Tuesday, 8 February 2011
SOUTH GOA
There was a bus direct to Margao from Gokarna bus station at 8.15, though in fact it left 5 minutes early, quite a habit here but then no-one with luggage leaves it to the last minute or you may end up standing for hours and stowing your luggage with difficulty.
Four and a half hours on a pretty decent mainly two track road. Had we thought about it more thoroughly we would probably have got off at the stop for Palomel which was described as the nearest to picture postcard bay as will be found in Goa which in effect is otherwise several long linear beaches. It was also described as the place for 30ish eco hippies and the preferred accommodation sounded well matched, even to the type of eco friendly toilet system, and there was only one other alternative. In fact I suspect there were plenty of alternatives for we have found that the research into locations in Karnataka does not match that in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, so its a case of being prepared to do your own research where necessary.
Anyway in Margao itself we went for Woodlands where we again spent four nights, though there were said to have been mixed reports, but I must say our experience was positive but for a single reservation, the room and general upkeep were excellent we knew that the only vacancies were on the fifth (top) floor and the lift only went to the fourth floor, what we had not anticipated was the frequency with which the lift would be out of action because someone had forgotten to close the inner door - main culprit students who were here in mass.
We ate twice in the hotel restaurants once in the Veg and once in the non-Veg both good, in fact that was the first time we have had non-Veg since arrival. The other two occasions in external restaurants the Chinese Stop?, just adjacent and then in the recommended Gaylin also Chinese on both of which occasions I ate Pork a poor choice here it seems. Since beef is not on the menu in Hindu India and pork is off menu in Muslim areas the only real options are chicken and mutton, and my episode last year has stupidly made n me wary of Mutton, The chicken however is excellent and forms the basis of excellent soups as well. The best Non Veg meal was easily Chicken Manchurian (chunks in batter) combined with Chicken fried rice in the hotel.
The first afternoon was the usual opportunity to get our bearings on foot, but then we opted for a tour of South Goa run by the tourist Goa Tourist Agency who also run the Margao Residences (rather similar to the tourist organisation accommodation which we used frequently in Tamil Nadu last year) like most nationalised organisations it left a bit to be desired. Almost everyone on the tour was from this sub continent though the guide spoke fluent English it would seem, we could not understand a word and had to get him to confirm the re-boarding times at each stop. In fact there were too many stops for us 2 temples, two churches, one Portuguese house named Big Foot, that being the footprint left by Shiva as he took off for the heavens, another a village of life in the past in Gower - sorry Goa - a wax works of important Indian personalities mostly less than one year old some being Fibre Glass not wax at all but overall it was good and an interesting selection, plus several beaches. We returned back exhausted by the heat now 35C, not a lot we would wish to see again, though many we may well go back to those churches in Old Goa because we had to hurry that inordinately. I am sure there are better group trips but that day reinforced our conviction that it is far better to do things at your own pace.
Chandor Houses
The day before was a case in point we took a taxi 500rp to see two houses in Chandour, the first and most impressive being Mendez B, whose house was full of an impressive collection of fine artifacts from across the world, as befitted a prominent Portuguese administrator. It seems that he had campaigned for greater equality for the Indian poor and also for India's independence, but when independence came all his land was returned to the state leaving the current heir to the house a 90 + year old widow with no means of support except from the donations of visitors. This was easily the most interesting house and one which needs to be preserved for its place in India's heritage. There was a constant stream of small parties that morning but nothing to compare with the overcrowding mainly resulting from school visits at Big Foot the next day. The visitors were mainly Indian but we got talking to Danielle a French lady, who five years off retirement (for which she will now have to wait for 65 due to current legislation in France). She, as we did. travels pre-retirement on her two/three week vacations. She has just spent a week at a Ayurvedic Health clinic and was currently getting up to speed with travelling with an energy we can only admire and look back thinking at that age we were the same. She had got there by bus and was pleased withe the offer to share our taxi to see the second house and also to return to Margao, where she offered to buy us a drink and that gave us an opportunity to share notes.
The second house at Chandor was very different, big but with no spectacular furnishings to compare with the first house. Nevertheless it too was large and full of interest and made even better by thought we three were the only visitors. He pointed to many gun shot holes in the walls and showed us the escape tunnel to the river, its holes (now underground) pointed to the extent the site had subsided in the meantime.
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| Holy Spirit Church |
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| The square |
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| The approach Road |
We returned at four and at first found it closed until a man asked if we a wanted to see inside, he was a visitor like us, we should have got nearer the rear side door where the 77 year was sitting to await enquiries. The man in the morning had told me they used to leave the side door open but they had recently had a lot stolen following a wedding service so they had a had to tighten up, Joan got in conversation with him and he explained to her that there was a major restoration attempt, not only were they now repainting the exterior but they had previously painted the interior, no mean feat given the height of the vaulted ceiling. Most impressive of all was that in the past five years they had covered the altar pieces etc which were carved into marble with gold. The effect was staggering though who had provided the finance was not at all clear, but again I suspect has some connection to a heritage plan, perhaps on behalf of rich Portuguese families.
People we met
Our hotel Indian door keeper (though he was much more than that) had had an interesting life since he left Goa for Zambia until it regained independence from Britain at which time he could have chosen many alternate countries including Britain and Canada. His wife wished to return to Goa.
This story matches one with the Indian born couple who now reside in Toronto with whom we have spent a couple of long after breakfast discussions. They, the wife is originally from Bombay, both left India to live in Dar es Salam but they had to leave on restoration of independence from Britain, his job was Africanised leaving him little chance to stay on, so taking advantage of the situation decided to emigrate to Canada. They were back in Goa to settle the inheritance from of a deceased relatives home, there were four children but her older brother was claiming sole entitlement on the basis of the law which originally pertained in India and his claim of a verbal promise that had been left to which it it to him. They were attending court the day we left for Colva thinking the matter would be settled on the basis of current law of equal shares as in the UK. Over long breakfasts we had a sympathetic exchange including the changes to Canada, including so it seems the winters which have moderated especially near the Great Lakes. She like Joan had been faced by the lack of acceptance of qualifications, she had to take a degree at York University Toronto (established since we left) in order to continue as a teacher, whereas Joan was allowed to do everything but was paid less (because she hadn't done Midwifery), I think the same applied to us engineers we were allowed to work alongside the Canadian Graduates but we weren't allowed to sign drawings or contracts. They told Joan they also planned to come for a few days to Colva and hoped to see us here.
Colva
From what I had read South Goa had escaped the ravages of mass tourism far better that the north, whereas Joan wanted to go North. We talked about our plans with just three weeks left, decided on the 5km west to reach the coast here for a few days at a Star Beach Resort 1650 rp which had a pool and would be nice relaxing place to stay and maybe for the first time this trip open up the prospect of fish dinners. Then we aim to go north to Panjim with a view to a more comprehensive chance to acquaint ourselves with Old Goa, then maybe a few days at a beach in the north next Bijapur in the north central of Karnataka down the centre via Badami to Hampi before returning to Bangalore for our booking on 28 February. That whole journey south can be done by train or bus.
Star Beach Resort's pool, and Sea Pearl fish restaurant
So far that is going to plan, we are enjoying the pool and last night on the recommendation of a long term resident went to Sea Pearl for a fish meal. That turned out to be spectacularly good advice and on asking the owner? what he recommended by way of fish he looked at today's chalk board and suggested Cobia, which I remembered from my time on Phi Phi, and he said a single item at 450 rp would be quite sufficient for two. Well that was an understatement we each had two large thick fillets, making a whole fish, probably more fish than we have ever previously eaten at a sitting and more to the point was delicious and well cooked with room on the plate for a few chips and salad, reminds me of eating T bone steak in North America where there was no room for anything except meat.
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| POOL AT STAR BEACH |
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| Peter and Anne regular visitors for years |
9 Feb 3rd night at Colva
Computers are starting to drive me crazy, today's revision lost in a crash, here goes AGAIN
The clientel of Star Beach are very varied in both age and nationality, a couple of heavy rucksacks appeared today, some young couples, families with young children (mostly Indian), Indian students taking a short break in Goa to enjoy the cheap beer here ( very pleasant conversations with them in the pool at least one in each group speaks English well and confidentially), a party of Russians a on a special package and a sprinkling of older English couples who are spending the winter here, meaning December to March. We choose to lounge in the natural shade of the poolside, some white people choose full sun others shaded by parasol. Alongside us usually are the similar aged couple (Peter and Ann) who told us about Sea Pearl, they have a granddaughter who is Goan at another hostelry The Junction one km away. They used to travel around like us but he is now reduced to a wheelchair, she overtook us this morning as we were strolling to breakfast pushing her husband in the wheel chair, they take breakfast at Sea Pearl, whereas we go to Udupi a popular Veg venue with mainly Indian. We both had Marsala Dosa and a big glass of Marsala tea, we are getting used to enjoying Indian breakfasts whereas last year it felt a step too far to eat remotely spicy food for breakfast, its getting used to the look of it which is the real problem.
Colva main street and beach
We almost didn't return to Sea Pearl last night as Joan expected to the Day's chalked specials to be the same as yesterday. In fact they were completely different and instead of tropical fish which is more normally sold in steak form Cobia, Shark, Tuna, Baracuda, Marlin, the choice included King Prawns and two or three fish we had never heard of including Doma which we opted for on seeing it. Another very good choice, two conventionally shaped large fish each were filleted and served for 275rp a plate, and was delicately delicious, again served with a few chips and some salad. We will go and try our luck again tonight. I'm not thinking of gorging for four months next year, but we are not sick of our day of fine Indian Breakfast, morning and afternoon swims in a nice big pool evenings watching the excitement of the para-gliders and superb fish dinners for less than 10 pounds for two. The chutes were on the edge late on last night because of a gusty wind, one plunged slowly into the sea whilst another had the greatest problem getting the chute and its three passengers back to earth. The greater the risk the more punters there were, the windier the better as far as I was concerned in common with many cruiser sailors, dinghy sailors, windsurfers and even it seems on lookers. The antics of the sail handlers are worth watching, sometimes even hanging upside down to reduce lift and persuade it to return to earth. Sunset came and went and still they queued up for thrills and the young sail handlers revealed in their exploits, and the beach was full of spectators.
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| Balooning at Colva at sundown |
Writing from Panjim 16 Feb
We came to Star Beach Resort and stayed seven before eventually leaving for Panjim. Joan did not go into the pool on the last day because of a bad productive cough which troubles her a great deal whenever she lies down - not good for her chances of good sleeps.
Panjim, the central capital
Advised by a rickshaw driver on questioning his request for 50rp that it was a long drive but much quicker to walk, he was right after we had found the footbridge but that proved difficult hindered by rickshaw drivers who asked for 100rp and were pleased to see us walk on in the wrong direction. Anyway we eventually fond the bridge and the Panjim Inn and checked into linked Panjim Pousada, they have restored a third property here which is even more up market and a fourth house of related type looks next. Genuine boutique hotel, lovely piny tings and furniture all lending to their Heritage status, nevertheless at 3000rp + 300 tax is by far the most expensive on this trip.
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| Panjim Pousada |
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| interior of annexe |
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| Panjim street views old and newer |
This area of Panjim has a lot of character running back to ancient Portuguese days and a wide estuary with major tributary help give it more character. First day we went back to Old Goa by bus and had a much longer look at the old churches, though being Sunday access was rather more difficult, though in one instance it turned out to be a wedding ceremony in English.
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| Churches of Old Goa |
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| Entrance to Art Gallery |
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| Gallery Upstairs! |
We have booked a private sleeper bus, operated by Paulo, to Bijapur leaving at 8.30 this evening and arriving at Bijapur at 7 am, though Joan is a little sad as she will miss the chance to see the countryside.
Yesterday we followed up a lead from the Goa tourist pamphlet which appeared to offer a restored Palace World Heritage site on the road to old Goa which no-one had heard about, anyway by typical perseverance we found Colaca ....?. It turned out to claim that it was just a restored large house which claimed to be a museum though in practice it was just a large shop (emporium)selling everything from antiques to jewelry, with a pleasant restaurant in the shade of the large garden. It claimed also to have an Orchid garden of 5000 varieties, though in fact I counted just one, though there were a hundred or so under cultivation. The front of their brochure showed it to be a small part of the original palace but with a series of cone shaped roofs, the only example of which appeared to be in the property behind but at ground level, perhaps sited to show up their exaggerated claims.
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| Solar Souto Maior, an emporium in disguise as a museum |
Before going on I should like to record the friendly chat with the Kashmiri who ran the Emporium at ...... His role was as an employee and he was doubtless a little embarrassed by our expectation we believed we had come to site of great historical interest (but it turned out that it was the whole nearby village which was now a world heritage site, whereas the advertisement for this property gave the impression that it was the centre of interest whereas it was simply an expensive shop) but he showed us round and accepting immediately that we were not interested in purchasing any of their expensive stock so took advantage to talk to us in the absence of other customers. He had worked in Goa for six years now but to avoid the monsoon went back to his family in Kashmir every summer, he was keen to persuade others to go saying the worst was over though the Indian Government and Arundhati Roy were obviously not convinced. He was a Muslim but yet again of the most sympathetic type, but I did not take the opportunity to quiz him about the problems in Kashmir, I still do not understand whether at heart it is question of independence as a separate nation, or a Muslim/ Hindu divide with the Muslims happy to join Pakistan. We still remember vividly the Hindu Kashmiri trader we met in Manali whose parents home had been burnt in a successful attempt to get them to segregate to Jammu, obviously lower altitude, hotter, and less tempting than Kashmir proper. We retired to the garden and share a pot of Kashmiri tea, drunk weak green, the tea being boiled with the tea for ten minutes with some added almond.
Unfortunately he was called away to attend to another customer - a shame since we were building up a good rapport. Before leaving we bought 200 grm of Kashmiri tea for 480rp (7 pounds) but he refused to take extra for our tea in the garden saying that was on him as was the two bottles of mineral water he handed us before showing us around the grounds. Thinking the village of Ribana? was the heritage area we walked around a bit but found nothing except several other houses which had been converted into emporii I think by the same firm Cottage Industries? It is obviously going to get more and more expensive for tourists who have no idea of the true prices in India to part with their money in the large heritage area around Old Goa.
One other comment, unlike the constant hassle further south last year where we constantly had goods and shops thrust under our noses we have experienced absolutely none this year, clearly two things are at work one the pricier places realise the hard sell is counter-productive with westerners and second the low number, but savvy, tourists on the ground we have covered this year.
I may give the impression of disappointment, but illness apart we are very content with our hotel, which dealing as it does for tour parties as well has a totally European breakfast buffet with a token unspiced Indian offering. Across the road Ria Residencies Restaurant who sell little but very popular Indian food astounded us with their Vegetable pizza, delicious raw mixed salad vegetables, featuring onion and green pepper and a little raw green chilli in a very thick cheesy sauce, not like any pizza I have eaten, bought to suit Joan's flagging appetite for food of any type but also one of the very best, and repeated for lunch the next day.
Next posting will be from Northern Karnataka which sounds as though it is a reservoir of temples, forts, mosques to rival the more southerly part of India, and illustrate the joining of building styles the Muslim north with the Hindu south
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