Kilómetro Ochenta y Ocho

The name Kilómetro Ochenta y Ocho is simply an address: according to Wikipedia it refers to kilometre 88 of the federal highway between Mexico City and Cuautla, and the locality takes its name from it. It belongs to the municipality of Atlatlahucan, Morelos, at roughly 1,600 m above sea level and about 1.4 km southeast of the municipal seat, per Pueblos de México.

INEGI censuses show a late but steady rise: 123 residents in 1960, 68 in 1970, 102 in 1980, 197 in 1990, 281 in 2000, 654 in 2010 and 1,099 in 2020. It has grown at every count since 1970 and by 2020 ranked seventh of the municipality's 56 localities. That year 286 homes were occupied, with electricity in about 98 of every 100 and piped water in about 83. Just over half the residents (54%) were born outside Morelos.

The setting is typical of northern Morelos: temperate hills, a hill called Malpaís (1,732 m) some 2 km to the southeast, and higher ridges above 2,000 m to the north towards Totolapan and the State of Mexico border. The centre of Atlatlahucan, with its Augustinian ex-convent founded in 1570 and part of the group of 16th-century convents on the slopes of Popocatépetl named a World Heritage Site in 1994, is a short ride away. There is no sight to tick off here: Kilómetro 88 is above all a crossroads where the roads to Oaxtepec, Tlayacapan and Totolapan part ways.