Three thousand seven hundred square kilometers of history, heritage, unrivaled gastronomy and deserted dreamlike beaches. Why has it taken us so long to discover Goa?
Time moves timidly in Goa. We arrive in the capital, Panjim, and the colour dims. Yellow, orange, red, blue, purple – the houses here are never white. They are the colours of the fruit at the market, of the spices and the women’s saris. The purity of the whitewash is left for the nearly 200 Catholic churches dotting the landscape – I counted 167 in the guides, but there are certainly more.
They say that Goa is India, but it’s not quite the same thing, perhaps in the same way that Macau is not China. India, like any country of continental dimensions, lives in three time periods – a medieval, a middle period and an ultra-modern one. But Goa lives in its own time. Under a tremendous blue sky, it offers Hindu exoticism, Muslim mystery and a temperate Catholicism, left by a 1960s Portugal that got mixed with this ancestral Asia. Goa is a feast for the senses, everything is alive, everything awakens us, everything moves us.
Above all are the palm trees – a green framework for this state of nearly 1.5 million people. They make us think of The River by Jean Renoir, Dor and Lagaan, and all the images cinema has brought us. We leave the airport, look at the palm trees, at the bumpy road and the political propaganda posters, exchange the briefest of chats with the taxi driver and feel a sense of relief: Goa is not a huge resort, full of people sipping cocktails. The traffic grows dense; we enter the city and the adventure begins.
Panjim is, at its heart, Bairro das Fontainhas, where all the buildings transport us to Portuguese imagery, with little narrow streets and chapels, and an unmistakable architecture. It is in Fontainhas, where Fundação Oriente is located today, that we understand the old Goan adage: “Those who have seen Goa, don’t need to see Lisbon” [“Quem viu Goa, não precisa de ver Lisboa”].
The neighbourhood is small, but houses some real treasures, like the restaurant Viva Panjim, with typical Goan dishes for 160 rupees (about 20 patacas) and some galleries where the work of cartoonist Mario Miranda, a great local chronicler, can be seen.
It feels good to wander around Fontainhas and to peek into the outer gardens – luckily for us we are greeted by a resident in search of someone to practice Portuguese with. On hotter days, the terrace of Hotel Panjim Inn is the place to be. In the main square of the neighbourhood is the chapel of St. Sebastian, where one of the few relics of the Inquisition of Goa is safeguarded: a crucifix with an open-eyed image of Christ – an image designed to instill fear in the hearts of heretics. The chapel, however, is almost always to be found with its doors shut.
Right next door, in the São Tomé neighbourhood, little more than a street away, is Hotel Venite, known for its brightly decorated restaurant where ‘goan sausage’ is the dish not to be missed.
There is no lack of good, cheap food in Panjim. Another good example is George restaurant, right next to the city’s ex-libris, the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. From the church court, where sermons are not only held in Konkani, but also in English and Portuguese, one can appreciate the view of the municipal gardens.
The glories of Old Goa
There is much to see in Panjim, from Altinho to the municipal market, through to Miramar. But the most compelling part of the capital is Old Goa, once upon a time a sort of Rome of the East, where the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Sé Cathedral and the Church of St. Francis of Assisi are to be found. Until 1835, Old Goa was the crown jewel of the Portuguese empire, but consecutive outbreaks of plague eventually left it abandoned. Today it is an open-air museum, classified by UNESCO, and a paradise for archaeologists. Sé Cathedral, very similar to what was once the church of Madre de Deus and Colégio de São Paulo in Macau, is still the largest church in Asia.
It is the imposing Basilica of Bom Jesus that is home to the tomb of St. Francis Xavier and what remains of his relics – it continues to attract seas of Jesuit devotees.
Still in Old Goa are the not-to-be-missed ruins of the Church of St. Augustine. All that remains standing is a tower, but what is left of the church atop Monte Santo are chambers, tombs and open air altars, where creeping weeds add an aura of mystery.
"Polem, the last beach in the State of Goa,
is the icing on the cake for those seeking isolation.
The sand is a yellow wheat-like colour and the
emerald green sea matches the palm trees.
On the horizon a dozen islets are in sight
and around us there are only stray dogs
and fishing boats to keep us company."
On route to Old Goa, it is obligatory to stop by Divar Island, in the middle of the Mandovi River. The crossing is by boat and takes only five minutes – the inhabitants refuse to build a bridge – and the only village, Piedade, consists of a collection of gorgeous, freshly painted villas. The sleepy little retreat has a temple and a church at the highest point on the island. From there, as with other magnificent and deserted sites in Goa, the view over the river is stunning. A walk through the cemetery, right next to the church, completes the visit with a fitting spiritual touch.
Still around Panjim, on the estuary of Mandovi River, the fort of Reis Magos is worth a visit, with another superb view that can be enjoyed in relative solitude – the tourists are few, if any at all.
Mapusa is 20 minutes from Panjim, a small but vibrant town known for its markets on Fridays. Well worth the trip, if not to buy fabrics, clothing, jewelry, spices and everything else imaginable, then simply to absorb the ambience of the place.
The deserted sandy beaches of the south
When the time comes to leave Panjim, if you are in search of a beach, then heading south is the right decision. To the north, Anjuna, Calangute and Candolim were once a hippie pilgrimage destination, but lost their authenticity when the air routes were opened to Russia. Today, on the northern beaches of Goa there are too many restaurants (and not particularly good ones), too many people on the beaches, pushy street vendors and inflated prices – not to mention the drugs and crime.
Fortunately, southern Goa remains almost untouched. It is true that Palolem is no longer a retreat for yoga lovers, but it remains a beautiful beach, full of colourful bungalows, and filled with restaurants and beach bars.
For a truly relaxing experience, Agonda beach is the place to go. The bungalows are discreet and well integrated into the landscape, unlike in Palolem, where the construction is now somewhat disorderly. It’s possible to stay by the beach for a reasonable rate – bearing in mind that falling asleep listening to the ocean and waking up on a deserted beach has a price. Despite being discrete, there are plenty of restaurants where seafood and grilled kingfish are, indeed, kings.
The rest of the southern coast of Goa is made up of undeveloped beaches – Patnem, Rajbag, Gagibag and Polem. Places like these are even more charming, with only a couple of people lying on the sand and the sea all to ourselves. Polem, the last beach in the State of Goa, is the icing on the cake for those seeking isolation. The sand is a yellow wheat-like colour and the emerald green sea matches the palm trees. On the horizon a dozen islets are in sight and around us there are only stray dogs and fishing boats to keep us company. For reasons unknown, Polem is a totally deserted place – there is only one restaurant with bamboo chairs serving kingfish grilled in semolina with chips the colour of the surrounding sand.
Beach days can be interspersed by trips to the interior, with a motorbike proving to be the most practical and economical transportation. There are several nature reserves, lakes and waterfalls that are worth a visit. Just the trip alone, which requires several stops to check maps and ask for directions, makes it worthwhile, such is the beauty of the landscape.
A visit to Goa is not complete without a stop at Palácio do Deão, in Quepem. The couple Ruben and Celia Vasco da Gama recovered a 17th century palace, belonging to José Paulo de Almeida, founder of the village. Today, the palace is a museum dedicated to the life of the Dean, and also offers a unique dining experience: a feast of Goan dishes with a taste of the 17th century.
Goa is not one of those destinations that you want to come back to. Rather, it’s a place you don’t want to leave.
