Destination: India Diary Travel to Panjin, Goa, The Portuguese Settlement in India
Early morning a cab ride through the modern part of Jaipur to the air port.
Flight to Mumbai, then on to Goa. We chose Jet airways and were very impressed by the new planes beautiful flight attendants and service.
( Jet airways.com, this airline services most major cities in India and flies to Europe via Belgium, and continue to New York @ the AA International Terminal)
In the late afternoon we arrive at Panjim, in the state of Goa, a tropical strip along the Southern west coast of India. This is very different from the sights we had so far. This state is very tropical and lush. Yet it feels very different than the Caribbean.
We stay in an old historical place with Portugese influence. An Inn with several buildings from different aras.
The coastal area of Panjin was discovered by explorer, Vasco da Gama, when he traveled to India on his way to China. Later other people followed and the area was settled by the Portuguese. The Portuguese influence is still very visible today, as this is the most European part of India.
The buildings, many tile works and ornamentation are in Portugese style. Catholic churches are prevalent as monks traveled with the settlers and founded many churches. The people are beautiful, the names, the language, even Hindi does not sound the same as in Northern India.
We enjoyed the tropical surroundings, stayed for 3 days, I discover and explore the town on foot while my husband has some work to do.