A piece of paradise

WHEN Anthony, the bicycle hire man near the Goan village of Benaulim asks “Good morning Madam, how is your climate today?”, he’s referring to my general mood, not the weather, in that unique interpretation of the English language only found in India.

Since bidding farewell to the Irish winter my climate is fantastic and the weather is too, I can confirm. I’ve landed on the shores of the Arabian sea to meet friends in India’s smallest state, Goa, where chilling on the beach, massages, yoga classes and site-seeing are on the agenda.

Colonised by the spice-trading Portuguese in the 1500s and more recently by hippies in the 1960s, Goa’s colonial charms and beautiful beaches have stood the test of time and retained their appeal.