; check before leaving the lot."],
          ["Phone", "Hands-free only. €165 fine and points on an Italian-issued licence."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "The ZTL problem",
        body:
          "Most historic centres — Florence, Siena, Bologna, Lucca, Verona — are ringed by camera-enforced restricted zones. Signs are small, white, and easy to miss when you're following a satnav that doesn't know about them. The rule: if your hotel is inside a ZTL, email them your plate number before arrival. They register it with the comune. Without that registration, every entry is a separate €100+ fine."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "Italians don't tailgate to bully you. They tailgate to tell you the left lane is for passing, and you are not, presently, passing."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Roundabouts and the unwritten rules",
        body:
          "Officially, traffic already in the roundabout has priority. In practice, in the south, this is contested ground. Make eye contact. Commit. Hesitation is read as an invitation. On rural roads, expect tractors with no rear lighting after dusk, and cyclists in tight packs on Sunday mornings — give them a full lane, not a metre."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "SR222 — Chiantigiana",
            from: "Florence",
            to: "Siena",
            hours: "2.5",
            note: "The classic Chianti route. Stop at Greve, Panzano, Castellina. Avoid weekends in October."
          },
          {
            name: "SS163 — Amalfitana",
            from: "Sorrento",
            to: "Salerno",
            hours: "3.0",
            note: "Drive it north-to-south so the sea is on your right. Tour buses dominate 10am–4pm; leave at 6."
          },
          {
            name: "SS38 — Stelvio Pass",
            from: "Bormio",
            to: "Prato",
            hours: "1.5",
            note: "48 hairpins, open roughly June–October. Motorcyclists will overtake you mid-bend. Let them."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't accept a 'small' rental for the Amalfi coast — small here means a Fiat Panda, and that is the correct size.",
          "Don't drive into Naples unless your hotel has covered parking arranged in writing.",
          "Don't trust the fuel gauge on a one-way mountain route. Top up in towns, not at the last station before a pass."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "japan",
    image: "images/japan.png",
    country: "Japan",
    region: "East Asia",
    headline: "Quiet expressways, narrow alleys, and the etiquette of the left lane",
    cover: "mt. fuji from a rest stop · fog",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 02",
    readTime: "9 min",
    bySide: "Left",
    speed: "100 km/h expressway · 40 in town",
    bac: "0.03%",
    idp: "Required (1949 Geneva)",
    fuel: "¥175 / L",
    drivenBy: "Marcus Chen",
    dateline: "Tokyo → Kanazawa · Autumn 2025",
    excerpt:
      "Japan's roads are the calmest you will ever drive. They are also the most unforgiving of small mistakes — because everyone else is, quietly, doing it perfectly.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "The first thing to know about driving in Japan is that nobody honks. The second is that the rental car will already know how to find your ryokan, the parking lot, the konbini, and the nearest 24-hour pharmacy — by phone number. Type the number, follow the voice, arrive."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "1949 Geneva Convention only. The 1968 permit is not accepted. Carry your home licence too."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.03% blood alcohol. Practically: zero. Penalties are severe and extend to passengers who let you drive."],
          ["Child seats", "Required under age 6. Rentals include them on request — book in advance."],
          ["Winter tyres", "Mandatory in many mountain prefectures Dec–Mar. Snow chains in your boot are not optional."],
          ["Speed cameras", "Fixed and mobile. Tolerances are tight (typically 10 km/h)."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Phone-number navigation",
        body:
          "Every business in Japan has a phone number, and every car-nav system in the country uses the phone number as a primary address input. It is faster, more accurate, and more reliable than typing a romanised street name your nav won't recognise. Ask your accommodation for their MAPCODE or phone, and pre-type it before you leave."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The expressway sign says 100. Everyone drives 90. You should drive 95. The left lane is not slow — it is correct."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Tolls and ETC",
        body:
          "Expressways are tolled and expensive — Tokyo to Kyoto is roughly ¥11,000. Ask for an ETC card (electronic toll) when picking up your rental; it costs ~¥330 to rent and saves you fumbling at every gate. Many rural rentals will offer a flat-rate expressway pass for foreign visitors — worth it if you plan more than three long-distance days."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Noto Peninsula Loop",
            from: "Kanazawa",
            to: "Kanazawa",
            hours: "8.0",
            note: "Rural fishing villages, cliffs, salt fields. Roads quiet, fuel stations sparse after 6pm."
          },
          {
            name: "Iya Valley — Shikoku",
            from: "Tokushima",
            to: "Iya",
            hours: "3.5",
            note: "Mountain switchbacks, vine bridges, thatched farmhouses. Narrow — meet a tour bus and you reverse."
          },
          {
            name: "Hokkaido Route 273",
            from: "Sōunkyō",
            to: "Obihiro",
            hours: "2.5",
            note: "Empty forest highway. Watch for deer at dawn and dusk; they do not check both ways."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't park anywhere without a clear meter or lot sign — residential streets in Kyoto are towed within the hour.",
          "Don't enter Tokyo on a Friday evening unless you enjoy stationary expressways with a view.",
          "Don't drive a manual unless you reserved one specifically — almost every rental is automatic."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "iceland",
    image: "images/iceland.png",
    country: "Iceland",
    region: "Nordic",
    headline: "The Ring Road in any weather, and the F-roads in only one",
    cover: "black sand road · sideways rain",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 03",
    readTime: "13 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "90 km/h paved · 80 gravel",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Not required (most visitors)",
    fuel: "kr 320 / L",
    drivenBy: "Elín Ragnarsdóttir",
    dateline: "Keflavík → Höfn · Late spring",
    excerpt:
      "Route 1 is paved, signposted, and circumnavigates an entire country in a long weekend. The F-roads inland are an entirely different bargain.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "Icelanders measure trips not in kilometres but in weather windows. A 90-minute drive in still air becomes a four-hour ordeal in a sandstorm, and the sandstorm — vikursandsstormur — is a real and specific insurance category that no foreign policy covers."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not required for EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia, NZ licences."],
          ["Headlights", "On at all times, day and night, year-round. Rental cars do this automatically."],
          ["Off-road driving", "Illegal everywhere. Fines start at ISK 350,000 and scale up to criminal charges."],
          ["F-roads", "4WD legally required. Rental contracts void if a 2WD is taken on one."],
          ["River crossings", "Standard insurance does not cover water damage. Add the gravel + water package."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "The Ring Road, honestly",
        body:
          "Route 1 is 1,332 km and paved end to end. You can drive it in three days if you don't stop, six if you do, ten if you want to actually see it. Most rental fleets are 2WD compacts that handle it fine in summer. Winter is a different country entirely — studded tyres are mandatory, road closures are common, and SafeTravel.is is the only weather source you should trust."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The wind in Iceland is not weather. It is a separate, second vehicle, and it is also trying to drive."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Doors and the wind",
        body:
          "Iceland's most common rental damage claim is a car door ripped off its hinges by wind. Open every door with one hand on the frame, hold it the entire way, close it before you let go. The fine print of every Icelandic rental contract excludes wind damage. The fine print is enforced."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "South Coast — Vík to Höfn",
            from: "Vík",
            to: "Höfn",
            hours: "3.5",
            note: "Glaciers, black beaches, Jökulsárlón. Heaviest tourist traffic in the country — leave by 7am."
          },
          {
            name: "Westfjords Loop",
            from: "Ísafjörður",
            to: "Ísafjörður",
            hours: "12+",
            note: "Half gravel, sparse fuel, no mobile coverage. The most beautiful drive in the country."
          },
          {
            name: "F35 — Kjölur",
            from: "Gullfoss",
            to: "Akureyri",
            hours: "5.0",
            note: "Highland traverse, open ~July–Sept, 4WD only. No fuel, no food, no signal. Two cars travelling together is the local rule."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't trust a satnav over a road-closure sign. The sign is current. The satnav is hopeful.",
          "Don't ford a river you haven't watched a local 4WD ford first.",
          "Don't take photos from the road. Use a pullout. People die on Route 1 every year doing exactly this."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "new-zealand",
    image: "images/new-zealand.png",
    country: "New Zealand",
    region: "Oceania",
    headline: "Two narrow lanes, one big country, and patience as the third gear",
    cover: "lupins by a glacial lake · midday",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 04",
    readTime: "10 min",
    bySide: "Left",
    speed: "100 km/h open road · 50 urban",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Not required (English licence)",
    fuel: "NZ$ 2.80 / L",
    drivenBy: "Te Aroha Whitiora",
    dateline: "Christchurch → Queenstown · Late summer",
    excerpt:
      "New Zealand looks small on a map. Then you discover that ninety percent of its highways are two lanes wide, half of them are switchbacks, and the only honest distance unit here is the hour.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "Google Maps says Christchurch to Milford Sound is nine hours. Locals will tell you it is two days, and they are correct, because nine hours of New Zealand driving — with passing lanes only every fifteen minutes, single-lane bridges, and at least one mountain pass — is something you do once and then never again."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not needed if your licence is in English. Carry both anyway."],
          ["Side of road", "Left. The hire-car lot has a steering-wheel sticker. Take it seriously."],
          ["One-lane bridges", "Common. Red arrow = give way. Black arrow = priority. Slow regardless."],
          ["Mobile phones", "Held use is illegal. NZ$150 fine plus 20 demerit points."],
          ["Roundabouts", "Give way to traffic from the right."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Passing lanes",
        body:
          "Outside the cities, New Zealand's highways are mostly single-lane each direction, with passing lanes every 10–20 km marked on overhead signs. Locals know exactly where they are; visitors do not. The rule: if three cars are behind you, pull into the slow lane at the next passing opportunity. Holding up a queue is socially worse here than speeding."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The map says it's 200 kilometres. The map is not lying. It just isn't telling you about the goats."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Campervan reality check",
        body:
          "Campervans are the country's default tourist vehicle. They are also slower, wider, and worse on mountain passes than you imagine. If your itinerary includes Arthur's Pass, Crown Range, or the Haast — book a car and motels instead. Your average speed will double."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "SH6 — Wānaka to Milford Sound",
            from: "Wānaka",
            to: "Milford",
            hours: "5.0",
            note: "No fuel between Te Anau and Milford — fill up. Last 60km is one of the great drives anywhere."
          },
          {
            name: "Coromandel Loop",
            from: "Thames",
            to: "Thames",
            hours: "6.0",
            note: "SH25 — coastal, twisty, gold-rush towns. Avoid weekends in Jan/Feb."
          },
          {
            name: "Forgotten World Highway — SH43",
            from: "Stratford",
            to: "Taumarunui",
            hours: "3.0",
            note: "Single-lane tunnel, gravel section, no fuel for 150 km. Empty and remarkable."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't drive at dusk on rural roads — possums, hares, and stock account for most insurance claims.",
          "Don't underestimate Crown Range in winter. Chains required, often closed.",
          "Don't park anywhere overnight that isn't a designated freedom-camping site. Fines are immediate."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "morocco",
    image: "images/morocco.png",
    country: "Morocco",
    region: "North Africa",
    headline: "Atlas switchbacks, gendarme stops, and the price of confidence",
    cover: "red-clay road into the rif · noon",
    coverHue: "warm",
    issue: "№ 05",
    readTime: "12 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "120 km/h motorway · 60 in town",
    bac: "0.00% (zero tolerance)",
    idp: "Recommended",
    fuel: "Dh 14 / L",
    drivenBy: "Yassine El Amrani",
    dateline: "Marrakech → Merzouga · Autumn",
    excerpt:
      "Morocco's tolled autoroutes are excellent — modern, signposted in French and Arabic, and almost empty. Off them, the rules are different, and the rules are negotiated.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "There is no such thing as a small fine in Morocco. The gendarme at the roadside, sitting in the shade of a portable umbrella with a radar gun, will tell you the official rate is 300 dirham, payable on the spot, in cash, and that he can give you a receipt. He almost always can. Pay it, keep the receipt, drive on."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not legally required but practically essential. Police prefer it."],
          ["Vehicle papers", "Carry the original rental contract and grey card at all times. Photocopies refused at checkpoints."],
          ["Alcohol", "Zero tolerance for the driver. Open containers in the car are illegal even if not consumed."],
          ["Seatbelts", "Front mandatory. Rear enforced inconsistently but check anyway."],
          ["Petty bribery", "Not the norm. Officially-issued fines come with a receipt. Insist on one."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Police checkpoints",
        body:
          "Expect a checkpoint roughly every 50 km on rural routes. Most wave foreign rentals straight through. If you're stopped, hand over documents calmly, in French if you can manage it, and answer questions briefly. Speeding fines are real — radar is widespread — but the system is rule-bound. A receipt is your protection."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The mountain road is wide enough for one car. There are two cars. One of them has to want it more."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Night driving",
        body:
          "Avoid it. Unlit lorries, donkeys, pedestrians, cyclists, and the occasional sand drift make rural Moroccan roads at night a category of driving most foreign insurance treats as a separate event. Plan for arrivals before dusk. In summer that means by 7pm; in winter, by 5."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Tizi n'Tichka — High Atlas",
            from: "Marrakech",
            to: "Ouarzazate",
            hours: "4.5",
            note: "The pass road, recently widened, still demands attention. Lorries laden with goods set the pace."
          },
          {
            name: "Dades Gorge to Todra",
            from: "Boumalne",
            to: "Tinghir",
            hours: "3.0",
            note: "Switchback canyon road. Stop at the kasbahs en route; lunch in a Berber café."
          },
          {
            name: "Atlantic Coast — N1",
            from: "Essaouira",
            to: "Agadir",
            hours: "3.5",
            note: "Argan groves, fishing villages, surf points. Tagine at Sidi Kaouki, halfway."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't enter the Medina of any old city by car. Park outside, walk in.",
          "Don't argue at a checkpoint. Politeness costs nothing and saves hours.",
          "Don't drive after rain in the south — flash floods cross roads with no warning."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "norway",
    image: "images/norway.png",
    country: "Norway",
    region: "Nordic",
    headline: "Tunnels, fjords, ferries, and the quietest expensive driving in Europe",
    cover: "fjord ferry queue · summer dusk",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 06",
    readTime: "10 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "110 km/h motorway · 50 in town",
    bac: "0.02%",
    idp: "Not required (most visitors)",
    fuel: "kr 24 / L",
    drivenBy: "Henrik Solberg",
    dateline: "Bergen → Trondheim · Midsummer",
    excerpt:
      "Norway has more EV chargers per capita than petrol stations in some regions, and a ferry network that treats your car like luggage. The roads are slow, narrow, expensive, and worth every kroner.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "Speed limits in Norway look low until you try to exceed them. The roads — between fjords, through tunnels carved kilometres into mountains, over plateaus where reindeer outnumber lampposts — do not actually want you going faster. The speed cameras, of which there are many, agree."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not required for EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia, NZ licences."],
          ["Headlights", "On at all times, year-round."],
          ["Tolls", "Automatic via plate recognition. Rental fleets bill you afterward. Budget kr 300–800/day on long routes."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.02% — effectively one half-pint then nothing for the night."],
          ["Speed", "Tolerance is roughly 3 km/h. Fines start at kr 850 and become unpleasant fast."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Ferries and the fjord shortcut",
        body:
          "Many drives that look long on a map are short if you take a ferry. Norway's coastal ferry network is timetabled, frequent, and integrated with the road system — signs treat a ferry like any other stretch of highway. Pay by card at the gate or use AutoPASS, which most rentals have. The Geiranger–Hellesylt crossing is itself one of the country's great drives."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "Every Norwegian tunnel feels too long. It is exactly as long as it needs to be."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "EVs and chargers",
        body:
          "If you rent an EV — increasingly the default — every supermarket, hotel, and trailhead has a charger. The state-run app is Recharge; download it before you arrive. Fast chargers along E6 and E16 are reliable. Tesla Superchargers are open to all brands."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Atlanterhavsveien — Atlantic Road",
            from: "Molde",
            to: "Kristiansund",
            hours: "1.0",
            note: "Eight bridges across skerries. Drive it in a westerly storm if you can — the sea breaks over the road."
          },
          {
            name: "Trollstigen — Eagle Road",
            from: "Åndalsnes",
            to: "Geiranger",
            hours: "3.0",
            note: "Eleven hairpins, 1:12 gradient, open mid-May to October. Allow for buses."
          },
          {
            name: "Sognefjellsveien — Rv55",
            from: "Lom",
            to: "Skjolden",
            hours: "2.5",
            note: "Highest mountain pass road in Northern Europe. Snow walls in June. Open ~late May to October."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't underestimate fuel cost. Norway is the most expensive place to drive in Europe.",
          "Don't trust GPS travel times in mountain regions — they ignore ferry waits.",
          "Don't camp wild in the south near roads. The right to roam exists; courtesy is expected."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "scotland",
    image: "images/scotland.png",
    country: "Scotland",
    region: "British Isles",
    headline: "Single-track roads, passing places, and the North Coast 500",
    cover: "single-track road · highland mist",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 07",
    readTime: "11 min",
    bySide: "Left",
    speed: "60 mph open road · 30 urban",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Not required",
    fuel: "£1.55 / L",
    drivenBy: "Catriona MacKenzie",
    dateline: "Inverness → Durness · Late May",
    excerpt:
      "The North Coast 500 has been famous for less than a decade and has already changed the highlands. Drive it badly and you will be remembered. Drive it well and the Highlands will forget you, which is the goal.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "The single-track road is Scotland's gift to the patient driver and Scotland's punishment for the impatient one. It is one lane wide, with diamond-shaped passing places every 200 metres, and a clear rule: whoever is closer to a passing place uses it, regardless of who is going up or down."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not required."],
          ["Side of road", "Left."],
          ["Passing places", "Used to give way OR to let following traffic overtake. Both directions."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.05% — lower than England. One drink is the limit."],
          ["Sheep", "Have right of way. Always. They know."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "The passing place rule",
        body:
          "You see an oncoming car. You scan ahead: is a passing place nearer to you or nearer to them? If nearer to you, pull in. If nearer to them, slow and let them tuck in. Never park in a passing place. Never use one to take photographs. A raised hand or finger-off-the-wheel thank-you is mandatory — Highland driving courtesy is the actual road code."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The NC500 is a road. It is not a racetrack. The locals live here. They will remember the registration plate."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Fuel and distance",
        body:
          "Petrol stations on the NC500 can be 70 miles apart and close at 6pm. Top up at Ullapool, Lochinver, Durness, Tongue, Thurso. The last fuel before Cape Wrath is at Durness — there is none beyond. Many petrol stations are unmanned card-only by evening; carry a backup card."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Bealach na Bà — Applecross",
            from: "Tornapress",
            to: "Applecross",
            hours: "1.0",
            note: "Steepest road in the UK, 20% gradient, hairpins. Avoid in cloud. Worth the climb."
          },
          {
            name: "A87 — Skye to Glen Shiel",
            from: "Kyle of Lochalsh",
            to: "Invergarry",
            hours: "1.5",
            note: "Five Sisters of Kintail on your right. Eilean Donan castle stop unmissable."
          },
          {
            name: "B869 — Assynt loop",
            from: "Lochinver",
            to: "Stoer",
            hours: "1.0",
            note: "Single-track, lochs, Suilven on the horizon. The NC500's better-kept side road."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't overtake on the NC500. Single-track means single-track. Wait.",
          "Don't pull into a passing place to picnic. There are laybys for that.",
          "Don't film while driving. The road needs the attention. The midges do not care about your reel."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "mexico",
    image: "images/mexico.png",
    country: "Mexico",
    region: "North America",
    headline: "Cuotas and libres, topes and night, and why Baja is the easy one",
    cover: "cardón cactus along mex 1 · dusk",
    coverHue: "warm",
    issue: "№ 08",
    readTime: "13 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "110 km/h cuota · 80 libre",
    bac: "0.08%",
    idp: "Recommended",
    fuel: "MX$ 24 / L",
    drivenBy: "Diego Vargas",
    dateline: "La Paz → Loreto · January",
    excerpt:
      "There are two parallel road systems in Mexico — cuotas, the tolled four-lane highways, and libres, the free network everyone else uses. The first is excellent. The second is an education.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "The cuota costs ten dollars and saves you two hours, three topes, and at least one stretch where a truck has shed its tomatoes across both lanes. Take the cuota. The libre will still be there next time, and it has its own appeal — just not when you are trying to make a hotel by sundown."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not strictly required but useful at checkpoints."],
          ["Mexican auto insurance", "Mandatory. US/Canada insurance is not recognised. Buy at border or online — Baja Bound, Sanborn's."],
          ["Vehicle import permit", "Required outside Baja and a Sonora zone. Get one at the border."],
          ["Topes", "Speed bumps. Aggressive ones. Unsigned. Anywhere a town starts or ends, and sometimes between."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.08% federal, lower in some states. Checkpoints in cities common after 10pm."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Don't drive at night",
        body:
          "This is the single most repeated piece of advice about driving in Mexico, and it is the correct one. Unlit livestock, abandoned vehicles, unmarked road works, and very occasional security incidents on rural roads compound after dark. Plan every drive to end an hour before sundown. This is not a fearful posture — it is the standard Mexican driver's habit too."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "Every Mexican town announces itself with a tope. Every Mexican town says goodbye with another. Slow on entry, slow on exit, every time."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Baja is different",
        body:
          "Baja California is the easiest Mexican driving for first-timers — one road, Mex 1, runs the length of the peninsula, well-signed, well-policed, and lined with PEMEX fuel stations every 70–150 km. Tank up at every chance. The peninsula has no railroad and effectively no parallel route — if Mex 1 closes for an accident, it closes for everyone."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Mex 1 — Baja Sur",
            from: "Loreto",
            to: "Cabo San Lucas",
            hours: "6.0",
            note: "Sea of Cortez on the left, mountains on the right, fish tacos in between."
          },
          {
            name: "Oaxaca — Mex 175",
            from: "Oaxaca",
            to: "Pochutla",
            hours: "6.5",
            note: "Sierra Madre del Sur. Long, winding, gorgeous. Carsick passengers, beware."
          },
          {
            name: "Yucatán — Mex 180D",
            from: "Mérida",
            to: "Cancún",
            hours: "4.0",
            note: "Cuota cuts straight across the peninsula. Detour to Chichén Itzá and Valladolid."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't drive a rental into the highlands without checking state-level travel advisories.",
          "Don't pay topes any disrespect. They will eat a suspension.",
          "Don't refuse a routine military checkpoint. Slow down, smile, answer briefly, drive on."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "portugal",
    image: "images/portugal.png",
    country: "Portugal",
    region: "Southern Europe",
    headline: "Coastal twos and threes, cobbled centres, and the EN2 from end to end",
    cover: "atlantic cliffs at cabo da roca · wind",
    coverHue: "cool",
    issue: "№ 09",
    readTime: "9 min",
    bySide: "Right",
    speed: "120 km/h motorway · 50 in town",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Not required (EU/UK/US)",
    fuel: "€1.78 / L",
    drivenBy: "Inês Lopes",
    dateline: "Porto → Faro · Late spring",
    excerpt:
      "Portugal is small, well-paved, and tolled aggressively where it matters. The country is also full of towns built before cars and never quite updated for them.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "The Portuguese motorway tolls (Via Verde) are read by plate, and rental companies bill you afterward — sometimes weeks later, sometimes for amounts that bear little relation to the original toll. Ask explicitly what the admin fee is at pickup. Get the answer in writing."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Not required for EU/UK/US/Canada/Australia licences."],
          ["Tolls", "Electronic. Rental fleets handle Via Verde — confirm activation at pickup."],
          ["Reflective vest + triangle", "Mandatory in vehicle."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.05% — 0.02% for new drivers (<3 years) and professional drivers."],
          ["Phone", "Hands-free only. Fines €120–600 plus points."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "EN2 — the country end-to-end",
        body:
          "The EN2 is Portugal's longest national road and runs 738 km from Chaves on the Spanish border to Faro on the Algarve coast. It crosses every climate, several wine regions, and a dozen towns the motorway forgot. You can drive it in three long days or stretch it to a week. Carimbos — stamps — collected at council offices along the way prove you did the whole route."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "The hill town's main square is for the residents. The car park outside the walls is for you. This is not a punishment."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Lisbon and Porto — don't",
        body:
          "Don't drive in either city centre. Both have steep, narrow, cobbled streets, tram tracks that catch tyres, and parking that requires a permit you don't have. Park at a metro terminus and use transit. The rental is for everywhere else."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Douro Valley — N222",
            from: "Peso da Régua",
            to: "Pinhão",
            hours: "0.7",
            note: "Voted one of the world's best 25 km of road. Vineyard terraces from valley floor to ridge."
          },
          {
            name: "Costa Vicentina — N268",
            from: "Sines",
            to: "Sagres",
            hours: "3.0",
            note: "Atlantic cliffs, surf beaches, no resorts. The Algarve before tourism."
          },
          {
            name: "Serra da Estrela — N339",
            from: "Covilhã",
            to: "Seia",
            hours: "1.5",
            note: "Mainland Portugal's highest road. Snow in winter, sheep dogs in summer."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't follow a satnav into a Lisbon alley that says 'no entry' in Portuguese only. It means it.",
          "Don't park in a yellow-line zone. Towing is fast and the lot is far.",
          "Don't expect English at rural toll-payment offices. Cash, plate, polite."
        ]
      }
    ]
  },

  {
    id: "south-africa",
    image: "images/south-africa.png",
    country: "South Africa",
    region: "Southern Africa",
    headline: "The Garden Route, the Karoo, and the rule of the four-way",
    cover: "fynbos plateau along chapman's peak · morning",
    coverHue: "warm",
    issue: "№ 10",
    readTime: "11 min",
    bySide: "Left",
    speed: "120 km/h freeway · 60 urban",
    bac: "0.05%",
    idp: "Required",
    fuel: "R 24 / L",
    drivenBy: "Sipho Ndlovu",
    dateline: "Cape Town → Port Elizabeth · February",
    excerpt:
      "South African roads are better than first-time visitors expect, the wildlife is closer than you expect, and the etiquette at a four-way stop is more rigorous than at any English roundabout.",
    sections: [
      {
        kind: "lede",
        body:
          "The N1 and N2 are wide, fast, and well-maintained. The R-routes — provincial roads, denoted by an R-number — are where the country actually lives, and where the driving gets interesting. The Karoo opens up. Townships pass. Sheep cross. The horizon is, eventually, the only landmark."
      },
      {
        kind: "rules",
        title: "What the law actually requires",
        items: [
          ["IDP", "Required for stays over 90 days; recommended always. Police check at roadblocks."],
          ["Yellow line driving", "Common — slower vehicles drift onto the shoulder to let faster ones pass. Hazards = thanks."],
          ["Four-way stops", "Strict order: first to arrive, first to leave. Watch closely."],
          ["Alcohol", "0.05%. Roadblocks are common Friday/Saturday nights. Zero is the safer rule."],
          ["Fuel stations", "All full-service. Tip R5–10. Cards usually accepted; carry some cash."]
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Four-way stops",
        body:
          "South Africa uses four-way stops where most countries use roundabouts or traffic lights. The rule is strict: come to a full stop, note who arrived before you, leave in that order. If two cars arrive at the same time, the one on the left has right of way. The whole system relies on everyone actually stopping. It works because everyone does."
      },
      {
        kind: "pull",
        text: "Drive the Garden Route slowly. Stop for the lookouts. The N2 was not designed for speed; it was designed for the view."
      },
      {
        kind: "prose",
        title: "Game parks and gates",
        body:
          "If you're driving through Kruger or Addo, the rule is dawn-to-dusk only — gates close hard. Buy a permit at the gate. Keep windows closed at large mammals. Don't get out, don't feed anything, and don't get between an elephant cow and a calf for any reason whatsoever. Maximum speed in the parks is 50 km/h on tar, 40 on gravel. Cameras and rangers enforce."
      },
      {
        kind: "routes",
        title: "Three drives worth the rental",
        items: [
          {
            name: "Garden Route — N2",
            from: "Mossel Bay",
            to: "Port Elizabeth",
            hours: "4.5",
            note: "Coast, indigenous forest, lagoons. Detour to Wilderness, Knysna, Tsitsikamma."
          },
          {
            name: "Chapman's Peak Drive — M6",
            from: "Hout Bay",
            to: "Noordhoek",
            hours: "0.5",
            note: "Nine kilometres of cliff-side switchbacks. Tolled. Closed in heavy wind."
          },
          {
            name: "Sani Pass — R318",
            from: "Underberg",
            to: "Sani Top (Lesotho)",
            hours: "2.5",
            note: "4WD only. Gravel, switchbacks, a border post at altitude. Day trip from KwaZulu-Natal."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        kind: "warning",
        title: "Don't",
        items: [
          "Don't stop for hitchhikers, however well-meaning. Use the laybys for breaks.",
          "Don't drive into a township without a local guide.",
          "Don't underestimate fatigue on the N1 to Johannesburg. It is twelve hours of straight road."
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
];

window.GUIDES = GUIDES;