The Portuguese arrived in 1510 and stayed until India annexed the territory in 1961, the 451 years creating a culture that India elsewhere doesn't share. The churches that missionaries built - the Basilica of Bom Jesus where Francis Xavier's remains lie, the Se Cathedral that claims to be Asia's largest - provide the Christian heritage that makes Goa unique.

The Portuguese heritage extends beyond churches to cuisine and custom, the vindaloo that pork and vinegar make possible (Hindus won't eat pork; Muslims won't drink wine), the village names that end in Portuguese suffixes, the architecture that whitewash and tiles define. The Portuguese heritage is what makes Goa different; whether difference is asset or liability depends on perspective.

Goa's beaches stretch for over 100 kilometers along the Arabian Sea, the sand where everyone from hippies to package tourists to Indian families has found something. The northern beaches of Anjuna and Vagator where parties happen, the southern beaches of Palolem and Agonda where relaxation is easier - the range reflects the markets that Goa serves.

The beaches transformed Goa from colonial backwater to tourist destination, the economy that fishing couldn't support replaced by one that visitors fund. The beaches are why most people come; what they find beyond beaches is what makes Goa more than Thailand with churches.

Goa's party scene began with hippies in the 1960s who found beaches where police didn't care what happened. The trance music that developed here, the full-moon parties that Anjuna hosted, the reputation that decades of hedonism created - the party scene is what made Goa globally famous.

The party scene has shifted and regulated and persisted, the authorities who crack down and the entrepreneurs who adapt, the tourists who come expecting what previous generations found. The party scene is not all Goa is, but it is what certain visitors seek; Goa accommodates.

Old Goa was the Portuguese capital, the city that rivaled Lisbon in size before disease and decline emptied it. The churches that remain in what is now park rather than city, the UNESCO designation that recognizes what survived - Old Goa is where Portuguese ambition displays itself.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus where Francis Xavier's body draws pilgrims, the Se Cathedral whose bells rang for ships entering harbor, the ruins that forest has consumed - Old Goa is what the Portuguese built when they thought they'd rule forever. Old Goa is Goa's soul; the beaches are Goa's body.

Goan cuisine is Indian food that isn't, the pork vindaloo and fish recheado and bebinca that Portuguese influence created. The cuisine that doesn't exist elsewhere in India, that religion and colonial history uniquely enabled - Goan food is reason to visit that beaches enhance.

The cuisine reflects Goa's Catholic minority - the pork that Hindus won't eat, the beef that most Indians won't touch, the alcohol that flows more freely than conservative states allow. The cuisine is cultural statement; what you eat in Goa says where you come from and what you're willing to try.