Day 12 - I fought the law, and the law won

Today we decided to put our pre-trip motorcycle riding lesson to good use and hired a scooter. Pretty easy to ride, but we did have to contend with the traffic. However once we got away from the main road and the traffic snarls there, we did OK, as the roads we generally took to get around were only lightly travelled.

First destination was Panaji, the capital of Goa, after a couple of wrong turns we made it into town, successfully navigating the one way streets (sometimes in the wrong direction!) to get to the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception - which was of course closed when we got there.

Next step was Old Goa, which was the old capital until it was abandoned in 1835. The main sights here were the churches, which included the largest church in Asia, Se Cathedral, and the Basilica of Bom Jesus, which holds the remains of St Francis Xavier.

All of this had taken up most of the day, so we started to head back to Calangute. After only about five minutes we were pulled over by the police who then asked for M's license (which he didn't have on him). A "friendly" (under cover/whispered) lecture from another policeman ensued, where M was informed that the bike would have to be impounded until the next day, to be picked up when we presented our documents at the police station. However, we could avoid this if we paid a "fine" of minimum 500Rs. M decided that the most expedient course of action was to pay the fine, so 500Rs later we were on our way. Crime & corruption appears prevalent in the Goan police force!

We eventually made it back to the hotel in one piece, and spent the rest of the day relaxing!