Traveling in Goa

The eastern Indian state of Goa has some charming ancient temples, which are missed by most visitors who know only of its Portuguese history and prefer its beaches. I will be covering these temples soon and wanted to put in a word here bout food, stay and travel at Goa. As far as Londa the trains carry refreshment cars, but on the rest of the trip one may as well as be in a desert is there are no refreshment cars and the stations along the route too small to offer any opportunity of securing any except at one or two spots.

The discomfort is enhanced by the miserably slow speed at which the train moves between Londa and Goa. One could almost run faster. On entering Goa by this route one alights at at Margao or Panjim, from where the traveller must proceed by taxi to Old Goa, and on the way he passes through some of the most lovely scenery to be found in Goa. The trip to Old Goa occupies almost a full hourand is fraught with very severe inconvenience which, coming after the protracted train journey, is intolerable. The train reaches Margoa in the evening and as the cabs and buses to Old Goa leave hourly, it becomes necessary to pass the time in Margoa. There are no places of interest here though one or two hostels have helped to break my boredom here. The best of these is Dantes’s Hotel close to the station, where one may secure a good table, some healthy food and a hygenic meal at very cheap rates.

There are several other places which are not much to my liking and one is apt to be consumed the night after by sleepless anxiety of food poisoning. Questions and requests only produce open mouths and vacant stares from the hospital staff here so watch out for yourself. The traveller who once enters Goa by Margoa deserves sympathy. He who does it twice deserves affliction!

But one can go further and fare better, the further the better in fact. The INdian Railways food experience has improved markedly over the year, and it is better to eat on the train than on the station. Instead of alighting at Margoa one may proceed as far as Panjim, the capital town of Goa, whose inhabitants are inordinately proud because it is larger than Margoa and boast of its beauty. In actual fact the beauty of Panjim has no parallel in Goa and certainly not in Margao which is squatted on a flat level whereas the capital is daintily perched upon the slope of a hill down which its pretty pink and white bungalows straggle gaily through gardens and groves to the water’s edge.

But Margao is a distinct improvement on Sanvordem. It has a railway station with a refreshment room of moderate pretensions. Outside one may secure a fairly secure cab and occasionally even a app-based Uber or Ola taxicab. There are two good hotels in the town, the Hotel dos Alliados and the Hotel Central, far better than anything in Sanvordem but not by any means the last word in this line. Still, one may secure a decent room, a clean bed, tasty food and good night’s sleep. The charges are moderate, not more than 1400-1600 rupees a day with food. There are several other so-called hotels, which, are more of the nature of boarding houses Here the charges are even less thin in the bigger hotels. The accommodation and fare, however, are not so good.