Jan 27, 2010 - Goa, province of beaches and tourists

Goa, a land of tourists. Goa, is the name of the province that the guide books use as a generic name for the many beaches here. Specifically we are staying at Calangute beach on the Arabian Sea, which according to the guidebook was the center of the hippie scene in the 60’s and 70’s and is the districts most popular beach. This is tourist country at its best and worst. At its best, this is a beach filled with every possible store and bar that one would need, streets filled with noise and excitement of crowds having fun. For the exact same...

Dec 26, 2009 - Panaji

A 20+ hour train ride (not many cockroaches this time, but Christy did spot a mouse) took us to another former Portuguese colony, Panaji (population of 100,000). Similar to Ft. Cochin, this town was packed full of historic buildings, colorful homes and interesting lanes. Once a very important Portuguese city, Panaji and nearby Old Goa, were packed with Catholic churches of amazing detail and scale. In Panaji, the imposing Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception (1541) was built on top of a hill overlooking the city and is still a...

Nov 20, 2009 - GOA .........

Hi all sorry that we have failed to update the journal for three weeks, but we have been in Goa. All I can say is that a fabulous time has been had by all. Unfortunately I am unable to report all details of the last three weeks as I am bound by the following law of what happens in Goa stays in Goa, and therefore you will have to let your imaginations run wild...... and I know that some of you have good imaginations. As you all know Tracy joined us for three weeks and Denise for two. Poor Denise when she arrived after having a week of...

Oct 14, 2009 - Saludos de GOA

English, y despues Espanol =) FER: Hello, so at this very moment we're sitting in an internet cafe on the beaches of GOA, Baga to be precise, but there are all kinds of red flags indicating that its too dangerous to swim so we chilled at a bar on the sand and decided to try and connect with you folks. We're actually staying about 45 mins. from here in the capital city of Panaji. We took a bus out here this morning and will be heading back in a little while. Oh yeah, for those of you who are wondering why im' doing all the typing. It's cause...

Aug 10, 2009 - Panjim and Donna Paula

G'day, After nearly a week away we are finally starting to slow down a bit and have spent three lazy days in Panaji / Panjim checking out the Museum and other significant sites. The Portugese influence is very pronounced in Goa and the area in which we stayed was still in somehing of a time warp from the late fifties / early sixties. Just for fun and to remind ourselves that we are suppose to be taking it easy we stayed for two nights at a small fishing / resort village on the coast of the Arabian sea called Donna Paula where I went fishing...

May 16, 2009 - Over indulgence in all things Portuguese - Old Goa

Jumping on the local bus at the bus station, I made the pilgrimage to Old Goa. Bit of a must if you come to Panaji I reckon. From my guest house, I retraced my steps to the bus station but along the shortcut I now knew about. No chance of getting lost, honest! If you can't remember the route just look to see where the people are all emerging from as they make their way to work. For once, it is that simple. The bus was packed to the gunnels but I remained close to the door so as not to have any problems when it came to get off. There is...

May 15, 2009 - Same Same

Following a good sesh on the beach, I made the trip from Baga beach down to the capital of Goa, Paniji, or Panjim as the locals call it. In fact, I made a school boy error and fell asleep waking up with a red raw back. Even my never before touched by sunshine areas had turned crimson. Going to be good carrying a rucksack later:)) Anyhow, "same same" was ringing in my ears as I was ushered off the bus in Panjim a little bemused. Should have paid more attention to the LP as it was in there of course. "same same" actually means same same...

May 14, 2009 - Scooting up the coast of Goa

VVVVVRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM!!! Yes, I decided to brave the mean streets of Goa on a scooter as I had got a little on the pink side lying on the beach the previous day. I soon discovered that there are not that many signs showing directions but thankfully the natives are a friendly bunch and get you on your way in no time. Just as well or I would still be somewhere I shouldn't be! I dropped in on various beaches to check them out finding a couple almost deserted. Imagine having a whole Goan beach to yourself but for a few Indians. I even found...

May 13, 2009 - Question:- do you believe a nun should ever be shouted at??

First time had opportunity to get some good exercise done on this trip so I was up at 8am to get my trainers head down the beach to get in a bit of high octane walking. Was before it started to really get hot so ideal conditions. Did a few good kms I reckon well to the end of the beach and back which was enough to get the sweat glands operating. Had one little boy try to sell me peanuts but was more interested in what water was on my face. It's called "sweat" I told him!! Clearly locals never experience such an outpouring from their bodies....

Mar 23, 2009 - Visit to Old Goa

Well, it's about 10:30 at night, and i'm writing this entry from a small internet cafe down the street in Agonda Beach from my beachfront hut at Harmony Hives. Having only arrived here about 3 hours ago from Old Goa, it feels really good to be here. Given all the different sights I took in today, I want to write about them lest I forget some of them...a real possibility... After breakfast this morning, I went to the bus station in Panjim and took my first Indian bus ride to Old Goa, the famed historic district and UN World Heritage Site...

Oct 9, 2008 - Baga Beach

I woke up in the morning determined to get to Baga beach that day and find the parties. First of all though I had to find my room key which I had lost and seemed to have vanished. Eventually I was just charged just 100 Rupees by the owners for the loss and set out for Baga beach. Goa is the name of a state in India and the beaches are spread along the entire state. Baga beach was about 100km away, in India a considerable distance, so I knew that it would take me a decent chunk of the day to get there. I worked out that I could get a bus...

Feb 27, 2008 - Panaji (Goa)

Llegue en avion a Panaji (o Panjim), la capital de Goa. Es un antiguo pueblo portugues, pero de portugues le queda poco mas que la catedral de Bom Jesus y un par de iglesias mas. Aparte de eso todo es indio. Nada muy especial. Conoci a un par de italianos muy particulares y pude practicar un poco el idioma.