After finding a little nice shag next to the beach (whose landlord even had a fridge with some beers!) and a little refreshment, we hired a car and went on the road towards north to see some cities, beaches and churches. The National Highway 66 was only a two lane road, but in perfect state with little traffic, so that we had a very pleasant and smooth ride. First stop was for lunch at Margoe, a small city with cute old little hoses in the center which are reminders from the time of the Portuguese and a restaurant called Longhuinos. This establishment exists since 1950 and its interior is in old Mediterranean bar style with lots of dark wooden panels. and colored glass windows. The food was just great Goa cuisine even with some shark! And for the dessert? Natural ice cream in tender coconut and jack-fruit!!!
Energized like that, we continued our trip and went to Panjim, the capital of Goa, but before entering the city we turned right to get to Old Goa, a village which houses a complex of old Portuguese churches which are an UNESCO world heritage site. The most impressive one was the Basilica do Bom Jesus which was constructed from 1594-1605 and is one of the eldest churches in India. One of the high lights is the sarcophagus with the body of St. Francis Xavier, who died in 1552, but does merely show any signs of decay! The church itself impresses with its tall walls of lava stone withstanding the harsh Indian climate. Just next to it stands a white church, Se Cathedral, and next to it, the Indian historic museum, which was unfortunately already closed when we arrived. Further behind is the Cathedral St Cajetan, the bishop school, and a little gate leading to the sea. This gate is decorated with the sculpture of Vasco da Gama with a very cool beard.
On the boarder of the see, with sight on a ferry to Divar island and some larger cargo ships, we had a warming, charming tea in the evening sun.
Back in the car, we crossed another bay to get further north and drove along the coast towards Anjuna. This gave us an impression of how Palolem hopefully never will become. The streets were crowded with cars, scooters and auto rickshaws, driving tourists from one coffee shop to another or to a shop of a brand. The stone beach was quite nice, but unfortunately, it was already dark and very windy, so we could not spend a lot of time there.
To finish our tour, we headed back south to a place called Martin's Corner, which is a resort and restaurant in a small village a few kilometers away from the coast. Thanks to GPS, we were able to find this place, and we were surprised to find it so crowded on a "dry day". We took some other Goan dishes, seafood, and, for my personal amusement, some beef tongue! It was the first time that I saw such a dish on a menu in India, and my Indian friends did not seem tobe familiar with tongue, too. But two of them tried at least...it was delicious, slightly grilled and lightly spiced slices of tongue. Also the other things were very good, which explained the large crowd in the restaurant and the higher prices (they had a sea food plate for 4800 INR, approx. 70 Eur. Typically, dishes cost about 150-300 INR). Very pleased from the whole tour, we drove back to our shack and fell in our beds directly.
The next morning was very relaxing with some jogging along the beach, later a nice swim with Sonal to a little island at the end of the bay. We climbed on top of the island and had a great view on the sea. It was pure peace and relaxation. Arond noon, we joined Anup and Ishier who just had their “morning” coffee, and went to Droopadi for lunch. We chose our crab which was still living, and had it together with a very well marinated and grilled fish filet. This was more European style, but very well done by the Indian chefs :-)
In the afternoon, Anup and me took a scooter and drove to the ruins of a Portuguese fort. The drive through valleys and hill sides was so rich and colorful that it is hard to describe in words (but we took osme pictures). We stopped by the Agonda beach which is very broad and long, and still much calmer than the Palolem beach. We saw bright green paddies of rice (?), beautiful old trees, little villages, the sea. It was my first time driving a scooter in India and it was pure fun. Reaching back to Palolem, we sat some time at the beach together with Sonal and Ishier, played some cards, relaxed. For dinner, we went to a Pizzeria which is actually run by Italians, and which served very good stuff. Sad, that no cocktails, and no parties (there is normally a Silent Noise Party) were available on these "dry days", we walked along the beach and enjoyed the stars (I think, we even saw a meteorite, because there was a bright flickering light on the sky, which disappeared after a minute or so...), knowing that the next day would be already the last one!
The last day was dedicated to not very much but swimming, and hanging out in different beach cafes. The elections were over, so we could finally enjoy some drinks while watching the sea, listening to the sound of waves, and talking. It was a great end of a great trip.
