Mormugao (Goa), India - Feb 06, 2013

Wow, we can’t believe that we are now in India, Goa is about two thirds down the west coast of India and we are here on a beautiful sunny day with the temperature coming in at about 28 degrees celsius. The Portuguese ruled Goa for 450 years and left the shores in 1961 so it is impossible to miss the influence all around - from the sizable Christian population to the Portuguese architecture. Our organized tour with Zutshi Travel (organized through our travel agent) with a private car, driver and guide picked us up at the port for a very pleasant day of touring. We began with stopping at a 26 klm stretch of white sandy beaches for a stroll and photo stop. Goa is famous for its beaches with many resorts catering mainly to Europeans and British at the this time of year. As mentioned the landscape of Goa is dotted with many heritage houses, villas and mansions reminiscent of the Portuguese era as well as some unique examples of a clever blend of the Indian and Portuguese styles, we stopped to visit one of these 350 year old homes called the Braganza House, the resident guide was a descendant of the original family some 16 generations ago - unfortunately no pictures were allowed to be taken inside the house. We then continued to family run Spice Plantation, a great tour as you could not only visit the plantation but also ride a elephant or have an elephant wash - this is where you ride the elephant into the river and he draws water into his trunk and then washes you and himself, no we did not participate in this part of the excursion as I believe we will have other chances to have an elephant ride later on this voyage. The half hour walking tour covered a good section of this planation where black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, chillies, coriander, cashew and the betel nut palm are grown. The tour concluded with a demonstration of a tree climber, climbing up on these tall trees and jumping from tree to tree plucking off the betel nut fruits. Lunch was served at the Spice Plantation, buffet style and was delicious. We then toured around some more driving through many small villages including old Goa stopping a few times for pictures and some retail therapy. A great day here in Goa and a great introduction to India. Some memories of our day...