Goa is definitely "India-light" as you are able to see all the beautiful things that compose the Indian landscape and culture in a non-urban environment. The beach area, Panaji, and Old Goa are tourist driven and women do not have to worry about their appearance and behavior as they do in the Northern regions of India. Paul and I best describe Goa as a combination between Florida and Jamaica. Oddly enough, many signs are written in Russian due to a large tourist population from Russia that travels to these lush beaches. Below are some photos showing the trip . . .
We leave Pune bright and early on Saturday morning for our 10 hour trek to Baga Beach, Goa. Here is a photo as we drove through the Western Ghats.
About halfway through the Ghats we encountered this beautiful waterfall. So, we decided to stop and stretch our legs after about 7 hours in the car. The men decided to hike up to the top, but I stayed down on the ground to watch the monkeys play and scout out food, in particular they were looking for corncobs.
After 10 hours we finally reach our destination--Alidia Beach Cottages. Yes, that is a church behind the sign for the hotel. We were a little apprehensive of our choice of hotel when you notice the church that appears behind the Alidia sign looks like something directly taken from an Anne Rice novel! However, once we followed the path behind the church we were led into a beautifully manicured courtyard and our sweet little cottage-esque room. The best part is that our lodging was only a 5 minute walk from the beach. Paul and I loved Alidia Beach Cottages and recommend it to anyone travelling to Goa. (I had taken some lovely photos of the place, but unfortunately my camera again broke on the trip...so I had to use only the photos that Paul took.)
The following morning on our walk to Lila Cafe for brunch we encountered these water buffalo dining on some tall grass in a field.
Oh, Paul and Oliver enjoyed those water buffalo very much in their water buffalo ham baguettes! To which, they followed the baguettes with tomato, egg, and gouda croissants and chocolate cake. What did I eat for breakfast...the usual muesli, fresh yogurt, pineapple and papaya! I know...very boring...but the coffee was superb! Here they are full from their morning feeding.
After brunch, we head over to Baga Beach to read and swim in the Arabian Sea . . .
After a long day at the beach, we head over to a beach shack to grab something to eat. The men enjoyed their Tiger prawns (absolutely the biggest I have ever seen) and I tried a kingfish. All quite nice!
The fire dancer showed up after a while to entertain us as we dined on the beach. . .
The next day we decided to take a break from the beach and go to Panaji and Old Goa. We saw quite a few churches and buildings with Portuguese architecture. I have only included a few photos to share on the blog.
The first church we saw was the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception located in Panaji's main square.
Paul had obtained some walking tours of Panaji, however we quickly realized that the streets are not labeled very well which made it impossible to actually go on a walking tour. Instead, we just wandered around Panaji for a while before going to Old Goa.
Here is a beautiful path leading up to a house nestled on this hill.
The 46 meter belfry is the only remain of St. Augustine Church and Monastery, which was at one time the largest church in India. The sites remains are extremely impressive to see what actually once stood in Old Goa. (To demonstrate how large the belfry is, you can see me standing in the left corner of the structure.)
We then went to Se Cathedral, Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and Basilica de Bom Jesus (which houses the remains of St. Francis Xavier). Here we are standing at the end of our tour outside The Chapel of St. Catherine. There was something very reminiscent of New Orleans while we were visiting this chapel.
After our church tour, we were very hot and dehydrated. So I convinced Paul and Oliver to stop for a coconut water. Basically, the coconut proprietor hacks off the top of the coconut and sticks a straw inside for you to drink the water from the tender young coconut. This is completely different from coconut milk--coconut water is full of electrolytes and very healthy for you. It is a refreshing treat! Here Oliver and I stand with our coconuts.
After our coconut water, we head back to Baga Beach and I see my fisherman making his way in from the sea via this canal.
Paul and I pose for a photo at sunset (though you can hardly see it in the photo) after our long day.
The following day we head back to the beach. After our fun filled day at the beach, we take the next day off and head to the Anjuna Beach Flea Market. For those of you living in Pune, the best way I describe this flea market is that it is the nice, clean version of Laxmi Road. Here a cow wanders into a stall and decided to take a break on this lovely bed cover.
I stop to look at some jewelry despite the fact that Paul has decided that I am the Imelda Marcos of scarves. I only bought two more today . . .
We leave the market for a while and head out onto Anjuna Beach. From the beach you can see all of the handicrafts displayed at one person's stall.
And here is Anjuna Beach . . .
Paul and I stand on this rock to take a photo and realize we like our Baga Beach much better than this rocky beach . . .
The following day we set out to see Calangute Beach. As we are walking to the beach we see M.R. Hotel! Don't worry Mom and Dad, our hotel was much nicer! But we could not resist taking a photo. I guess there are types of rooms available in everyone's budget!
A perfect sunset on Baga Beach . . .
It's our last night, so we indulge in lobsters at Zanzibar--our favorite beach shack on Baga Beach. They were absolutely amazing! And gigantic! We also had some squid, octopus and more Tiger prawns.
The holiday is over . . . Now, we are back on our little two lane road from Goa to Pune. Paul snaps this photo of a man washing his water buffalo in the creek.
Goa was the perfect vacation to relax. We spent every day breathing in the fresh, salty air! It was a trip that we look forward to taking again soon. 
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