So we caught this long express train at Cochin Junction station, leaving at 12.45pm sharp, 3/2, to arrive Goa 4am the next day.
[The Indian train system uses the broad gauge 5' 6" (cf. Europe/US & Malaysia LRTs use standard gauge 4' 8.5", Malaysia KTMB uses 3' 3" gauge). It has the 4th largest railway system in the world and employs 1.6mil ppl, the biggest employer in the world. The wide gauge allows for huge coaches and smooth comfy rides, which was what we got in the Cochin-Goa stretch. We also got an Indian creep who tried to harass a German girl next to us, but he was thrown out by the ticket inspector at the next station which happened to be the famous city of Calicut :-). ]
Early morning accommodation hunting got us a very cosy 2-floor 150-yr-old inn called the Panjim Inn, located in the old Latin Fontainhas quarter of Panjim, the capital of Goa. Cost us 1,500 rupees (RM130) for one night, a bit pricey, but we had real antique furniture around us - very old wooden bed, looked flimsy but tough! Checked in at 5am and was soon fast asleep!
The pic attached is taken during breakfast on 4/2, from the verandah cafe upstairs. It shows the original Portuguese houses built hundreds of years ago since Fontainhas is the oldest quarter in Panjim.
