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restaurant called La Plage (see review)—one the best in the state—disguised as a simple beach shack offering sustenance and style that’s not all that easy to come by among the hoi polloi magnets of Baga-Calangute. Immediately south, secluded and largely undeveloped Mandrem is a peaceful fishing village and beach separating Asvem from the dark sands of Morjim, popular with the Olive Ridley turtles that have been coming here for centuries and, more recently, Russian tour groups and expats keen to carve out their own place in paradise.

If you’re taking a break from the beaches and lust for a bit of culture but don’t have time to tour any of the heritage homes recommended in the southern part of Goa, drop in at the Calizz museum (Bammon Vaddo, Candolim; 0832/325-0000; www.calizz.com; daily 10am–9:30pm). Curators here have made an impressive attempt to trace the evolution of local architecture and re-create traditional Goan homes. Each house is filled with intriguing artifacts and antiques, kitchen utensils, maps, paintings, medical paraphernalia, spectacle frames, jars, bottles, and so on—some of it several hundred years old, and painstakingly collected over the years by Laxmikant Kudchadkar. You can also see the differences in Goan-Portuguese and Hindu styles of architecture and enjoy a taste of traditional cuisine. The guided tour ends with a bizarre 3-D display of Hindu gods and mythologies—perhaps the only sore point in this grand affair.

Shopping the Global Village Markets

Anjuna is the site of Goa’s Wednesday market, where a nonstop trance soundtrack sets the scene and 1,000 stalls sell everything from futuristic rave gear to hammocks that you can string up between two palm trees on the nearby beach. It’s a wonderful place to meet people from all over the world as well as Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, Tibetans—even drought-impoverished Karnataka farmers with “fortune-telling” cows. It’s a bit like London’s Camden, but everyone’s tanned and the weather’s almost always wonderful. Come the weekend, Goa’s global residents have traditionally headed for either of the two Saturday Night Bazaars—Ingo’s or Mackie’s—where most of the spending has always seemed to involve liquor and food. In Arpora, Ingo’s is on a larger scale—but, according to rumors, no longer run by Ingo himself, but by the owner of the grounds upon which the market was established—and both dole out essentially the same ingredients of live music, eclectic cuisine, and shops galore selling semi-precious stones, paintings, books, clothes, music, and handicrafts churned out by long-term international visitors. There have long been disputes between locals and the organizers of these markets, however, so they frequently close down or relocate; best to ask someone local for the latest gossip. In any case, the more interesting markets are the local ones. Once a week, folk from villages all across Goa breeze into Mapusa for the Friday Market, where they set up large tables groaning under the weight of extraordinarily large-size vegetables, strings of homemade pork sausages, basketfuls of kokum, pickles like chepnim and miscut made out of tender mangoes, prawn balchao and Bombay duck pickles, a freshly baked assortment of Goan breads, all kinds of confectionary goodies like bebinca and dodol, guava cheese, and wines. Of course, the market is just as packed with mundane items ranging from knockoff designer underwear to masonry bits and cheap plastic slippers. If you have space to take home a souvenir, look for the red rooster water jug—you’ll find one in every Goan home, ostensibly to chase away evil spirits. When you’re pooped from shopping, drop into Café Xaviers (opposite the banana section), which sells refreshingly cold coffee shakes and delicious Goan sausage with poee (flat Goan bread). Another reason to come is the interesting Other India Bookstore (next to New Mapusa Clinic; 0832/226-3306;www.otherindiabookstore.com), which stocks up on academic books related to issues like the environment, agriculture, and spirituality. On Thursdays, there’s a lively market in Pernem,