Goan Wild

Two weekends back, I finally made it to the Jama Masjid, a huge mosque located in the heart of Old Delhi. The mosque is famous for its fantastic view of the old city from one of its "minars" or towers. We started our vacation to Goa by going on a "sunset cruise," which was really just an excuse for all of us to make fools of ourselves by dancing onstage. We got private tours for the first two days of our trip, visiting different houses, churches and temples. We were surprised to see so many churches, but the former Portugese colony still has a lot of its old Catholic influence. Of course, we kept our tour balanced by then checking out a Hindu temple. Even some of the temples in Goa, however, seem to have some European architectural influence. We also visited Goa Chitra, an ethnographic museum where we ate a fabulous lunch. Personally I love museums... but we all have our own ways of appreciating art. One of the next places on our itinerary was the site of an old nunnery, now in ruins. The site was full of hidden doorways and windows, and made for some great exploring. Next we stopped at a little village where we spent most of our time obsessing over the baby goats. But we also saw how the villagers make rope out of palm tree strands, which was (almost) as cool. Our last official stop was at a spice farm, where we learned how to harvest different spices (and climb palm trees). Of course, no trip to Goa would be complete without nightlife, including our visit to a casino where I indulged in some mirror selfies.

What a fantastic mid-term break. Sun, sand, salt, sunsets, sunrises… it really doesn’t get any better. In between all the outings we were taken on (to churches, temples, museums and a spice farm) we spent every spare minute on the beach by day and hitting the town by night. I came back with significantly fewer rupees than I had to begin with, but with some incredible memories to make up for it.

Namaste,

Meridel

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