Aguada Fort and St Anthony's Church

After the boat trip, Umesh dropped me off a few hundred metres down the coast to see more of the original walls of the lower fort. It gives you some idea of the vastness of the whole complex.

On our way back to Mandrem, our last stop of the day was at St. Anthony's Church in Siolim. The Franciscans built the first church on the site in 1600. For safety reasons, it had to be demolished in 1900. The beautiful church we see now was completed in 1907. Sadly, I could only admire it from the outside. There was a service going on, and there was no way the security guard was going to let me in! I made do with taking photos of the exterior, the nativity displays, and the huge statue of Christ across the road. 

Back in the car, I was telling Umesh about my struggles to get an Indian SIM card. He made a call to a friend who could help and arranged for us to meet him at 6.30pm. So, Umesh dropped me at Maya at 5.15 with a plan to pick me up again at 6. I needed to pick up my passport and some money, and just had time to order and eat a chicken fried rice 😊. I shared it with Neha.

Umesh's friend was as good as his word and I now have three months unlimited data on Mark's phone. To show me it was working, the guy clicked on YouTube. It immediately came up with Your Song by Elton John. It must have been the last thing Mark watched on there 😊.

When, I got back to Maya, Neha was still there, so I sat chatting to her until she went home.Read more