TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Travel: Goa

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Travel: Goa - Portuguese India

This continues my accounts about a recent trip to India. Please read these earlier blog entries:

From Shimla, we spent a night in Chandigarh, then caught a plane to Goa. It had been cold in Northern India, especially up in the hill stations, but now Goa was 80 degrees F with 60% humidity. This was weather that I understood.

Goa is in the south-western coast of India, the richest state which has the best quality of life in India according to the National Commission on Population. Literacy rate is very high.

Goa was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and it remained a Portuguese territory until 1961. Goans who qualify can acquire a Portuguese passport.

We stayed at the Taj Fort Aguada, which is in Northern Goa. Before booking this I had no idea that Goa was split into North and South Goa. All I knew was that it's famous as a party town, and I had been warned to make sure our travel agent understood we were not keen on loud all-night carousing. So we were booked in elegant and serene Fort Aguada that fronted the Arabian Sea and was the perfect place for us to relax.

We did go sight seeing.

We visited the four-hundred-year old Basilica of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the remains of St. Francis Xavier are kept in a silver casket above an altar. The church is Baroque and reminds me of some of the churches built by the Spaniards in the Philippines.

We also visited a spice farm where we had a tour and lunch. I had been to a spice farm in Kerala but this time I understood where these spices that we cook with come from. Peppercorns, for instance, come from a vine and the peppercorns look like this (see picture):

We visited the old Portuguese section with 400-year-old houses, many of them still well-kept and painted in bright cheerful colors. Many displayed Christmas stars that look similar to the Philippine "parols" -- (star lanterns made of paper).

We also did a bit shopping in a tourist trap place, but bought rubies anyway. (I spent too much, but never mind, my purchase is my souvenir of Goa.)

Mostly, we rested, enjoyed the weather, did a bit of swimming, walking, watched the sun set into the Arabian Sea, and just had a great time in Goa. (There is so much more of Goa that needs to be explored so that'll be for next time, God willing.)

A small shrine of Our Lady of Velankanni at the Fort. I belong to a group of devotees to Our Lady of Velankanni, so I was quite excited when I saw this shrine.

I'll be adding pictures so please stop by again.

Read also

Tags: travel, India, Goa, Portuguese India, Arabian Sea, North Goa, South Goa

This is all for now,

Cecilia

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.