Mexican's Highland - Mexická vysočina

Video from our journey around Mexico City from Toluca to Popocatepétl
Video o tom, ako to  chodí na mexických cestách a horách :-)

So here we are, on our way to Toluca, rolling over the central parts of Mexico, still in elevation about 2,500 m. But comparing to "Monarch mountains" the landscape changed a lot - there was just flat agricultural land around us. One would say “lowland” if it wasn't “highland” actually. Only reminder of high elevation was the volcano Nevado de Toluca, beautiful volcano dominating this land, all covered with snow. Second reminder was quite cold temperature, sometimes it's even freezing at night. As we had been always making fun from Mexicans wearing winter boots and jackets during the winter in Cabo Pulmo, when the temperature was still above 25°C (around 80°F), now the situation had switched. One morning we woke up next to the small river, our tent was covered with ice. It barely melted when families from houses nearby came and started to wash their clothes and even whole bodies, head included, while we were packing our stuff with numb fingers. One family came to ask if we didn't freeze in the tent and when they find out I spoke Spanish, they started to ask more questions and we ended up being invited for coffee (as many times before, with great breakfast included  :-)). Line majority of Mexicans, this family also lived in a house built from concrete blocks, probably the worst material for house ever. I know, I know it's cheap, easy and quick build with - and that is more important than healthy and comfortable living, isn't it? During hot sunny days being inside of these houses is like being in an oven and during cloudy, cold days it's like to be in a freezer (not mentioning problems with moisture and mold). Almost nobody has any heater in their houses (they don't really need it, having only two months of colder weather a year). Sitting in this house in this cool morning we are grateful for hot coffee and tortillas and thinking how our lovely hosts (young family with three children) can stand staying here all day long?
Another example of a locals' cold resistance was our next warmshowers host in Toluca, Seth, founder, manager and one of two employees of first cyclo-messenger company in Toluca. Seth didn't seem to be bothered by coldness (Martin thinks it's not only because he was a messenger). During the day it was fine, but after sunset the temperature dropped rapidly and the nights were pretty cold. Mexican houses were cold all the time, that short period of warmth during the day wasn't enough to heat up concrete walls. Seth's house wasn't an exception, so our stay in Toluca was probably one of our coldest we'd experienced in Mexico.
Going higher and higher in elevation, the weather was colder and colder, so we finally used all our warm clothes (which had been just death weight in our panniers most of the time), now, at last, we were very glad we hadn't got rid of them yet.

A tak sme sa ocitli na ceste do mesta Toluca, prechádzajúc centrálnymi časťami Mexika, udržiavajúc si priemernú nadmorskú výšku okolo 2 500 m n.m. Po lesoch pohoria Sierra Chincua sme zrazu obkolesení poľnohospodárskou krajinou, jeden by to nazval nížina, keby nevedel, že v tejto nadmorskej výške to musí byť skôr vysočina. Jedinou pripomienkou hôr je vulkán Nevado de Toluca, zasnežená dominanta okolia, cca 4 700 metrov vysoká. A ešte chladné počasie, v noci nám občas aj mrzne. Ako sme si doteraz robili srandu zo zmrznutých Mexičanov, napríklad v Cabo Pulme, kde nosili zimné čižmy a bundy aj pri teplote okolo 25°C, veď mali predsa zimu, tak teraz sa situácia otočila. Keď sme sa jedného mrazivého rána zobudili pri malej riečke, s prekvapením sme pozorovali domácich, ako v nej nielen perú prádlo, ale aj sa v nej celí umývajú, zatiaľ čo my sme so skrehnutými rukami balili stan. Jedna taká rodinka náš prišla pozdraviť a uistiť sa, že sme v tom stane nezamrzli a keď zistili, že rozprávame po španielsky, tak sa s nami dali do reči a skončilo to pozvaním na kávu v ich dome. Ako to tak v podobných situáciách býva, začalo to kávou a skončilo tým, že sme dostali druhé raňajky. Pojedli sme v milej spoločnosti manželov, ich troch detí a sliepok prechádzajúcich sa po dome, na záver sme dostali od pani domu ručne vyšívaný obrus a my sme im na pamiatku dali našu kľúčenku z kaktusového dreva.

Drvivá väčšina mexických domov je dnes postavená z betónových blokov (áno, taká zmenšenina našich panelákov) – asi najnevhodnejší materiál na stavbu domu pod slnkom. Áno, áno, ja viem, je to lacné a rýchle a to je predsa dôležitejšie ako zdravé a pohodlné bývanie, nie? V takom betónovom dome sa cítite buď ako v peci, alebo ako v chladničke, podľa aktuálnej poveternostnej situácie (o problémoch s vlhkosťou a plesňami už ani nehovorím). Takmer nikto nemá v dome pec, ani iné výhrevné teleso (načo aj, keď majú „zimu“ len dva mesiace do roka), takže sediac v skromnom chladnom príbytku našich milých hostiteľov si užívame teplú kávu a tortilly.

Ďalším príkladom otužilosti miestnych obyvateľov bol náš warmshowerácky hostiteľ v meste Toluca, Seth (zakladateľ, šéf a jeden z dvoch zamestnancov prvej cyklokuriérskej služby v Toluce). Večerné posedenia v jeho dome boli jednou z najchladnejších skúseností počas našej cesty po Mexiku, zatiaľ čo Seth behal po dome naboso a v krátkom tričku.

So stúpajúcou nadmorskou výškou klesá teplota, to platí aj tu v Mexiku, takže čoskoro sme využili všetko to teplé oblečenie, čo je väčšinou len mŕtvou váhou v našich cyklotaškách a na chvíľku sme radi, že ho so sebou stále ešte vláčime...