February 5th - Marmagao, India

Today's stop was Marmagao, which until 1961 was a Portuguese colony.

Our guide (Joanna@kokoindia.com) set-up a very interesting itinerary.

We first visited a lovely two-family home from the 1600s. This is not your
typical duplex. It is about a block long and each side has 7 to 8 bedrooms.
Unfortunately the descendants of the two families are no longer on good
terms. Interesting situation since the properties still belong to the
original families' descendants.

The two homes were identical except for their condition and furnishings. We
were only allowed to take photos in the first side, where it was evident
that the families had come upon hard times. The second side is in better
condition due to the fact that the children have left the country for jobs
and are sending money back to keep up the property (they have seven maids
and three carpenters employed to care for the place).

After touring these historic private homes we headed to another home for a
wonderful traditional Portuguese lunch. The owners have been working for
three years trying to bring the home and grounds back to their glory. My
memory card got corrupted and I was not able to take photos of this place.

Unfortunately today was another hazy day - it looked like the views had
great potential - next time.