Arpora, to most people, means the Saturday Night Market. Fair enough. But six days of the week, Arpora is a small hillside village with narrow roads, deep shade, and a rhythm closer to Aldona than to Baga.

We picked it on purpose. Ten minutes from the beach, ten minutes from the market, but far enough inland that the mornings are birdsong and not scooters. The hillsides above the village are green year-round. The lanes are quiet after seven.

It's not the loudest part of Goa. That's precisely why we're here.