Churches and Convents of Goa and Vijaydurg

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Churches and Convents of Goa

   Goa's early Portuguese rulers built a capital that they hoped would rival Lisbon, and what is left of it, Old Goa, is a group of huge churches rising from tropical green. Albuquerque took the city in 1510, and for the next two centuries it was the centre of Portugal's empire in the East, with a population that may have rivalled London's. Then epidemics and a shifting river drove the people away, the capital moved down the coast, and the great buildings were left standing in a landscape of palms and rice fields. UNESCO listed the Churches and Convents of Goa in 1986.

   Read the complete Churches and Convents of Goa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Churches and Convents of Goa is where the day begins. Next is Sindhudurg.

2. 2. Sindhudurg

   Shivaji built Sindhudurg on a rock. The fort stands on a small island just off Malvan, on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, a great enclosure of black stone walls, about three kilometres around, built between 1664 and 1667 to guard against sea raiders and to project the power of the young Maratha state. Its walls rise straight from the surf, with bastions, gateways and hidden entrances, and inside lie temples, wells of fresh water, and the remains of old houses. A short boat ride from Malvan's jetty takes you across, and the view from the ramparts, over the blue Arabian Sea and the coconut-fringed coast, is superb.

   Read the complete Sindhudurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sindhudurg comes up about 114 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vijaydurg.

3. 3. Vijaydurg

   Vijaydurg is a sea fort on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, built on a rocky headland where the Vaghotan river runs into the Arabian Sea, and the setting alone is worth the ride. The fort was an old hill-fort of the Shilahara king Bhoja before Shivaji took it in the seventeenth century, rebuilt it, and made it one of the main bases of the Maratha navy. Later Kanhoji Angre, the admiral who held the coast against Portuguese, British and Dutch ships, used it as a harbour for his fleet, and the walls, bastions and triple line of defences look out over water that his ships once patrolled. They say there was an underwater wall to wreck enemy vessels that came too close, a story told at the gate with some pride.

   Read the complete Vijaydurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach Vijaydurg. Next is back through Sindhudurg.

4. 4. back through Sindhudurg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sindhudurg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sindhudurg, late in the day. Next is Churches and Convents of Goa.

5. 5. Churches and Convents of Goa

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Churches and Convents of Goa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Churches and Convents of Goa. That is the ride.