Aculco is a small town in the highlands of the State of Mexico, a place of cobbled streets, white walls with red trim and a church that stands over everything, and it has been a stop on the road north for as long as there has been a road. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the old silver highway that connected Mexico City with the mines of Zacatecas and the far north, passed through this area, and a stretch of it near Aculco, with old paving and stonework, survives as part of the World Heritage listing. The Franciscans founded a convent in Aculco in the sixteenth century, and the town retains its colonial look, with arcades around the plaza and a quiet that comes from being a few hours from the capital and a world away.
The countryside here is rolling, high farmland at about two and a half thousand metres, with pine and oak woods, fields of maize and oats, sheep and dairy cattle, and a number of small reservoirs. The local people are mainly Otomi, and the region is known for its cheese, its pulque, the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and its weaving. The air is cool, even in summer, and clouds roll in from the afternoon to bring rain between June and September.
The ride from here is a cross-country run toward Teotihuacan, the great pre-Hispanic city north-east of Mexico City, and it crosses a landscape of plateau and low ridges. The roads are mostly paved, but many are narrow, with potholes and topes, the speed bumps that appear without warning in every village, and the mountain bends can be damp and slippery in the rain season. Watch for farm animals, and avoid riding after dark. In dry season, from November to April, the air is clear, the days are sunny and the nights are cold, and the best light is early.
San Miguel Vindho, the village nearby, is small, and the closest town of any size is Aculco itself, where you will find a fuel station, basic hotels and restaurants. Local fare includes barbacoa, slow-cooked lamb, and quesadillas with squash blossom, while fresh bread and coffee are standard. As elsewhere in the central highlands, it makes sense to fill the tank before heading into the back roads, and to check the weather in the afternoon, when storms can build quickly.