Gone to Goa

A two hour flight south brought us to Goa for a short vacation during Diwali.  The 'festival of lights' is a good time to leave Delhi as the air fills with smoke from days of fireworks, and the noise becomes unbearable. Goa on the other hand, was utterly peaceful.  Diwali is relatively low key in this predominantly Christian state.  Evan was one of the few enthusiasts who interrupted the serenity of this small bay when he discovered the only 'shop' in the village: it sold fireworks exclusively.  He was pleased when he realized he could buy enough explosives "to take out a small town" for less than 20 bucks.  We thought he was exaggerating until we stood on the beach, the eve of Diwali, humoring our boy when he lit the first 'firecracker'.  It exploded in a resounding boom and shot into the night sky at least 100 metres before blossoming into a Disney-like effect.  We had stumbled back and stood gaping at the power in the hands of our gleeful teen.  There was no team of certified fire marshalls, no police tape keeping the distance.  The show continued, with Craig and I braced for the inevitable lost eye, mangled hand, or worse.  We are relieved to report Evan still has all his digits.
One of  the highlights was getting into close proximity to an elephant.  We bathed her while she langourously laid in a shallow creek in a forest near a spice farm we were visiting.  Evan and Craig were unprepared for her dousing them. It was a nice way to interact with these incredible animals, much superior to the hokey elephant ride, although the forest was lovely - full of birds and butterflies.

Old Goa is a collection of 16th century churches and convents established by the Portuguese, who only left in 1962.  St Francis of Assissi's remains are honored here, in the silver tomb pictured.   What's most astounding is these grand buildings are isolated on a lonely, river bank, virtually abandoned  except by tourists.  I was expecting a town or even a city to be surrounding them.  Instead, forest. But their mission was accomplished.  Nearly everyone we met in Goa was Christian.

Our greatest pleasure was the sea.  Before breakfast, after breakfast, mid-morning, before lunch...etc we got into the foaming, warm water to float, body surf, swim, relax. The locals seemed to appreciate it too, though the ladies went in fully clothed in their lovely saris.  

The seafood was fine, the fresh air was fine, and the quiet, lazy days were therapeutic.  We three loved it and want to go back.