The very word Goa conjures a wide range of images to various people. To music lovers, Goa is synonymous with Goa Trance – a genre of music. To sun lovers, it is a place where one can soak in hours of sun by the golden sands of India’s most beautiful beaches. For those looking forward to a quiet, peaceful, retired life, there’s nothing to beat Goa – where the cost of living stretches your money a good bit.
Some beaches you might like to visit are Anjuna & Ozram, a famous retreats of the sixties hippies; the Baga, Calangute and Candolim extended beaches in North Goa. Other favoured beaches in North Goa are Arambol, Ashwem and Morjim. In Central Goa, there the Miramar and Siridao beaches, while South Goa boasts of Colva beach, the third longest beach in the world after Sydney beach, Australia, and Marina beach in Chennai, India. Another very beautiful beach is Agonda Beach.
Goa is not only beaches. Goa is known for its lovely churches. Roman Catholics form a great majority among the Christian inhabitants. The Major religion in Goa is Hinduism. Some of the finest and historical churches of India can be found in Old Goa. TheBom Jesus Cathedral which is the repository of the relics of St. Francis Xavier is located here. The Sé Cathedral is also located here. If one looks around Old Goa, one is struck by the ruins of the Tower of St. Augustine. It is amazing to note that at one time, Old Goa housed as much as eight hundred churches and convents and that a veritable city existed there. Among the Hindu Temples, there are the famous mangueshi and Mardol Temples.
As Goa was ruled over by the Portuguese for over four hundred and fifty years, it is inevitable that they left monuments behind. One good example, is Tiracol Fort at the northernmost tip of Goa. Below the ramparts of the fort lies a miniscule beach. Other forts are Chapora, Fort Aguada, which also houses the Taj Heritage Hotel.
What a visitor to Goa can’t afford to miss are the bazaars. The Mapusa bazaar, which takes place on Fridays, showcases a lot of terracotta, besides gypsy folk items. The nite bazaars, like Mackie’s at Arpora on Saturday nights is slowly catching up. This bazaar features a lot of handicrafts, has a bar and restaurant besides live music.
Goa also offers a tremendous variety of local Goan food, the favourite being fish curry and rice. (Those with western palettes kindly ask for the tempered down dishes), spicy chourços (pork sausages), sa’anas (leavened rice dumplings), sorpotel (a pork dish of spicy diced pork, flavoured with vinegar and a little palm feni. Goa has numerous restaurants providing diners with continental, Indian Moghulai, Punjabi, Chinese, and South Indian cuisine.Thai, Indonesian and Japanese food is slowly making inroads to restaurant menus.
Of course, wines and spirits are a plenty from the local (quite strong) cashew and palm fenis to Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and imported and exotic wines and spirits.
To visit Goa, is a life time experience. Indeed a lot of foreigners have fallen in love with Goa and have chosen to make it their permanent holiday home.
Goa, where the fun never sets …..
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