India's Best Taxi Driver

And this is blah blah blah, the taxi driver said happily.

 Ravi greeted us, two tired souls who’d just finished a fourteen hour train ride. Our train was supposed to leave at 6:55am; it left at 11am. We were supposed to arrive at 4pm; we arrived at 1am. We sleepily stumbled out of the train station. Ravi came up to us, he had a huge bright white smile, and showed us where to pay for the prepaid cabs.

The grand churches stood out like white giants against the midnight black sky. As we drove to Panjim, Ravi was saying church names and telling us which ones we should visit. Generally this is where he would give his sales pitch and offer to tour us around for a good price. Not Ravi. There was sincerity in his voice when he said the names of churches. There was genuine concern in his furrowed brow when we replied no to his question: Do you have a place to stay tonight? He asked us our budget. We told him, "Cheap. The cheapest room available." He grimaced but was steadfast. "Well a cheap room might be difficult but we can find it. I know some places," he replied. His toothy grin reassured me.

And he did know some places but the places were closed. That didn’t stop our Ravi. He knocked on doors, rang doorbells and yelled to rouse the sleeping receptionists. Ravi wasn’t disheartened when the lights came on and he was told no rooms available. He drove around until we found a place. The aptly named Hotel Blessing took us in that night. Ravi looked relieved. 

You're often in the dark when travelling. A guidebook can only take you so far; you depend on the locals once you're on the ground. How appropriate then that Ravi, whose name means Sun, lived up to his name and shone brightly and found us a place that night.

Here are some pics of the churches Ravi recommended.