Goa

Goa is not just a place -- it's a feeling. The kind that hits you when salty wind tangles your hair as you ride a scooter past coconut groves toward a beach you found on no map. It's India's smallest state with its biggest personality, a place where Portuguese churches stand next to Hindu temples, and fishermen share beaches with yoga instructors. North Goa pulses with energy -- from the flea markets of Anjuna to the trance floors of Vagator. But drive twenty minutes south and you'll find beaches so quiet the only footprints are yours. Palolem curves like a crescent of sugar sand between two headlands, while Agonda stretches empty under a sky that turns ridiculous shades of orange at sunset. Beyond the beaches lies a Goa most visitors miss. The spice plantations of Ponda perfume the air with cinnamon and nutmeg. Old Goa's basilicas hold centuries of history in laterite walls. The backwaters of Aldona reveal a village life of toddy tappers and cashew farmers that hasn't changed in generations. The food alone is worth the trip. Goan cuisine is a collision of Portuguese technique and Indian spice -- think pork vindaloo with proper Goan toddy vinegar, xacuti curry rich with roasted coconut and poppy seeds, and bebinca layered like the history of this fascinating coast.