If one word could be said to encapsulate the essence of
GOA , it would have to be the Portuguese
sossegarde , meaning "carefree". The pace of life in this former colonial enclave, midway down India's southwest coast, has picked up over the past twenty years, but in spite of the increasing chaos of its capital, beach resorts and market towns, Goa has retained the laid-back feel that has traditionally set it apart from the rest of the country. Its 1.4 million inhabitants are unequivocal about the roots of their distinctiveness; while most of the subcontinent was colonized by the stiff-upper-lipped British, Goa's European overlords were the
Portuguese , a people far more inclined to enjoy the good things in life than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts.
Goa was Portugal's first toe-hold in Asia, and served as the linchpin for a vast trade network for over 450 years. However, when the Lusitanian empire began to founder in the seventeenth century, so too did the fortunes of its capital. Cut off from the rest of India by a wall of mountains and hundreds of miles of unnavigable alluvial plain, it remained resolutely aloof from the wider subcontinent. While India was tearing itself to pieces in the run-up to Independence in 1947, the only machetes being wielded here were cutting coconuts. Not until 1961, after an exasperated Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, gave up trying to negotiate with the Portuguese dictator Salazar and sent in the army, was Goa finally absorbed into India.
Those who visited in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the overland travellers' trail wriggled its way south from Bombay, found a way of life little changed in centuries: Portuguese was still very much the lingua franca of the well-educated elite, and the coastal settlements were mere fishing and coconut cultivation villages. Relieved to have found somewhere inexpensive and culturally undemanding to recover from the travails of Indian travel, the travellers got stoned, watched the mesmeric sunsets over the Arabian Sea and partied madly on full-moon nights, giving rise to a holiday culture that soon made Goa synonymous with hedonistic hippies .
Since then, the state has largely shaken off its reputation as a drop-out zone, but hundreds of thousands of visitors still flock here each winter, the vast majority to relax on Goa's beautiful beaches . Around two dozen stretches of soft white sand indent the region's coast, from spectacular 25-kilometre sweeps to secluded palm-backed coves. The level of development varies wildly; while some are lined by ritzy Western-style resorts, the most sophisticated structures on others are palm-leaf shacks and old wooden outriggers that are heaved into the sea each afternoon.
Wherever you travel in Goa, vestiges of former Portuguese domination are ubiquitous, creating an ambience that is at once exotic and strangely familiar. This is particularly true of Goan food which, blending the Latin love of meat and fish with India's predilection for spices, is quite unlike any other regional cuisine in Asia. Equally unique is the prevalence of alcohol . Beer is cheap, and six thousand or more bars around the state are licensed to serve it, along with the more traditional tipple, feni , a rocket-fuel spirit distilled from cashew fruit or coconut sap.
Travelling around the Christian heartland of central Goa, with its whitewashed churches and wayside shrines, it's all too easy to forget that Hinduism remains the religion of more than two-thirds of the state's population. Unlike in many parts of the country, however, religious intolerance is rare here, and traditional practices mingle easily with more recently implanted ones. Faced by the threat of merger with neighbouring states, Goans have always put regional cohesion before communal differences at the ballot box. A potent stimulus for regional identity was the campaign through the 1980s to have Konkani , the language spoken by the vast majority of Goans, recognized as an official state language, which it eventually was in 1992. Since then, the immigration issue has come to dominate the political agenda. Considerably more prosperous than neighbouring states, Goa has been deluged over the past couple of decades with economic refugees, stirring up fears that the region's cultural distinctiveness will disappear. Among the main employers of migrant labour in recent years has been the Konkan Railway , completed in 1997 to form a super-fast land link with Mumbai - another conduit of economic prosperity that has brought lasting changes.
Which beach you opt for when you arrive largely depends on what sort of holiday you have in mind. Heavily developed resorts such as Calangute and Baga , in the north, and Colva (and to a lesser extent Benaulim ), in the south, offer more "walk-in" accommodation, shopping and tourist facilities than elsewhere. Even if you don't fancy crowded bars and purpose-built hotels, it can be worth heading for these centres first, as finding places to stay in less commercialized corners is often difficult. Anjuna, Vagator , and Chapora , where accommodation is generally more basic and harder to come by, are the beaches to aim for if you've come to Goa to party. However, the bulk of budget travellers taking time out from tours of India end up in Palolem , in the far south, or Arambol , beyond the increasingly long reach of the charter buses. Although fast becoming resorts in their own right, these two fishing villages have largely preserved the laid-back atmosphere most people come to Goa for.
Foremost among the attractions away from the coast are the ruins of the Portuguese capital at Old Goa , 10km from Panjim - a sprawl of Catholic cathedrals, convents and churches that draws crowds of Christian pilgrims from all over India. Another popular day excursion is to Anjuna's Wednesday flea market , a sociable place to shop for souvenirs and dancewear. Further inland, the thickly wooded countryside around Ponda harbours numerous temples, where you can check out Goa's peculiar brand of Hindu architecture. The district of Salcete, and its main market town, Margao , is also littered with Portuguese mansions, churches and seminaries. Finally, wildlife enthusiasts may be tempted into the interior to visit the nature reserve at Cotigao in the far south.
The best time to come to Goa is during the dry, relatively cool winter months between late October and late March. At other times, either the sun is too hot for comfort, or the monsoon rains make life miserable. During peak season, from mid-December to the end of January, the weather is perfect, with temperatures rarely nudging above 32°C. Finding a room or a house to rent at that time, however - particularly over Christmas and New Year when tariffs double, or triple - can be a real hassle.
