INDIA 2025 : Siolim,Goa

Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 February

Wednesday

We transferred to Siolim House for our next two days in  North Goa.  Finally, a perfect heritage property with history, charm and a lovely pool.

We walked to the church and a few nearby shops but soon realised we'd need a scooter to get around.

Off to the coast and up to Chapora Fort for the view.

We were on our way to the beach when we came upon a roadside dive bar with live music at 3.30pm on a Wednesday afternoon. So, of course we went in. The music was 70s/80s jazzy rock and the band was very good. The crowd was mostly retired hippy expats and everyone was stoned, chilled and very friendly. After an hour or so we realised we'd gatecrashed Bobby's farewell party! We loved it! 

One of Goa's top restaurants, Hosa happens to be over the road from the hotel. 

Awesome place, amazing cocktails and interesting food!

We ended the evening with a flight of Indian single malts.

Thursday

So today was our second try to make it to Vagator Beach. Meh! We had lime sodas at the shack on the beach but the whole vibe ticked very few boxes for us.

So we tried Anjuna Beach for cocktails at the apparently famous Purple Martini. Meh again!

Except for the Palak Chaat  - deep fried baby spinach leaves with a jogurt dip! 

We did enjoy tootling around on the scooter though! 

And guess what? We went back to Hosa. And had another wonderful evening.

The Siolim Hotel dog.. he's 14 years old. 

INDIA 2025 : GOA SOUTH

Tuesday 4 February

Today we headed South along the coast.

Paul John is an Indian single malt whisky that's become quite well known internationally. We visited the distillery which I'm sure no one reading this post has ever done! We loved it. A lovely building, a good tour and lots of tastings.

Later, back in Old Goa, we ate two very typical and delicious Goan dishes for lunch - Fish Thali and Pork Vindaloo, which is nothing like a UK vindaloo. Firstly, most UK Indian restaurants are run by Bangladeshis who are Muslim so there's no pork and then they guessed the dish had potato (aloo) in it, which it does not.

We also visited the old cathedral.

In the evening, we had cashew feni cocktails on the upstairs verandah of our hotel and shared a pizza.

INDIA 2025 : GOA : PANJIM

Monday 3 February 

Whoa! How our driver matched the return journey of 4.5 hrs to Mumbai Airport in Monday morning traffic astounds me. I felt car sick the whole way due to the stop start lurching and the crazy lane switching with horn honking and near misses from overtaking trucks on all sides.

We arrived in Goa late afternoon. Another driver waiting for us. I'm getting used to this level of service. I had told the travel agent we want to stay in heritage properties and definately no generic American chain hotels like Hyatt or Hilton. The Panjim Inn is just what we asked for eventhough it probably needed a spruce up years ago already.

We are staying in Fontainhas, the colonial area of Panjani, Goa's capital. Loads of local tourists are wandering around taking selfies; I can't imagine what it's like on weekends.

I tried a Feni cocktail at Joseph's Bar. It's a strong Goan liquor made from cashews or coconut and mine was mixed with mango juice and garnished with a chilli. Neil is trying all the cheap Indian whiskys on the rocks.

At Viva Panjim we had a delicious dinner of Goan chicken curry, and Goan pomfret fish curry followed by Portugese custard flan.

And then an early night.

INDIA 2025 : NASHIK

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd February

Saturday

A welcome lie in with a pick up at noon, we visited Ghandi's 2nd ashram along the banks of the Sabarmati River.

There's been a redevelopment of the riverfront all through Ahmedabad and the amount of housing development construction is unbelievable.

We took a flight back to Mumbai. Pollution levels seemed so much better than a week ago.

We got to the quirky Gordon House Hotel after dark. The very empty Polly Esther's Retro Bar downstairs played such cool 70s and 80s music. 

Sunday

An 8am pick up for the 4.5 hour drive to Nashik; India's wine growing region. On every level it's no Stellenbosch but we had such fun.

We stayed at Soma Vineyard.

We enjoyed a garden lunch and tried the wines. 

Chicken breyani and bubbly Brut Cuvee?

We did the funniest cellar tour accompanied by a bus load of Chinese tourists. The tasting included bubbly rose, viognier, pinot noir, pomegranate wine and a red wine and honey mix!

If you ever need to choose an Indian wine, go with Sula. We had a superb dinner at Cafe Rose at one of their properties in the area. Both the Reserve Chenin and the Reserve Caberet were okay.