GOA
Lisa described in other web pages her overall impressions of INDIA and
AGRA &
JAIPUR. Now we have her
account of the final part of her passage to India, her
visit to the former Portuguese colony of Goa.
"We had reached the end of our time in Rajasthan and were
heading off to Goa next to relax by the beach for a few
days. We flew with a local airline
Spice Air
who haven’t
forgotten what service is and were treated to hot towels
and sweets on sitting in our very comfortable aeroplane.
Goa was so different to India that you could be forgiven
for thinking that it was an entirely different country.
It was under
Portuguese control from the 16th century
until the early 1960’s. The principal religion here is
catholic and this is immediately obvious as for the
first time we could see more crosses than domes on holy
buildings. Also we had just come from the desert of
Rajasthan and were now in the hot, humid, tropical
atmosphere of Goa. The summer rains had been very late
and the onslaught of greenery that met us outside the
airport was startling. This is what tourist s to Ireland
must feel when they leave parched summers abroad and
arrive on the green green grasses of our home!
Our hotel was an eleven room getaway called the Nilaya
Hermitage , it is up a hill a few miles
from the beach with lovely views. None of the rooms had
numbers; our room was called “sun”. It was a most
amazing place; our room was a brick built beehive shaped
room with a hole in the dome of the roof, like a smoke
hole in a tepee! Half the bathroom ceiling was exposed
to the sky and has decorative ironwork protecting it.
There was not one straight line in the room except to
the doors. My only problem with all of this was that the
late rains meant that the wildlife was prolific and we
had to share our room with some geckos and frogs, which
I found very uncomfortable. Particularly the frog in the
toilet!
The hotel owners were lovely Scandinavian people
who had lived in India for years. They had befriended
all the other European expats in the area and we met
every eccentric one of them at a Diwali festival dinner
that they held.We were lucky to be in India for this
festival; Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights where
all the locals light tiny lights all over the
neighbourhood. We had spectacular fireworks display and
a delicious buffet dinner.
The beach nearby was lovely and clean and big, although
there was an over abundance of people trying to sell us
t-shirts and flip-flops. We strolled through the village
and I bought some lovely silk that I had made into some
tops. We hired a car and driver for half a day to visit
the catholic churches in Old Goa and to see the mumified
body of St Francis Xavier in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
It is very reasonable to hire a car and driver for a day
or half a day and the driver will wait patiently for you
to see what ever you want to see. The Indians are a
remarkably quiet patient gentle people. We didn’t hear
raised voices at any stage even on the most crowded
streets.
We spent most of our Goa time relaxing, reading by the
beautiful pool at our hotel and watching dvds. The
hotel rooms don’t have televisions but they have a
library and a supply of portable dvd players and a dvd
library that all the guests can access.
It was a very relaxing place once you didn’t mind the
occasional gecko scurrying around in your peripheral
vision.
After three relaxing days in Goa we flew back to Delhi
and had a last night in the magnificent Imperial Hotel.
Then we flew home to Shannon via Heathrow with Virgin
Airways and Aer Lingus. Virgin Airways were a pleasure
to fly with. Their in-flight entertainment was terrific
and the food was quite ok."
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Follow this link for flights to India
Another quotation for flights to India.
Travel Insurance to India
Another quotation for Travel Insurance to India
Exotic and colourful festivals abound in India
Goa is an ideal honeymoon destination
Goa beachscape
Temple in Goa.
LISA'S ACCOUNT
OF NEW DELHI.
SEE ALSO LISA'S ACCOUNT OF
AGRA & JAIPUR
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