Goa!

The first thing I noticed about Goa (from the plane) was how green and hilly it was.

The second thing I noticed (en route to our hotel from Dabolim Airport) was how colorful, (Did I say, "GREEN?") it was. Narrow roads and colorful houses were in danger, it appeared, of being swallowed up the trees, shrubs and flowers.

The third thing I noticed was that a lot of women dressed in Western garb. They must be the Catholics, I thought to myself.

The fourth thing I noticed is that "JESUS" is painted on the windshields of lots of trucks, buses and cars. And in fact the figure quoted to us by the Tour Guide at the Cathedral of Bom Jesus that the religious population can be broken down like so: 60% Hindu; 35% Catholic; 5% Muslim. Our taxi driver, Freddie, said that many Goanese still idolize the Portuguese though he admitted that the religious intolerance against Hindus and Muslims was one of the darker aspects of Portuguese rule.

Our hotel was quite far south and we appreciated that because the beach was cleaner and much less crowded than the beaches closer to the capital, Panjim (aka Panaji). The beach was very shallow and we could walk quite far out and still just be waist-level in the water, which was warm and embracing. The first evening I got stung by jellyfish and we saw lots of them (as well as starfish) washed up on shore.

It was heavenly to be out beyond the breakers and I was so thankful that my father had taught me how to love the ocean. So many times I thought of how much he would have enjoyed bobbing in the waves with us!

The pictures in this segment are all taken in our hotel's gardens and hopefully will give you a feel for just how lush Goa is.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the churches.