I had a generally unproductive day today. Nick went off to visit some family that he had in Mumbai and although I had time to go explore before meeting him at the airport, I decided to let myself have a lazy morning.
My original intent was to catch up on some blog posts but I found myself mesmerized by a new book I was reading on my kindle.
I caught a taxi to the airport after I checked out after noon. There, I waited for Nick to arrive after a lunchtime meeting with his uncle. When he hadn’t arrived by 1:30 pm, I had a brief panic moment that we had missed each other. This was compounded by my schizophrenic cell phone issues. Fortunately, he was just running late, and I didn’t have to deal with all his luggage on top of my own.
We arrived in Goa around 6 pm, however, it took us about 2 hrs to taxi to our hotel because of how large the state is and the New Year’s Eve traffic. After we settled in, we rented a moped and went in search of dinner, I was surprised by how many Russians were on holiday there!
Goa has a history dating back as far as 20,000 to 30,0000 years. There are still rock art carvings that demonstrate the earliest traces of human life when our ancestors first began to transition from four legs to two legs.
Modern day Goa however can be traced back to the year 1510. It is at this point in history that that the Portuguese defeated the reigning sultan and claimed the region as a settlement. Portuguese sovereignty in present-day India would last for four and a half centuries until 1987, when, in the advent of claiming their independence from the British in 1947, the Indian Army moved to reclaim the territory that was rightfully theirs.
Goa is now one of the richest states of India, with the highest GDP per capita (2.5x the entire country’s), and an average growth rate of 8.2%! It is famous for its beaches and nightlife, which is exactly why Nick and I chose to spend our New Years Eve here.
CestLaJu 