Catemaco and the Far Southeast

A legend known to many pre-Hispanic cultures held that the god Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, departed eastward over the water from a place near Coatzacoalcos on the southern Gulf coast and that he would return someday from the sea. You might not think of gods and legends when you visit Coatzacoalcos today. History and mythology buffs know that the southeastern third of Veracruz, from the Papaloapan River to the border with Tabasco state, takes you farther into the distant past of Mexico than any other part of the state — indeed, of the nation. But I also have to say that it takes you far into a raucous, fast-paced, traffic-jammed present, because some of the biggest Mexican oil wells and refineries lie near Coatzacoalcos. Mexicans never mind these crashing juxtapositions.