In a nutshell:
An unforgettable village walk on a very rainy day, doing not a single extraordinary activity, not necessarily seeing only historical sites, but simply understanding, soaking in & immersing in the simple life, culture, architecture & stories of people living in a village at Saligaon, Goa, organised by Soul travelling, tour led by Adolfina, who is a teacher by profession & seemed to be extraordinarily popular in the village.
Address & other details:
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Short description- in case u r in a hurry
We were planning a trip to Goa & started looking out for day experiences on google. That’s when we came across this company Soul Travelling.
They have several very interesting, unusual tours (walking & also by car). We decided to call to get suggestions on which tour to choose over the other & ended up talking to a lady.
She helped us choose the two trips we finally did – life of pao & on another day ‘Saligaon village walk’.
We pre paid the entire amount through UPI. The amount we paid was for an exclusive tailor-made trip for 2 people. If someone wants to join a group trip, the price per person is much much lower.
Meeting Adolfina on this tour by soul travel was a very different experience than meeting the young, hyper enthusiastic boys & girls we met on other tours. Adolfina is a storehouse of information & she keeps constantly sharing nuances about every little thing during the walk – some of the most unexpected elements around seem to be abound with stories when she would talk.
She speaks softly, is less visually expressive than many others in the profession, but her warmth can be felt always, her knowledge of the subject rock solid. Everyone in the village knew her & most people who passed by said hello or spoke a few words.
We ended up having a lovely conversation with a gentleman who first said hello to her & then to us. We got a chance to click his pet too…
On many instances it became a conversation with Adolfina, instead of a monologue. Absolutely loved the walk – we would have requested to extend it some more but we had to drive to the airport. Look forward to more trips with her in future.
We heard at least 5 people in the village tell us at different places at different points in time ‘you are in the best hands’.
Detailed description – a outline of few of or experiences:
We started our walk at Mae De Deus Church, meaning ‘mother of god (Jesus)’. It was inaugurated in 1873, much later than many of the other churches we saw in this trip (example Church of our lady of Piety, Divar 1724, St. Mathias Church, 1595 Divar etc.)
The architecture looked quite different & relatively ‘modern’ with reference to buildings built in mid 1800s.
The main door was shut but we managed to peep inside the stunningly beautiful church, maintained perfectly. Adolfina told us stories about the church, the people who built this, the other history, architecture & also ‘Story of jackels’ standing here.
We saw beautiful hand painted name plate tiles in a building next to the church. We got to know that this was a thriving art form in Goa. It was almost lost & was revived few decades back by Azulejos de Goa (you can visit their website for hand painted tiles & place a custom order).
We then crossed the street & entered a narrow road with canals & agricultural fields on either side. The road was lined with palms. It started raining heavily. We were standing in lush green Goan village with splashing rains & swinging line of palm trees. What a moment!!!
The water in the stream gathered more momentum.
Adolfina was telling us stories. We were listening & discovering.
We saw usage of a stone that depicted end of a patch of land
A kind of oyster shells found in one particular part of Goa is translucent. Those shells used to be fitted in between channels of wood to allow natural light inside a room when the windows were shut. We learnt that those days glass making was more expensive than to use oyster shells. We were fascinated to see many old houses still with these shells in the windows.
Most houses had thatched roofs made of terracotta tiles, arranged in a way that water would not seep in.
While walking through the street we suddenly came across a gigantic discarded idol of narakasur. Creepers had grown all over it & this made the idol even more scary (aiming you don’t know about its presence & suddenly come across it in a moonlit night. We got to know that these idols are made in nearby villages for certain festivals.
Adolfina explained in detail about many plants that were different than what we see usually. We heard stories & folklore about some of them.
Among other things, we saw few stunningly beautiful abandoned houses, the village graveyard & a chapel. We also heard many stories of ghosts & spirits that live in the village
Adolfina also had got us sweets from a local shop. The gesture & the gift, both were priceless, unexpected & hence a pleasant surprise.
The Rhombus shape yellow sweet is called Doçe de Grão (Gram sweet). Low on sweetness, high on flavours of ingredients.
The brownish black piece of sweet is Bol (meaning a Ball) though at the shop one was cut in two.
The other one is called Batika or Batk (coconut cake with semolina and eggs with cardamon).
Each was excellent. Recommend that you try these when you are in that area.
Adolfina also told us the story of her German father but I will leave it to her to tell you the story when you meet her on this trip. What I can recommend is to watch this incredible movie by Gregory peck on a real incident related to a German warship in Goa – the sea wolves.