Goa, India

Goa

The trip to Goa was a lot of fun.

Jenny, Nick and Brian left to Mumbai one day earlier where they met one friend of Brian, a nice guy but I do not remember his name. I had to fly through Mumbai, so we met on the plane on our way to Goa. A van from the hotel came to pick us up, and that is when I first listened to the no. 1 hit in India, the song Jhalak Dikhlaja. Jenny and I loved it, and the music stayed in our heads for the following months. We liked the cd so much that every time we got on the van we asked the driver to play it again. We were all amazed with the scenery we were seeing through the window on our way to the hotel.

As soon as we arrived, we left our stuff and found our way to the beach. I think the hotel was located in the north of Goa, in not a very large beach, nice and empty. Before the sand, there was a big shaded green area overlooking the beach full of hammocks and straw umbrellas, so nice!

The water was very hot (too much) so I did not feel like swimming. We all got inside the water and talked for hours. It was much like being in a huge Jacuzzi.

Then Jenni and I we went for a walk and found conches and shells that I still keep as a souvenir.

Neel and Patrick arrived in the evening, and we stayed in the beach until it got dark.

At night we went for dinner to a fun place on a huge beach, much like a chiringuito in Spain, but on the sand of the beach. I guess the food and the drinks were not good, but I did not care at all. I was in heaven, feeling the hot air of the night on this big crowded Indian beach under the stars.

We went to another place for more cocktails and food, and then dancing to an also very crowded pub outdoors.

The following day, after a swim in the pool, Patrick, Neel and I went to the Old Goa, very Portuguese. We visited the Basilica do Bom Jesus. Inside the chapel we saw the silver casket with the remains of the Saint Francis Xavier.

We then went to a museum, the former convent of Saint Francis, where we found beautiful wooden statues of saints and pictures about the life of Saint Francis Xavier. I was very surprised to see how these statues could be so well preserved with that heat.

Afterwards, we visited the ruins of St. Augustine’s Tower. There were a few Indians working in the ruins. I was tempted to take a picture of a beautiful Indian girl that was carrying water. She realized and posed waiting for me to take it, but I felt embarrassed so I didn’t.

We then went to the Aguada Fort, but it was closed, so we walked around it to enjoy the views and then we headed back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group that had spent the day sleeping on the beach. On our way back we bought some ice creams from a street vendor. Patrick and I were not very convinced, but Neel told us it was fine, so we followed.

That night we went for dinner to a very nice restaurant with great food. I had a dish of fish curry and rice. It was sooooooooo good, I still remember :)

Then we went dancing again, this time to a pub indoors.

The following morning we had a quick swim in the pool and left back to Hyderabad.