It's not just the familiar remnants of European colonialism or the picture-book exoticism that make it seem so accessible, it's the prevalence of Roman Catholicism and a form of social and political progressiveness that Westerners feel they can relate to. Although Hindus outnumber Catholics, skirts far outnumber saris, and the people display a liberality and civility which you'll be hard pressed to find elsewhere in India.

This former Portuguese enclave on the western coast of India has enjoyed a prominent place in the travellers' lexicon since the heady days of the 1960s when it became a landmark on the hippy trail thanks to its cheap accommodation, the easy availability of drugs, and the overrated opportunity of getting back to nature by frolicking stark bollock naked on the beach.

Travellers in Goa still feel obliged to 'hang out' meaningfully, be mellow and wear pretty silly tribal costumes, but the (in)famous hippies have now been replaced by backpackers, Indian visitors and a bevvy of bewildered package tourists on two-week jaunts from Europe. Although there's a palpable nostalgia for the days when the parties were always bigger, better and more authentic than they are now, Goa's current semi-resident Westerners are less inclined to rue the past, and more likely to be spending the low season (March-September) in New York, Amsterdam or Colombia.

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Destination Facts

Country:India (Goa)
Area:3660 sq km (1430sq mi)
Population: 1.3 million
Capital city:Panaji
People:Goan
Language: Konkani and Marathi, with a smattering of English and Portuguese
Religion: Hindu, Muslim and Christian

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When to Go

Goa's beachnik lifestyle is best experienced during the winter months between October and the end of February: at any other time you're likely to either fry under the uncomfortably hot sun or find your equanimity threatened by the monsoonal rains. The months of January, February and March are the best months for Hindi festivals and celebrations. January has the colourful festival of Shantadurga Prasann, February the three day zatra of Shri Mangesh, and in March is the festival of Holi, called Shigmo.

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Events

Because Goa has a large Christian community, most Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas are celebrated along with a host of minor deity days such as the Feast of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception and the Feast of St Francis Xavier, both in December. Hindu festivals tend to occur at the beginning of the calendar year. The Festival of Shantadurga Prasann, in January, involves a night-time procession of chariots bearing the goddess followed by over 100,000 faithfuls. In the colourful and dramatic Procession of Umbrellas at Cuncolim south of Margao, the same goddess is honoured with a procession carrying a solid silver image of her to the original temple site. The three day zatra of Shri Mangesh takes place in February in the lavish temple of the same name. During the same month in the old Fontainhas district of Panaji, the Maruti zatra draws huge and colourful crowds. March sees the festival of Holi or Shigmo.

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Attractions

Panaji

Most visitors treat Panaji as little more than a transport hub, but this lovely state capital has retained its Portuguese heritage in a lived-in, knockabout kind of way and exudes an aura more reminiscent of the Mediterranean than of India. If it weren't for the crush at the bus depot, the unmistakable buzz of auto-rickshaws and the fact that the bridge over the Mandovi River has fallen down twice in the last nine years, Panaji could seem like any siesta-ridden provincial town on the Iberian Peninsula. It contains all the quaint Mediterranean iconography - from the cramped cobbled streets, pastel-hued terraces and flower-bedecked balconies to the terracotta-tiled roofs, whitewashed churches and those small bars and cafes that are the social lifeblood of secular Portugal.

The old district of Fontainhas is the most atmospheric area to walk around, and includes the Chapel of St Sebastian which contains a striking crucifix that originally stood in the Palace of the Inquisition in Old Goa. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, consecrated in 1541, is Panaji's main place of worship, and it was here that recently arrived sailors from Portugal gave thanks for a safe passage. It's worth taking one of the river cruises along the Mandovi River, but try to persuade your captain not to loiter under the bridge spans in order to admire Indian engineering.

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Old Goa

The vast and empty Church of St.Francis of Assisi - Old Goa. Photograph by Mark Daffey.

Half a dozen imposing churches and cathedrals and a fragment of a gateway are all that remain of the second capital of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and the Portuguese capital that was once said to rival Lisbon in magnificence. Wracked by cholera and malaria epidemics, eroded by monsoon rains and choked by creepers, Old Goa has declined from a vibrant city of over a hundred thousand souls to little more than a handful of potent architectural relics.

Old Goa is still the spiritual heart of Christian Goa, and its most famous building is the Basilica of Bom Jesus, which contains the tomb and mortal remains of the peripatetic St Francis Xavier, credited with introducing Christianity to much of South-East Asia. Also of interest is the Convent & Church of St Francis of Assisi, which has gilded and carved woodwork, murals depicting scenes from the saint's life, and a floor substantially made of carved gravestones.

Rich carving inside the Basilica of Bom Jesus - Old Goa. Photograph by Eddie Gerald.

The largest of the churches is the Portuguese-Gothic Se Cathedral, dating from 1562, which houses the so-called 'Golden Bell', whose resonant peal can be heard thrice daily. Other gems include the Church of St Cajetan which was modelled on St Peter's in Rome and the Royal Chapel of St Anthony. Not a single secular building remains standing, so don't say God doesn't work in mysterious ways.

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Anjuna

Anjuna attracts a weird and wonderful collection of overlanders, monks, defiant ex-hippies, gentle lunatics, artists, artisans, seers, searchers, sybarites and itinerant expatriates who normally wouldn't be seen out of the organic confines of their health-food emporia in San Francisco or London. It's famous throughout Goa for its Wednesday flea market, and has retained an undeniable, if somewhat shabby, charm. This is a good place to stick around for a while, make some friends and engage in mellow contemplation while the sun goes down. Full moon, when the infamous parties take place, is a particularly good time to be here if you want to indulge in bacchanalian delights. Only a Brit would think about raving about the main beach, but it's worth the walk to the small, protected sliver of sand at South Anjuna where the area's long-term house-renters tend to gather.

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Chapora & Vagator

This is one of the most interesting parts of Goa's coastline, and a good deal more attractive than Anjuna for either a short or a long stay. Much of the inhabited area nestles under a canopy of dense coconut palms, and Chapora village is more reminiscent of a charmingly unruly farmyard than a fishing community doubling as a beach resort. The village is dominated by a rocky hill topped by the remains of a fairly well-preserved Portuguese fort and the estuary of the Chapora River.

A fortune teller - Shankar and this cow - Sita. Photograph by Paul Beinssen.

There are sandy coves, pleasant beaches and rocky cliffs at nearby Vagator. Be prepared for Indian coach tourists coming to ogle sunbathing Westerners, and expect any police you encounter to regard you with some suspicion and shake you down for drugs if you mistakenly tell them you're staying at Chapora.

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Calangute & Baga

Seemingly not all that long ago, Calangute was the beach all self-respecting hippies headed for, especially around Christmas when psychedelic hell broke loose. If you enjoyed taking part in those mass pujas, with their endless half-baked discussions about 'when the revolution comes' and 'the vibes, maaan', then this was just the ticket. You could frolic around without a stitch on, be ever so cool and liberated, get totally out of your head on every conceivable variety of ganja from Timor to Tenochtitlan and completely disregard the feelings of the local inhabitants. Naturally, John Lennon or The Who were always about to turn up and give a free concert.

Native woman of Goa. Photograph by Eddie Gerald,

Calangute's heyday as the Mecca of all expatriate hippies has passed. The local people, who used to rent out rooms in their houses for a pittance, have moved on to more profitable things, and Calangute has undergone a metamorphosis to become the centre of Goa's rapidly expanding package-tourist market. It isn't one of the best Goanese beaches: there are hardly any palms, the sand is contaminated with red soil and the beach drops rapidly into the sea.

There is, however, plenty going on, especially if you don't mind playing a minor role in this stage-managed parody of what travelling is meant to be about. Try heading off the beaten track unless you need a bit of R 'n' R to recover from life on the road, or want to mix it with the Simons and Sandras of this world who are visiting India to pep up their winter suntans.

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Arambol

Some years ago, when the screws were tightened at Anjuna in an attempt to control what local people regarded as the more outrageous activities (nudism and drug use) of a certain section of the travelling community, the die-hards cast around for a more 'sympathetic' beach. Arambol, north of Chapora, was one of those which they chose. Initially, only those willing to put up with very primitive conditions came here. Things are a little more comfortable these days, but development has, so far, been minimal.

The village remains tranquil and friendly - just a few hundred locals, mostly fishing people, and a couple of hundred Western residents in the November to February high season. The coastline lacks the palm-fringed exotic cliches of the southern Goa beaches, but it has plenty of character and is pretty in its own kind of way. The main beach has adequate bodysurfing and there are several attractive bays a short walk to the north. A hot spring near the main beach feeds into a freshwater lake, producing a silt that hippies are fond of smearing on their bodies to revitalise the skin.

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Palolem

This impossibly beautiful crescent cove in the far south of Goa is so languid and balmy that even the water has only enough energy to lap half-heartedly onto the beach. There's nothing to do here but soak up the rays, and go for long walks paddling in the shallows, so bring a friend, some factor 15 and a good book. There's only one hotel, but it's possible to rent rooms in villagers' houses by asking politely at the restaurants lining the beach.

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Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary

This small wildlife sanctuary in the lush foothills of the Western Ghats is a good place to see sambar and wild boar, and a fine place to escape from the beach culture of coastal Goa. It boasts a botanical garden, a fenced deer park and a zoo that is better than most. The sanctuary has accommodation in chalets and dorms, and is located 50km (30mi) south-east of Panaji.

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Getting There & Away

Several charter companies fly into Goa's Dabolim Airport direct from the UK and Germany. There are also regular flights between Dabolim Airport and Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, Udaipur, Bangalore, Madras, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The 760km (465mi) Konkan Railway opened in January 1998 linking Mumbai with Goa (10 hours) and south to Mangalore (15 hours), dramatically cutting travel times along the western coast. Private companies still offer the dreaded super deluxe video buses from Panaji and Margao to Mumbai (15 hours), Mysore (16 hours) and Bangalore. A flashy and pricey catamaran service sails daily from October to May between Panaji and Mumbai, taking just seven hours.

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Getting Around

The best way to get around Goa is to hire a motorcycle, though be sure to carry the necessary paperwork (licence, registration & insurance) because checks on foreigners are a lucrative source of baksheesh for the police. If you don't know how to drive, motorcycle taxis are a legitimate and fun way of scooting between towns. If you're a sardine, catch a bus: it's a good way of nattering with local people also masquerading as sardines.

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Suggested Reading

• Goa and the Blue Mountains or Six Months of Sick Leave by Richard Burton is the earliest travelogue that is readily obtainable. Originally published in 1851, the book is interesting for its historical perspective as well as its author's irreverent sense of humour.
• Anjuna: Profile of a Village in Goa by Teresa Albuquerque is a fascinating, in-depth look at the history, architecture, folklore and traditions of a Goan village.
• Undoubtedly the best publication about the Goan environment is Fish Curry and Rice, a comprehensive survey of the threats that face the environment today.
• The Boarding Party by James Lessor tells the true story of the wartime drama that took place in Mormugao harbour. Although Portugal and Goa were technically neutral, a British raid by members of the Calcutta Light Horse successfully destroyed a number of German ships that were using the harbour as a base. The book was made into the film Sea Wolves, starring Gregory Peck.

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