South Goa for a few beach days

Trip Start Nov 21, 2007
1
64
158
Trip End Oct 01, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of India  , Goa,
Saturday, April 5, 2008

We took an over night bus from Pune to Goa.  What a ride...we literally had a make-shift bed on a bus.  We started the journey at 8 pm, but per normal, it takes hours just to get out of town.  So, we decided to play cards with our headlamps.  Layton caught the drivers and helpers (yes, it takes 4 men to coordinate, drive, guide and organize a bus ride) staring at us with our set up with HUGE grins on their faces!  We wish we could have gotten a pic.  The ride was ok, but we were glad to get to Goa. 
 
Goa is a state of India and has many beaches.  This is a "calm" part of India where lots of westerners come for reprieve.  (Shefali and her family are from South Goa also.)  So, we headed to Colva beach to spend a few days.  The Portuguese influence is very apparent through crosses, churches, colors and names as you drive around. 
 
We were pretty worthless the first day Layton sitting pretty on the sleeper bus
Layton sitting pretty on the sleeper bus
 .  We stayed around our Hotel Lucky Star.  We rested, walked the beach, watched the sunset and enjoyed a nice fish dinner.  Speaking of fish, Colva is a fishing community and we got to watch them in action.  We are not sure how many were in the fishing group, but we would guess about 30 or so men and boys.  They all work together to pull in the huge nets full of fish (hopefully).  The process was long, but seemed to pay off for them the time we got to watch them!
 
Also, one day we hired a scooter and toured around.  It was so fun.  We had a great afternoon of exploring other beaches and areas.  The villages were very sleepy and the roads were MUCH LESS CRAZY than the other roads we had been on.  Layton did a great job of learning to "talk" with his horn.  We really had a fun afternoon.  We both commented that we would not be able to do this when we were on tours so we enjoyed it for each moment that we could!
 
Our last day, we toured Old Goa and a spice farm.  Old Goa has about 6 churches within a very small area.  Lots of Catholic influence shown.  One crazy thing was Sir Francis Xavier's remains were kept in on of the cathedrals.  Supposedly, his body has not decayed over the hundreds of years which they consider a miracle (we would agree).  You will see the place where he is kept as well as some pics of his body Here we go!
Here we go!
 .  You could still see the skull! 
 
The spice farm was neat but HOT.  We were greeted with bendi dots, flower necklaces and a shower of flower pedals. The tour was well done. We learned that vanilla is part of the orchid family, what nutmeg and cashew fruit looks like, and how the guys swing from tree to tree to pick the beetle nut.  They poured water down our backs to cool us off before serving us a nice traditional Goan meal with fenni, the local fire water made from cashews.
 
We then took another night bus to Mumbai which was a bit more rocky than our first ride. It was a long, long night, but we made it!
Slideshow Print this entry