Panjim Old Quarters - A Photo Journal

Goa is synonymous with beaches and beach parties. Not many people venture into the towns and cities away from the seaside, but if they do, they will be rewarded by some fascinating sight,  bustling with culture and life.

I had spent a couple of days in Panjim while visiting Goa last February. It wasn't a long enough stay, but it was an invitation for me to visit again in future. Here are a few glimpses from the Old Quarter I had captured on my camera as I wandered through the neighbourhood.

Maruti temple

The Maruti temple was my first stop just because it was close to the guesthouse I was staying in. The overnight celebrations at the temple had kept me up all night, which made me even more aware of its proximity. I was visiting during the biggest festival of Lord Hanuman in the area. The festival draws devotees from far and out. To celebrate the festivities, the neighbourhood had dressed up in fairy lights and colourful paper flags. As with any festival in India, a fair had come up for the week, selling a variety of local merchandise and lip smacking food.

The temple is on the Altinho hill and can be accessed by a short flight of stairs.

Lord Hanuman's procession the evening before. I was out for food and was not carrying my camera to capture the moments. Hence a short clip on my mobile phone camera instead.

Near the Maruti temple is the Fontainhas of Phoenix springs (I did not see these, but heard about them later). The spring water from the rocks is collected in tanks for use by the general population. The old quarter derives its name from here.

Fontainhas 

Fontainhas is named as such due to its location beside the hill "with little springs". It was built in the late 18th century on reclaimed land, between the AltinhO hill and Ourem Creek, during the Portuguese occupation of Goa. The Creek still exists, but as a stream of black water with an ominous smell unfortunately.
Walking through the narrow winding lanes between colourful villas with their hanging balconies, sloping red roofs, beautiful porches, past the simple whitewashed facade of the Portuguese baroque style churches, one is easily transported back to the colonial era. It was very similar to how I felt walking through the streets of old Macau for the first time. While I was soaking in the colonial charm, the unfamiliar sound of a foreign language startled me. I looked around and realised they were no visitors, but just the locals passing by, chatting in Portuguese.

I am sure there would be many secrets hiding within this old neighbourhood, but for now, I could only appreciate its ambience during my very short stay. The only surprise I got to sample was the food at Viva Panjim, probably the most famous Goanese restaurant in Panjim. It is tucked away in a small by lane in the old quarters.

The Peacock steps
Beautiful artwork amidst the Latin Quarters of Panjim. Was lucky to find this on my very first day in Panjim. The next morning, a big dump of construction material had landed right in front of it.

Altinho hill, the picturesque hilltop locality of Goa. 

Once considered a posh residential area, it houses the Portuguese consulate, the High court, the radio station (which I couldn't find) and then up the Archbishop stairs which lead, obviously, to the Archbishop house. Surrounded by greenery, this is the highest point on the hill. The Archbishop house is now an administrative building and has a quaint chapel within which can be visited.

Walking back from Altinho hill, encountered this beautiful piece of street art

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church

The pristine exteriors of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim was gleaming in the bright sun and had been beckoning me since I stepped into Altinho. It was time to visit this beautiful church.

What started as a chapel in 1541 is now an example of the Portuguese baroque style architecture, plain and simple in its design. Photography is not allowed inside, and as a first time experience, had to take off my shoes while entering a church. Different countries, different cultures, different rules.

The Old quarters at night

Finally, to end the day, here's some night photographs. I was with Vani who had arrived from Arambol in the afternoon and we had gone out for dinner.

Here's more about Vani - Arambol Diaries - Vani

We were pretty depressed after eating an overpriced, sub-par meal at the Ritz Classic and were trying to cheer ourselves up at the local fair. Vani bought a couple of dresses and I got a lovely peach coloured hand embroidered scarf. There was a fair amount of haggling involved.

On returning to the guesthouse, the owner laughed at us and said "No one goes for dinner to Ritz. It's only for lunch". Should have gone to Viva Panjim instead where I had a delicious meal the night before, while soaking in its beautiful ambience.

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Arambol diaries - La Sambusa Latina

It was during our stay in Hong Kong that Vani invited me to attend a live 'Gypsy Jazz' event.
You can read about the previous post from the series here - Arambol diaries - Vani

A group from Argentina would be playing at a pub in Central and she felt I would enjoy the evening. After work, we met at Central for food before heading out for the music. It was a ticketed event and the underground pub was brimming with people when we arrived. The lead singer came on stage with his ukulele and soon the foot tapping, soulful music started. The singing was inter spaced with circus acts playing to the tunes of Latino beats. The group called themselves 'La Sambusa Latina', a travelling circus band. The Hong Kong Swing Club members had joined in for the evening and it didn't take long for the evening to come alive.

During a break in the show, the band members came off the stage and mingled with the crowd. We started talking.
Thomas and Sebastian, the main group members are both Argentinians, but they couldn't come from any more diverse backgrounds. Thomas, the lead singer who was on the ukulele, is an engineer. He gave up his stable future in Argentina for this life of music, travel and uncertainty. Sebastian on the other hand had left his home ten years ago and has been on the road ever since. He travelled through Latin America picking up skills from other travellers he met on the road. Every skill he had now was learnt while travelling, including the trumpet and the juggling he was performing on the night. In those days he was learning to play the flute from a Greek guy he met in Hong Kong.

It was in Mexico that Tom and Seba had met the year before. With Tom's enthusiasm and passion for music, his management skills and Seba's diverse talents, the travelling circus band 'La Sambusa Latina' was formed.

Tom crooning as he strums on his ukulele

Seba entertaining with one of his acts

I had never met a travelling band before. The more I talked, the more intrigued I was. Given that the members are all travellers, the structure of the group is very dynamic to suit their lifestyle. As they travel, they pick up new band members who may be living or travelling in the area at that time, while members who had joined before may leave to continue on their journeys. This I realised is what makes the travelling bands so unique and keeps them fresh. Everywhere they travel, they are enriched with new talent and new learning. Tom and Seba had been travelling through South East Asia for last few months, staying in a country as long as their visa allowed. The drummer playing on the night had joined them in Malayasia and accompanied them to Hong Kong. Once their visa expired, they had plans to travel to China, possibly find new members on the way.

I have held a stable job for two decades, yet a holiday abroad has always required intense planning of my budget. Hence, I was curious about how they financed their travels and day to day living. And Hong Kong is an expensive city to live in.
I was unaware until then that travellers like Tom and Seba always have a worldwide community where they help each other out, where not everything is weighed in money. I had more to observe and learn during my stay in Arambol with them. In a place like Hong Kong where accommodation is the biggest concern for everyone, I was surprised to know that there is always a room to share somewhere within the community. Apart from that, there are gigs like the one I was attending and busking in prime tourist locations to raise money. They publicise themselves through word of mouth and in today's digital world, social media. Contacts are made and information is shared through their unique travel community that survives in the true spirit of brotherhood, of helping each other out, living through the thick and thin as a close knit worldwide community. Despite their limited finances, we came to know that just by mentioning we were with La Sambusa Latina at the gates of the pub, we could have gained free entry, such is the strong community feeling in their world.

Unbeknown to me, Vani was invited by Tom that night to play in one of their performances.
It was only later that I learned that the gigs Vani had been mentioning to me were with La Sambusa Latina. She loves her music as did Tom. Probably the life Tom had chosen was too tempting for her gypsy soul to resist. It didn't take her long to give up the professional career she had nurtured all these years for something she truly was passionate about.

In December, La Sambusa Latina was in India, in the gypsy town of Arambol, Goa.
Here is their Facebook page - La Sambusa Latina.

Vani and Tom in Arambol

They did pose for me too

A smaller group of La Sambusa Latina chilling before a performance

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Arambol diaries - Vani

I met Vani last year.
Looking back, what were the chances of bumping into her if it was not destiny?

June 2019.
I was visiting the Yangshuo region in China and was staying in a secluded farmhouse for a few days, in a small village called Dahebei. Not many tourists venture into this part of Yangshuo. They normally stick to the other side of the river at Xingping or in the main town of Yangshuo. I seemed to be the only outsider wandering the area with my camera, when on the second day of my stay, I spotted a group of three riding around on their electric bikes. It was particularly the girl in the group who caught my attention. She had the most beautiful, dark complexion I had seen and striking, sharp features. She was gorgeous! We might have smiled as our eyes met. When I returned to the farmhouse in the afternoon, I heard voices in the lounge, in the otherwise quiet guesthouse. I walked in to find the trio from earlier in the day, having a banter over beer. They were putting up at the guesthouse as well.

We got introduced. They were a group of neuro-scientists from Hong Kong who were visiting China for a conference. The conference had ended early and they were now left with a couple of unexpected free days. Their plan to visit Yangshuo was made the night before, and the booking at the guesthouse was made while they were on the train. I was curious about the girl as I couldn't place her accent, neither could I catch the name her British and Polish friends were using to address her. Turned out, she was an American, of Indian origin. Having lived extensively all over the world, including the UK, she had acquired a pretty much neutral accent that was difficult to place. As if there couldn't be any more surprises, I also found out that she had been living in Hong Kong for about a year, that too in Fo Tan which was right next to Shatin where I stayed at that time. We exchanged numbers and promised to stay in touch. Only when she was writing down her name in my address book that I could actually catch her very Indian name - Vani Rajendran.

Dahebei village - unpaved tracks leading to the guesthouse

Nirvana Organic Farm - a quaint house sitting under the karst surrounded by nature

Back in Hong Kong, we met up a few times in the next few months. It felt uncanny at how well we clicked. We found common interests and beliefs which we could spend hours discussing. I also came to know that alongside being a neuro-scientist, Vani was also a talented musician, a clarinetist. In the next couple of months, she started venturing into the music scene of Hong Kong. She had started to play in various gigs. She was practising more and she called me up to say how nervous and excited she was to be able to live her passion. She invited me to all her performances, but unfortunately by then the Hong Kong protests were causing major disruptions on weekends. I never managed to attend any of them.

On one of our Hong Kong meetups - a blurry mobile click

By August, our lives were entering a new phase. I had decided to leave my job once my contract ended at work, return home and after a break start on something close to my heart. Vani had tentative plans to visit India too with her parents. We hoped to meet up. However, by November, she too had decided to take a sabbatical from her job. She wanted to pursue her music. Both of us couldn't help laughing at ourselves for being the most stupid people on earth, who wanted to give up a comfortable, stable life for a future of uncertainty.

Vani was planning to travel to India in December and stay in Goa. I planned to travel to meet her there while I also visited a part of India I have not been to before. It was in February that I finally landed in Panjim. Vani came over to meet me and also to see Goa, which she confessed, she had not seen yet. From Panjim, I would then accompany her to Arambol. By now her life had taken a major turn. The city girl I knew was gone. The girl who hugged me at the bus station had the unkempt look of a gypsy but under that, she was still the same person, smiling, excited and bubbly, but looking much more relaxed. She was genuinely happy and I loved her new avatar. She had joined a band of wandering musicians, named La Sambusa Latina, whom we both had met in Hong Kong. She was now living with them. They were renting a place in Arambol, a gypsy hub and that is where she was taking me. She warned me to keep an open mind and to prepare myself for a life that had shocked her when she arrived, something she herself was not prepared for. I was welcome to spend the rest of my holiday with them, but I was free to move out any time I wanted.

Needless to say, I took up her offer. Not only was it an opportunity to observe the gypsy life up close, I could also photograph her in her elements, which I had always wanted to do since Hong Kong, but somehow, had never materialised. I told her of my intent to write a blog about my visit which would not be complete without her and the people around us. She was more than excited to be a part of it.

Here from starts my Arambol diaries, my experience of witnessing the gypsy life first hand.

Beautiful Vani

Captured moment during our visit to Old Goa

Vani, setting up her clarinet before the evening performance

In her elements and full concentration. Looking out to the sea as she practises before her performance.