Gorgeous Goa

It's common knowledge that Goa was a Portuguese colony but I didn't know that it was as recent as 1961 that Goa became part of India.  The Portuguese settled in Goa in the 1500s and over the centuries put their mark on this part of India.  Having long been curious about Goa we flew to Panjim, the capital, and decided to stop there a few days. The beach could wait a few days.

St Sebastian Chapel (1880), Fontainhas, Panjim

Street in Fontainhas, Panjim

In the small district of Fontainhas in Panjim, the capital, you feel transported to Portugal  (albeit a Portugal that's rough round the edges).  Many of the old Portuguese villas are painted in vivid colours and traditional blue and while tiles indicate road names. Portuguese is still spoken by some Goan inhabitants and you just don't feel as if you're in India.  Strolling around Fontainhas our Heritage Walk guide Alirio da Costa (in his early 70s) recalled his childhood growing up in the area and remembers clearly the period of turbulence following the peaceful surrender to India and subsequent mass exodus of Portuguese inhabitants after 1961.   After their death Alirio inherited his small house from his parents and as we sat having a beer there after the walk, the Portuguese decor and furniture indicate still his intense attachment to Portugal alongside his Goan upbringing. We wonder whether, with the passing of his generation, what remnants of the Portuguse will remain in the future.

Villa in Fontainhas, Panjim

Panjim Post Office

Traditional Portguese decor
 inside our guide's home in Fontainhas, Panjim

Afonso Guest House, where we stayed in Fontainhas, Panjim

An 8 km breezy tuk tuk ride took us from Fontainhas to Old Goa where many 15th and 16th century churches, built by the Portuguese, still stand. These amazing churches are testament to the zeal with which the Portuguese imposed Christianity in India.  The most famous visited church here is the magnificent Basilica of Bom Jesus and from there we crossed the road to the huge white painted Se Cathedral.  Holding no religious beliefs myself,  I'm conitinually fascinated to see such enormous monuments borne out of religious devotion.

The magnificent Basilica of Bom Jesus (completed 1605), Old Goa

Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, seen from the side - what a huge building!

Se Cathedral, Old Goa, built in the 16th century

Viceroy's Arch, Old Goa, built in 1559 to mark the Portuguese conquest of the city

Now we're at Agonda beach in south Goa and loving it here.  Goa's entire coastline is famous for beaches, but lengthy research led to me hope that Agonda, south of Panjim,  would meet our exacting requirements for a beach break.  In under two hours after leaving Panjim we were driving along the small lane that runs parallel to Agonda beach.  The narrow patch of land between the lane and the beach is filled with beach huts, restaurants, shops and palm trees and the occasional undeveloped bit.  The 3km long beach is one of the best we've seen in a long time. So what makes Agonda beach so great?  It's a wide beach with clean golden sand, perfect sea temperature, waves with some oomph (but not too violent), no noisy water sports, no music blaring out and not very many people.  Even though it's peak season and the beachfront is lined with huts and restaurants there's a air of tranquility.  Other tourists are mostly Westerners, a mix of the mature brigade (like us) and slender young ladies who, early in the morning and at sunset, appear on the beach and practice yoga.  We wish we were as supple as the latter.

Agonda beach, south Goa.

The lane behind the beachfront, lined with small shops, Agonda.

Our "cottage" is rather fabulous with a large seafacing balcony and we're spending our days reading and pottering down to the sea for a swim. It's all of 50m to the waves.  On daily walks up and down the beach we've seen playful healthy looking dogs, sleek horses (with riders), the odd camel and lots of gentle,  happy cows. In spite of this menagerie no animal poo to be seen!

On the left, our fabulous  "cottage" on Agonda beach

Just a short hop and a skip from our balcony to the sea!

Either side of our cottage small beach hut complexes have pretty beachfront bars and restaurants, shaded by tall palm trees, so there's not much hunting to do when a mealtime comes around.  Talking of which, Goa gets another tick for it's cuisine. We've eaten superbly everywhere, for a fraction of the price you'd expect. We saw an oddly named Indian dessert on a menu here so had to try it. "Hello to the Queen" conjures up an  exotic finale to a meal (think royalty) but what appeared was banana and icecream, drizzled with chocolate sauce, sitting on a bed of sweet biscuit crumbs.  Is this what our Queen eats, we ask ourselves?

G & Ts on our balcony 

We talked to a British couple who have been coming to Agonda for many years and they told us that, unsurprisingly, tourism has changed Agonda enormously over the last decade.  The current beachfront accommodation is tasteful and low rise so we only hope it stays like this. Goan hospitality we're experiencing is warm and genuine and standards of service high. We'll be sorry to leave but already foresee a future visit.