Tecali is a small town in Puebla, around 40 minutes by car from the state capital. I got there by public transport, going first of all to Tepeaca, then I took an MXN$9 combi van for 20 minutes.
It’s THE town of onyx products (also marble stuff) and shops are everywhere. Be sure to shop around to find the designs that you like the most (although they sell similar stuff). The historic centre of this town of almost 500 years old is also nice, with the highlight of course being its ex-convent.
Father Tembleque Aqueduct is a UNESCO world heritage site between Zempoala in the State of Hidalgo and Otumba in the State of Mexico, with around 48km between the two cities, the existing aqueduct is a little more than 900m in length and almost 40m in height, right at the border between these two states in México. There’s a total of 67 arcs.
Construction began in 1555 and it concluded 17 years later. For the next 300 years, it allowed the Spanish to supply water to different cities. It’s become a UNESCO site because it was a product of not just Spanish colonizers but efforts of Native Americans.
To get there, you need to get an indirect bus from the nothern bus terminal of Mexico City to Ciudad Sahagún, near Tepeapulco, passing through also Teotihuacán and Otumba, for MXN$72 and a little more than 2 hours. After getting off at the Teotihuacán Autobuses bus office in the city centre, you can cross the road and wait for the bus (runs every hours) to get to Tepeyahualco (MXN$20, around 20 minutes). Just because getting into the actual town, you get off and walk for around 5-10 minutes to get to the main arcade.
Another route in through Pachuca (also from the northern bus terminal of Mexico City), which would be normally a little shorter as the bus would be direct but a little more expensive. The bus from Pachuca passes through the bus terminal to the same location in Tepeyahualco. This trip would take around 45-60 minutes and MXN$30 instead.
It would certainly make sense for this to be a trip after visiting the pyramids of Teotihuacán, and also checking out what Tepeapulco has to offer, before using Pachuca as a base to explore the magical towns near it.
Villa del Carbón is a small magical town in the State of Mexico, which is close to some natural areas, including the small but quiet Presa del Llano.
To get there, you can take a bus from Naucalpan or Tlanapantla, which passes through Atizapan and Nicolas Romeo (around 2 hours, MXN$30).
To get to the dam/reservoir, you can only take a taxi (MXN$120 each way) for half an hour. If you call a taxi from the dam, you will need to wait for around half an hour. The entrance fee is MXN$30.
The town also has a lot of leather products, both with cow and sheep leather.
Tepeapulco is a small town in the State of Hidalgo (used to be a part of the State of Mexico), which is usually off the beaten track.
To get there, I took a bus from Autobuses Teotihuacan from the northern bus terminal of Mexico City for MXN$74 (to Sahagún City, the bigger industrial city that borders Tepeapulco, would be MXN$72) for around 2 hours. The same bus goes to Teotihuacán, straight to the entrance to the pyramids, and to other smaller towns such as Otumba.
From there, I walked around to see the church and the small historic centre., Then, I hired a taxi to take me to the pyramid near by (15 minutes), wait for me there (I spent around 15 minutes), and take me to Sahagún City where they have a bus office (in Tepeapulco, I would’ve needed to wait at an unspecified location for the bus the past by). He charged me MXN$250 in total (I did not haggle).
There’s also an aquaduct and a lake around half an hour away (different directions).
The church is the oldest in Hidalgo, built in the 1500s.
jagged little earth 