Ahuatepec del Camino

At this altitude, 2,654 m, the eastern horizon belongs to the Citlaltépetl, Mexico's highest mountain, rising some 20 km from Ciudad Serdán. Ahuatepec del Camino lies on the plain north of that town, about 5.8 km in a straight line, and in 2020 it had 1,510 residents, 771 women and 739 men, making it the fifth most populous of Chalchicomula de Sesma's 59 localities. Its Nahuatl name joins ahuatl, oak, tepetl, hill, and the locative co: "on the hill of oaks". Some 2.5 km to the northeast rises Cerro Ahuatepec, at 2,831 m.

The village lives off the land. In the municipality almost 79% of the surface is farmed, and 64% of the territory is the plain known as the Llanos de San Andrés or Serdán valley, built of volcanic cones and debris. Water comes down from Pico de Orizaba's glaciers and soaks into the plain itself. The local climate is cool, averaging close to 13 °C with around 1,000 mm of rain; January is the coldest month. Nearby stand colonial haciendas whose main houses lie 3 to 8 km from the municipal seat, such as San Cayetano, Santa Inés, San Diego, La Concepción and San Jerónimo, plus the San Juan aqueduct and arches of 1723.

Nearly every home has electricity and piped water, and in 2020 two in three households had a mobile phone. There is no lodging in the village: the nearest hotels are 8 or 9 km away in Ciudad Serdán, as are most fondas, taco stands and pulquerías; there is also food in San Francisco Independencia, 3 km west. The closest neighbours are San Miguel Ocotenco and San Diego Texmelucan, just over 3 km away. The region makes colonial-style rustic furniture, leaded glass, leather shoes and wrought-iron bells. The cooking includes chileatole, mushroom texmole, tlaxcales, huitlacoche quesadillas and broad-bean soup, with tejocote preserves, sweetcorn cake, pulque and capulín or plum liqueurs. At religious fiestas the Teponaxtle dance is performed with shawm and conch.