Day 5: Off to Goa

Lunch at Souza's on the beach-traditional Goan food, yummy!

When we planned this trip to India we decided to go to Goa for a few days. So Twiggy, her mom, my mom and I went by Kingfisher Airlines and Doodle, Fats, and Becky went by Jet Airways. Kingfisher is the best airline I have flown. It is run by the beer baron, Vijay Mallya, India's Richard Branson. The service both at the airport and on board is amazing. The food was very good and we were given a full meal on a 90 minute flight. Beat that, United! The difference between Bangalore airport and Goa airport is night and day. The one in Bangalore is brand new and is privately run but the one in Goa is government run, is older, and was recently converted from a naval aviation base to a civilian airport. The baggage carousel was worn out and it was old and run down.

We got into Goa and took an hour long courtesy shuttle to Sinquerim, which is in North Goa, and checked into the Taj Fort Aguada Beach Resort.
View of the pool. Goa was a Portuguese posession from the 16th century to 1961. The Portuguese refused to leave Goa after independence in 1947 so then Prime Minister Nehru sent Indian forces into Goa and sent them packing. Fort Aguada was built by the Portuguese to protect their prize possession in India-Goa from the British and French. During World War II, some Germans traveling through British India were captured as prisoners of war and held at the Fort Aguada prison. The Taj Fort Aguada is built into parts of the fort and one of its ramparts is visible from the hotel pool. The ship in the right of the photo is one that ran aground in a storm 5 years ago and is still there rusting to decay.

The beach at Sinquerim was really rocky so we had the option of going to another beach at Calangute.

The Taj Fort Aguada was great. We were in the off season, which is the monsoon season. It rained a lot so we spent a lot of time indoors at the spa getting pampered and relaxing. The spas at Taj hotels focus on ancient Indian treatments combined with aromatherapy and ayurveda. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian discipline that goes back to Vedic times. It combines natural elements and ingredients to maintain wellness and cure minor ailments. I went to the spa everyday and got a different massage but my favorite one, which I got three days out of five was the pehelwan malish. Pehelwans are wrestlers who work and sometimes live in akharas or academies where they learn the art of Indian wrestling. Part of their daily regimen are vigourous massages and rub downs that soothe the muscles. The spa had the pehelwan massage and it was painful at first but felt great later. At the end of the 90 minute session, I felt like I was floating on air.

We went to lunch at Souza's on the beach at Calangute. This is the best traditional Goan food I have had. Goan food is heavy on coconut and seafood. It also has a Portuguese influence. The famous dish pork vindaloo originated here. Our first meal at Souza's was Goan fish curry with pork vindaloo and sanaas, which are steamed rice cakes. Mmmmmm. The rest of the day was spent bumming around the pool and lounging in a pavilion overlooking the Arabian Sea, reading Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star . I love reading the journey he describes from Amritsar to Bangalore and his experiences in Bangalore. Now that am here I can relate to his views on the new Bangalore.