Goa:
A Tourist Hot Spot in India
By
Sachi G. Dastidar
During our 2022 tour of India and Bangladesh, within a short notice we decided to visit the State of Goa on the west coast of India. Accidentally it was the last of Indian states to visit for me. (In April we visited the last and the 50th American state of Hawaii.) Luckily, Ms. Guha Thakurta, a travel agent in Kolkata, was able to find flights to Goa and back in a short notice, as well as find a nice hotel at Candolin area, next to Candolin beach. Our flight from Kolkata to Goa was via Bangalore, while return flight was via Ahmedabad. Goa is a small state of India, but its airport attracted many times more passengers than three other metropolitan cities of India that we traveled on this tour.
In the Middle Ages Goa was colonized by Portuguese and its missionaries trying to convert India into Christianity. After arriving in India, much like the Arab and Persian Islamic missionaries, Portugal not only built churches on top of Hindu shrines, but also on top of old Syrian Orthodox Indian churches in Goa. (Historical documentaries are available on the Internet.) In 1960s Goa was liberated by India.
These days Goa is known as a vacation paradise in India, with its economy running on tourism. It attracts foreign tourists as well, as there are many signs in Russian, besides English, in stores and restaurants. Looking at Goa tourists, it seemed that Indian tourists adopted American outfit more than Americans do. Hardly anyone wore Indian outfit, and all were engaged in alcoholic drinks. Unlike rest of India, every other shop in Goa was selling alcoholic drinks. (The other extreme outfit on this tour was in Chittagong, Bangladesh, where locals wore more Yemeni outfit than Bengali outfit.) Goa streets were full of gift shops, tour offices, restaurants, beverage stores, etc. We also took local bus that cost around 25 cents for a hour’s ride.
Goa has divided itself into two tour destinations, North Goa and South Goa. With car rental it can be covered easily in two days, although we stayed for a few extra days. Each tour takes visitors to old churches, army colonial bases, Hindu temples – old and new, beaches and forests and more. Restaurants offer diverse types of food. In one restaurant when we ordered sea food, there appeared ten different types of items. All restaurants offered vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, plus all types of drinks.
Here are some pictures from our tour.
The Candolin Beach
Church of 1500s
A Hindu Mandir (Shrine)
Panjim:
The Capital
With Beautiful Sari Wearing Street Vendors
Saving Children
Street Vendors with Beautiful Sari
City Beach and Park
Portuguese-Era Fort, Now a Museum
River Tours & Ship Casinos
Casino Ships
No comments:
Post a Comment