Panjim and St. Evex!

It's been awhile again. We have moved twice since the last message and have not had much luck with internet. This area is subject to power outages - this morning when I was about to log on to start this blog the whole place shut down because the electrical company was out in the street doing something with wires and cut the power. On my way up the street to go back to our hotel one of the wires hit me on the head! Luckily it didn't appear to have any power in it either.(I would also have put in some pictures here but the USB port is not working.)

We spent a quiet four nights in Patnem, the small beach next to where we first stayed in Palolem. Our place was a little doll house, along with a double row of other doll houses in bright pastel colours (I don't think that's a contradiction.) Ours was at the front so we had a nice sit out where we could read in the shade and listen to the sound of the waves. I do find the waves are great to sleep to as well, so things were just lovely. There was even a place next door that made caffe latte so we had a coffee or two.

From Patnem we took off for one night in Colva which we didnt' really enjoy - too far from the beach and too far from any decent restaurants so we only lasted a day. The birthday party that went on until 12:30 am which was held directly below our room didn't help much either.

So we packed up and got ourselves a car to Panjim (or Panaji) which is the State capital of Goa. It's quite nice, with a real Portuguese influence in the houses, the food and even the people. Here one is more likely to see a woman in a dress than a sari. The houses are often made with plastered laterite stone and only one or two stories. The two story ones usually have a nice veranda on the front, and the roofs of the houses are all tiled - the tiles look really old and worn.

We did a walkabout a couple of days ago and went up past a Hindu temple and then through a quite smart part of town where a couple of the buildings were obviously nice renovations. I imagine they are lovely and cool on the inside - unlike the outside which is very very warm. We also made it to one of the huge Christian churches here in Goa - this one the Church of the Immaculate Conception which was open for viewing. Our hotel is on St. Sebastian Street and that church is just a few doors down, but it has not been open since we arrived.

Our first night here we decided to be tourists again and took an evening cruise on the river Mandovi - which leads to the sea nearby. We almost changed our minds when we saw the huge speakers being unwrapped in readiness, and there was indeed very loud music as we waited for the gate to open to let us on. The music continued while we waited to leave and during the fifteen minutes or so it took to disconnect us from another boat which had been tied to ours. The only way our boat could get out into the river was to set sail with the other boat in tandem with ours, so out in the channel there was lots of shouting and waving of arms and worried looks as our siamese twin was disengaged and left tied up to a buoy in the middle of the river.

From that point the entertainment started - which consisted of a couple of dancing girls and then an MC began to exhort the crowds to dance - there were competitions - couples, women only, men only, everyone, best girl dancer (who got the only prize I could see which was a tee shirt from the Sikkim tourism board who were on board too). The evening air was nice and we did have the opportunity to see the cityscape from the water. At the end there was even a Portuguese dance by two girls in long skirts and head scarfs and two boys in black pants white shirts and black hats. The tour lasted an hour and went out to the mouth of the river and back. Luckily we didn't have to go out and reengage our twin in the middle of the river.

We ate at a hotel restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet where it was described as eating inside a Wedgewood box and it was an amazingly accurate description - pale blue walls and ceiling decorated with swirls and whoops of white plaster with a few dark blue accents, the ceiling hung with huge crystal chandeliers. The food did not stand up to the ambiance although it was ok - nothing to write home about - at least we felt cool inside the blueness.

We found another hotel restaurant (The Hotel Venite)which has been much better for food although not gourmet; it doesn't rent out rooms either we discovered when we met a woman from Portugal looking for a place to stay. Let's be honest, it's because they have some lovely refreshing Vinho Verde, the fresh young, pale yellow, slightly sparkly wine of Portugal which we had with lunch. We have been back twice now since there really aren't many more food options - and it has a better breakfast than the Panjim Inn which is a hoity toity place which overcharges for all its food. We did make it to another local and recommended place where we had Goan food - beans and pork with sausage (nothing like canned beans, honest) and a Creme caramel which was really delicious.

Yesterday we finally got out to Old Goa, which was the original site of Goa's capital when it was first occupied by the Portuguese. (By the way, the Portuguese did not leave Goa until the mid-1950's with the encouragement of an armed force of the Indian Army which invaded one day. The Portuguese just packed up and went home without a fight - obviously they could take a hint.)

The main reason to go to Old Goa these days is to see the several churches left behind by the Portuguese - churches build in the late 1500's, early 1600's. The church one must see is the Bom Jesus (Good Jesus) which contains the earthly remains of St. Francis Xavier who came to Goa as a missionary from the Jesuits back in the day. His body is still on display in a very large three tiered case but he's up pretty high so you really don't get much of a look. The church has made things a little easier by putting a set of lit pictures on the wall where one can see the desiccated face and hand of the saint. Apparently the other arm and a shoulder blade were removed and sent as relics to other churches. (Of course to any Canadian, Saint Evex is the name of a very well known University in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, so it felt quite appropriate to visit his tomb).

The other church across the road is the Se which was built by the Franciscans - St. Francis of Assisi this time. No doubt rival St. Francises made things interesting here.There was another lovely small stone chapel dedicated to St. Catherine behind the Se, which was under renovation. Geordie imagined it as a nice little cottage and began placing furniture and planning where the dining room should be, but have no worry, I'm sure the church will not be offering it for sale and nor will we be living in India.

We have only a week left in Goa and tomorrow we are off to another beach called Anjuna. We have booked ourselves the Villa Anjuna which is a hotel, not an apartment, but it has a pool, so I'm looking forward to using it to cool off. No doubt I'll find Internet there somewhere. After Anjuna we have three more days to plan for, so may move to another beach for those days, or stay where we are if things are comfortable. It might be hard to give up a pool. Yes, I know the ocean comes right up to the beach, but it is so hot that the sand burns one's feet getting to it and back, so hanging around a pool can be very pleasurable. We can go out and enjoy the beach when the sun goes down; we might even watch the sunset first.

After Goa we are flying to Mumbai for three more days and then it's home on March 4. So soon, now - I imagine that when we are on the plane we might be thinking our usual, I can't believe it's over. It's been long, mind you, and very hot the last two months so for awhile we will be enjoying the cool and maybe even the rain of Vancouver. But the feet will be itching soon enough we know too. No doubt Geordie will be checking out guide books for somewhere else come summer or fall.