The Spice Route: From Ponda's Plantations to Your Plate

Ponda taluka smells different from the coast. Instead of salt and frangipani, the air carries pepper, cardamom, and the sharp sweetness of nutmeg. This inland district, just 30km from Panjim, is where most of Goa's spice estates are concentrated.

Vanilla is the most demanding. It flowers for one morning only. You have to pollinate it by hand, between 6am and 10am. Miss that window and you have no vanilla.

Day Trip from Any Part of Goa

Ponda is roughly equidistant from North and South Goa. GoaTaxis runs half-day and full-day Ponda packages that include the spice estate, the Shri Mangesh Temple, and lunch at a local dhaba.