2025 - India, Mumbai to Goa: Day 16: Thu 20 Nov

Fine and sunny 21 to 35 (real feel 37) deg C
Ride 45km; total: 687km total

Arambol to Panjim. A short but lively ride to Goa's delightful capital, Panjim. This charming city feels like Lisbon dropped into the tropics, with its colonial Portuguese architecture and timeless bars and restaurants. Enjoy a walking tour of the city and soak in its laid-back atmosphere. Distance: 45km | Ride Time: 3 hours | Overnight: Panjim

I missed the porridge this morning, silly to expect it to be a similar breakfast as yesterday, even though we were at the same hotel. However, the omelette and toast were sufficient to fuel up for a short ride today.

I’m very sad this morning as it’s the last day on the bikes for this tour. It has gone so quickly; a couple more weeks would have been nice. It was warm as we rode away but most of the day was spent in the shade of overhanging trees, so it was very pleasant. It wasn’t long before we pulled over for our first refuelling stop, a very civilised flat white coffee, my first for the trip. Now we’re back in a touristy area we’ll see a lot more of these coffee shops. Mike spoilt us today as it wasn’t long again and we pulled over at the aptly named Baker Street Bakery for a sticky bun. Very delicious, pity it wasn’t a longer ride I might have been tempted to have two!

Away we went again, Mike obviously trying to pick a route away from the heavy traffic that had materialised out of nowhere. The backstreets made for an interesting ride. But it wasn’t long before we were back in the traffic and not far from our hotel, Pajim Inn. The street it’s in was crowded with tourists taking selfies as it’s in a beautiful old colonial area. The locals must be fed up with them all as there’s signs everywhere saying, “NO PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE RESPECT OUR PRIVACY”.

Anyway, we all arrived at our intended destination safely and without any serious accidents or incidents. Apart from a couple of minor falls, more embarrassing than anything, everyone has made it. Even Simon, who has been off colour for most of the tour, was almost back to 100% today.

After booking in and a quick change, it was back downstairs for a 15-minute walk to the lunch venue, traditional Indian. It was delicious as usual. After returning to the hotel Bob and I went back out for our usual photo wander. We came across some floats traveling over the main bridge, but we couldn’t work out what it was all about. We think it maybe something to do with the 2025 Chess World Cup that is happening here this month. Back to the hotel with a few more pics to add to the collection.

At 1745h we all met up in the foyer for a wander with Mike. So much history, so many more lovely old colonial (Portuguese) buildings to admire and photograph. This walking around works up a great thirst, so it was into a tiny bar, which barely fitted us all in. After about 10 minutes I had had enough, so exited stage left and returned to the hotel for a much-welcomed shower. After publishing the blog, I hit the sack.