Goa, India..DAY 100 of the Trip

 

Stop no.2 in India. Today we head to the rural area of Goa to visit a spice farm. I’m looking forward to finally seeing the plants I’ve grown up using in my cooking.

We were greeted this morning by music and dancers.  Often many of the smaller ports put on a show and have some music or cultural dancers to greet the ship when we dock. Its a very nice way to tell us that they  are happy that we are visiting their city. Its always a nice gesture, even if it is 6:30 am in the morning!

On our trip trip, looking over into the bay

As we pass through the city of Vasco ( named after Vasco da Gama) we see the daily market . People come every morning to purchase their food i teams for the day’s  

Not sure what was in his baskets, but looks interesting.

One of the many Catholic Churches.  There are 30 % of the citizens of Goa are Catholic

Hindu Temple. Like the churches, there seems to be a temple in every small area of houses.

An archway into a neighborhood.

Another archway announcing the entrance into a neighborhood

Along the country road ( where there was actually only one good lane of traffic and we often looked like we were in a duel with every other motor vehicle on the road) We entered the farm by crossing a marsh. Any any given time, especially during the rainy season, this would be filled up to the bridge with water. even thought the water was low, we were able to see water lilies and water fowl.

Arrival at the Tropical Spice Farm. We were greeted by a young lady who welcomed us and threw marigold flower petals of orange and saffron over us to bless us with good life.

We were given a little glass of mangosteen juice and some chickpea crackers to refresh before our tour of the spice garden. The farm itself is 150 acres and each area is developed by type of plant. Here in the demonstration garden they have planted a variety of plants and trees so we could see each plant in an easy manner. 

The first item shown was a still for making cashew alcohol.  After the nut is removes, there remains the actual fruit (the orange and yellow pepper looking things in the bowl). The fruit is chopped, pressed to get juice and then heated. The method of making the liquor is exactly like making any spirits. Later, after lunch, we tried some of this. WOW! The guide told us to use only 3-5 mls of it as a medicine for gastric issues & digestion….

The still

Green coffee beans

Cinnamon trees in there somewhere.

Heading into the. Garden…going into the jungle!

Nutmeg on the tree. The tree that gives double! When these nuts break open there is first a layer that peels off know as the spice mace and then the nutmeg.

These small oval shaped fruits are similar to star fruit and come from the same family.

Look closely.. the hanging red pods from the vine are red pepper pods.

small pineapple

The buffet line.Our plates were formed from beechnut palm leaves. A very good material for plates! Very compostable! The Buffett had wonderful food including rice, Dahl, fish, chicken stew, pickled vegetables (very Hot)and a sweet…formed from semolina flower and seasoned with honey and spices.

My plate. The nan was great and the popadam was peppery but crisp.

Al tasting the cashew liquor…

Two happy tourists!

When we got back to our bus we had a visitor. A water buffalo was roaming around checking us out.  He has a lovely beaded necklace on and of course had the run of the area freely. 

On our trip back to the ship we continued to see interesting parts of rural Goa.  Below is a rice paddy. The rice paddies are only flooded during the early growing season due to the need for the water to be on other crops first. 

Our guide mentioned how to tell if a house is occupied by a Christian or a Hindu family.  The Christian’s will have a cross somewhere on the first block of the house when it was laid during construction.  Then they will have a cross at the front of the gate or property. 

Look closely at the bottom block on this house.. there’s the cross. 

A Hindu house will have an alter out i the front yard.  The alter  has a center pot filled with basil, considered a holy plant. Each morning the woman of the house will get up, pray to the Gods, circle the alter five times and say prayers. Then she will take care of the basil plant and after that she is free to continue with her daily routine.

When we returned to the ship, after another Mario Andretti bud ride, we were again sent through some of the most strict immigration procedures yet.  India certainly takes its security seriously, although I really can’t imagine they wouldn’t take one look at the group of senior citizens before them and think …humm…I mean , half of us walk with canes, a third of us need help getting in and out of the bus..and most of us are focused on finding a clean restroom. I can’t really see us as fitting the profile of terrorists.. But we once again showed our paperwork with our immigration stamps and our room keys to get inside the dock!