Day Trips from Goa

Heritage Walk Through the City of Margao

“Poee’tic” Margao!

Soul Travelling is highly recommended for all who come to Goa. It literally is food for the soul. They curate off beat experiences centered around Goa’s heritage. To celebrate my wife’s birthday we indulged in an experience of seeing traditional Goanese Poee bread being made by a baker who is retired (Mr. Godinho) plus making our own breads and partaking traditional Goan Date Wine. We were met by Zena Coutinho - our ambassador - an absolute live wire, passionate about preserving Goan history, knowledgeable, respectful with the people who are showing the heritage and wonderful at managing guests! Our trip started from an Italian restaurant - Da Tita by Magic Italy (a beautiful place). From there we went to Mr. Godinho’s bakery - an old bakery with a really old traditional mud oven (this was like seeing being transported into an era eons ago) being run by a very young in spirit 77 year old man who would would give people half his age a run for their money. It was so instructive to see him work with his hands teaching us the spirit of industriousness, dignity of labour, fierce self pride and the need to honour and preserve heritage. What he showed was pure skill and commitment to his craft - an absolute rarity in today’s times. We had so many questions of him. But he answered all of them with a beatific smile - never getting disturbed. We saw him roll the dough into the different breads - Poee, Lena, KanKon etc. (please pardon my spellings - not done with the intent to hurt sentiments), proof them, flatten them into different shapes (for the Poee he used a bran mix) while his assistant (tough guy) went about readying the oven by removing the wood, cleaning the oven and then reusing the waste for fertiliser/proofing the oven top. And now comes the bugle worthy part. Both of them then put the breads in one by one and in 5 mins we had the freshly baked breads - hot and drool worthy, healthy (the Poee). We then had the most deliciously divine experience when Zena gave us the Poee bread slathered with butter!!!!! Pure Food Heaven. :-) After troubling Mr. Godinho for some pics (who sportingly obliged us) we then went to the next part of the trail - to the Majorda station (a must visit for all train lovers!) opposite to the bakery where every Independence Day a Sathyanarayana Pooja is organised (a nugget of information shared by Mr. Godinho again). As we sat on the station bench, Zena took over in full zeal and shared with us a turbo charged history lesson (using her teaching experience!) weaving in Goa, it’s history and the history of Poee. It was fascinating to hear and answer questions like school kids 😊. And then there were the customary selfies on the railway tracks - fulfilling our inner SRK so to say. From there on was the last part of the experience trail - the “make your own sandwich from the bread you got from the bakery”. We went back to Da Tita where a whole veg filling spread (me being a meat lover was a tad disappointed 😊) was there. In my fam there was a competition on who made the best sandwich. I used my culinary skills background to create a melange of flavours (side note: see how easily food reviews are written by using certain big words without ever describing the food in its truest detail!!) and naturally won 😊😊. Da Tita has a wonderful lemonade that was served to us and one that cannot be missed! What made the trip special was that my wife’s birthday too was celebrated post that!! And this is how the 3 hour experience journey came to an end! A big thank you to Team Soul Travelling. Pratik Joshi was so prompt and ensured that we were connected to the right person. And then Zena took over and made the experience so memorable. Thank you once again. You have left us craving for more. We will use other trails the next time we are back. And of course - you are highly recommended. Duh! 🙄

Fontainhas Heritage Walk by Make It Happen

family

ently stayed at The Grand Palace Hotel and had a fantastic experience. The hotel offers luxurious rooms with elegant decor and modern amenities. The staff were incredibly welcoming and attentive, making sure all my needs were met promptly. The on-site restaurant served delicious meals with a variety of options, and the complimentary breakfast was a great start to each day. The hotel's location is ideal, close to major attractions and public transport. Overall, The Grand Palace Hotel provided exceptional service and comfort, making it a perfect choice for both business and leisure travelers. Highly recommended!

The Monsoon Trek at Tambdi Surla

A wholesome experience

This was my fourth tour with Soul Travelling and definitely one of my favourites! Joshua was an amazing guide - very knowledgeable, friendly & helpful! The tour was super fun and introduced me to so many new foods and traditional cooking practises of the region. Loved it!