Arambol, Goa

Arambol slideshow

First of all, the good news: my story, “Perfect Sitting” about a meditation retreat in Japan in 2004 was published by Traveler's Tales this month in a book called “The Best Women's Travel Writing, 2009.” I am very happy about it and wanted to share this news with you. If you want to check it out, click:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Womens-Travel-Writing-2009/dp/1932361634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234717485&sr=1-1

Now, about Arambol...Peter finally found what he had been looking for the whole trip in India– a hotel with wifi. We found one in Arambol, 100 meters from the beach.

We also love it here because it offers a 10km beach stroll to the south. Along the way there are two small rivers that drain into the ocean surf where a long stretch of beach can be enjoyed alone. Sunset always draws a big crowd to the beach, everyone doing their thing, playing music, dancing, doing tai chi, meditating... The air is cooler, there's a breeze, and you can gaze directly into the sun as it hangs above the horizon. Here, the sun doesn't set, it just slowly dissolves into the haze that covers all of India.

At first we were discouraged with the beaches in Goa. We arrived in Panjim January 25th, Republic Day, and the following day we went north looking for a suitable beach, but were shocked at how crowded and developed some of them were. Maybe it was because of the holiday, maybe because one of the beaches we visited was Calangute, perhaps the most developed of all beaches. After fighting the crowds at the restaurant and beach, the only thing we knew at the end of the day was that we wanted to stay as far away from them as possible, especially Calangute.

But after a relaxing week in Panjim we decided to start our scouting exercise again. We headed directly to Arambol, the most northerly of Goa's developed beaches where we found the much sought after wifi hotel, the mellow beach, and the western beach culture complete with music, art, weirdos and all sorts of healing practitioners.

There is more western food than we like to eat in Arambol, but it is all so good! Returning Italians, French and German tourists trained local cooks well on their favorite dishes and the result is a small idyllic beach with good international food. This is our last month in India anyway, and after 5 months here, it is actually nice to ease our way into the west by eating plenty of pizza, lasagna, penne with pesto and broccoli, and espressos with so many delicious desserts like chocolate cake, cheese cake, apple strudel, brownies and croissants. The European influence here is huge, yet everything is “Indian style” - as mellow as it can be. The weather is perfect, not so humid and oppressively hot as in Kerala and the Arabian sea much more welcoming without the strong currents of Varkala. We are in a sort of heaven here, and we are not breaking the bank.

Socially it has been good too. Peter's friends from college, Kevin and Margaret, spent a few days here with us and Manisha, a Brazilian women we met at Amma's ashram, and an old timer in Arambol has been hanging out with us since she arrived here a week ago.

Next stop is Hampi, then Bangalore, then back to British Columbia. We think we can handle the tail end of the Winter now.

Old Goa

Old Goa slideshow

It is hard to believe that back in the 1500's Old Goa's population exceeded that of Lisbon and London. Today, all that is left is a half dozen imposing churches and cathedrals and a practically abandoned city. We went there on a day trip from Panjim, 10 miles away, and we had more than enough time to see the Church of St Francis Assisi, the archaeological museum, Se Cathedral, Basilica Bom Jesus, Church of St Cajetan and the ruins of the Convent of St Augustine.

I thought there were many Indian tourists there for a week day, another sign that the missionary work the Portuguese started in 1542, led by St Francis Xavier, yielded many faithful. But the main motivation for Portugal to send seafaring nationals during 1510, was to control the spice route from the East. Religious imperialism followed. In those days, church and state were one, and together they assured control of the colonies, through repression of religion, culture, and the use of arms. Like in Europe, Inquisition was prevalent in Goa for 200 years, starting in 1560, marking a period of religious suppression in the Portuguese controlled areas. The hold of the catholic church on Goa's residents is very obvious, even today, through crosses, churches and daily masses.

I must say I was a little disappointed with Old Goa. Maybe because I grew up going to one of the richest cities under Portuguese control in the 1700's. Ouro Preto, eighty miles from my home town, has dozens of baroque churches displaying beautiful carved work by a famous artist of the time – Aleijadinho – and tons of gold are on display in art, walls and furniture. Not to mention, Ouro Preto is a “living city”, home of a famous mining engineering university. Students and residents walk and drive on cobblestone streets and live in red roofed houses, some with overhanging balconies. In Goa, there is a lot less art, very little gold, and very few houses and residents.

Old Goa

It is hard to believe that back in the 1500's Old Goa's population exceeded that of Lisbon and London. Today, all that is left is a half dozen imposing churches and cathedrals and a practically abandoned city. We went there on a day trip from Panjim, 10 miles away, and we had more than enough time to see the Church of St Francis Assisi, the archaeological museum, Se Cathedral, Basilica Bom Jesus, Church of St Cajetan and the ruins of the Convent of St Augustine.

I thought there were many Indian tourists there for a week day, another sign that the missionary work the Portuguese started in 1542, led by St Francis Xavier, yielded many faithful. But the main motivation for Portugal to send seafaring nationals during 1510, was to control the spice route from the East. Religious imperialism followed. In those days, church and state were one, and together they assured control of the colonies, through repression of religion, culture, and the use of arms. Like in Europe, Inquisition was prevalent in Goa for 200 years, starting in 1560, marking a period of religious suppression in the Portuguese controlled areas. The hold of the catholic church on Goa's residents is very obvious, even today, through crosses, churches and daily masses.

I must say I was a little disappointed with Old Goa. Maybe because I grew up going to one of the richest cities under Portuguese control in the 1700's. Ouro Preto, eighty miles from my home town, has dozens of baroque churches displaying beautiful carved work by a famous artist of the time – Aleijadinho – and tons of gold are on display in art, walls and furniture. Not to mention, Ouro Preto is a “living city”, home of a famous mining engineering university. Students and residents walk and drive on cobblestone streets and live in red roofed houses, some with overhanging balconies. In Goa, there is a lot less art, very little gold, and very few houses and residents.

Panaji, Goa

Panjim slideshow

It is a treat to be in an Indian capital where we can walk to just about everywhere, and most of the 100,000 inhabitants understand and speak English fluently – some even speak Portuguese. I feel I am in a trip within a trip, as Panaji, aka Panjim, is different from everywhere else I've been in India, with the exception maybe of Fort Cochin.

But here, unlike in Cochin, I feel there is a real Portuguese community – many stores and houses have Portuguese names. European pastries and strong coffee are easy to find., and the bread man makes his way through the neighborhood every half hour between 6 am and 10 pm to deliver bread buns, or paozinhos, in Portuguese. It is like a clockwork, every half an hour, he toots his bike horn as he rides by.

I've talked to several Portuguese speaking residents and very often overhear conversations in my native language on the street. The architecture is also very familiar – the feeling is that of a cross between old Lisbon, historic Rio and Pelourinho in Salvador, minus the pickpockets. The narrow streets are lined by a conglomeration of red roofed homes painted in bright colors and townhouses with small overhanging balconies. And there is no shortage of churches and crosses.

The Portuguese colonizers did a good job spreading catholicism around. After 500 years of their arrival and almost 50 of their official departure, crosses and whitewashed churches surprise us at almost every corner of town. Not to mention makeshift shrines in bus stands, outside restaurants or the most unlikely places such as a curb, street corner, or even the beach. I can definitely see a Hindu/Catholic fusion here in the way a favorite god or saint is worshiped - everywhere, all day long. But unlike the noisy loud and early to rise 24/7 Hindu cities, Panaji's rhythm is very slow – most stores don't open until 10 am and many close for lunch. And Sunday is definitely a rest/pray day. There are daily masses at the main church on the square – Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in English, Portuguese and Konkani, the local language.

Peter and I like the easygoing vibe of the town so much, in addition to the the choices of east and west food, and fairly orderly traffic - although there is always a long dance and negotiation every time I need to cross the street, that we decided to stay here for a couple of weeks. The idea was to get Internet via our cell phone and have a relatively routine life here. And we will do that again at one of the northern beaches. Although the plan to have home Internet flopped (it is too slow) we are still very happy in Panjim. It gives a feeling of being home away from home. We have our favorite places to eat our meals, tea and snacks, buy fruit and water, and we are getting to know a few of the neighbors.

It is also a break for us to be in a city where there are so many middle class locals. Goa has one of India's highest per capita income and it shows by the number of private cars, nice restaurants and stores, the lack of desperate people on the streets, the well kept municipal parks, and the very modern movie theater where we watched “Slum Dog Millionaire.” Although there has been plenty of protests about using the term “slum dog” to characterize a slum resident (almost 50% of Mumbai), we really enjoyed the film.

After a few days staying at hotels, including a great European style hotel full of Portuguese tourists, we found a cottage with a funky loft bedroom, a huge living room, and a small kitchen space. It is in Sao Tome, right next to Fontainhas, two of the most happening neighborhoods in Panjim.