Having been told that I am to accompany Babu and the volunteers to Kottayam (5-6 hour drive away) and that we are leaving at 9.30 am, I have booked my Ayurveda treatments to start at 6 am. I wake at 5 am and walk in total chilly darkness down the main road to the hospital. This is interesting in itself.
There must have been a crossed wire - my therapist doesn't show up till 7 and I cool my heels for an hour under the gaze of the night watchman. He has no English so I don't even try to converse. Day 3 of the treatments and I am familiar with the drill.
ABHYANGAM is essentially the same treatment I experienced at Sri Gokulam MC about a week ago so I know what to expect. Starkers except for a thin muslin strip over my privates attached to a piece of string round my waist, I sit up on the wooden bed with legs a foot apart. The ladies scoop up warm oil and begin to friction my legs, up and down 50 times, then work the foot and toes, next the back and arms, then I lie down and "all" the front is done vigorously. Next, turn onto Right side and do available limbs then on my front and do the whole back of the body then Left side and massage available limbs and back onto front again. This whole process takes an hour. Then they wrap me in a sheet and let me "cook" for half an hour. I fall asleep from the sheer exertion of it all, though I'm told not to.
Processes over, a bit late, I rush home by 10 apologising for my delay. But I needn't have bothered. Babu is doing stuff with Cara and Tom G. - mobile top ups, meet bureau chief of news agency they are going to work for in Kottayam, and various other things that have cropped up. I accept the delay and have a rest - also get ahead with my blog until 3 pm.
I am still wondering WHY Babu wants me to come along on this jaunt. I am not doing a JOURNO posting and feel slightly in the way. Also I am putting a restriction on his eventual return to Trivandrum, because of my Ayvdc treatment the following day. But he insists he wants me to meet Suja, his coordinator up there, and also some other worthies in the news agency. Also he says we'll have time to explore some other interesting area. There's obviously much more to this than I am catching, so I surrender to the text, pack my small bag and hop in the car.
The journey is tedious and much lengthier than any of us imagined. We stop a few times.
First, we visit Tom E at SNEHA - Dr Ajith's clinic. Cara and Tom G are interested to see it after having heard so much about it and read the SNEHA blog. I take a few more pics to add to that blog.
Next we come across a Hindu festival parade and there are elephants. This is one of many parades we bump into today. It's quite a thrill to watch these temple elephants all dolled up in their finery.
Traffic has slowed to a standstill and three of us jump out of the car and run alongside taking pictures.
There are drums and loud blaring music and lots of boys dancing around and following the floats. It's a pretty male crowd I realise, of all ages.
We run into various car loads of tourists - some of the very few we have encountered anywhere.
This parade is definitely a highlight of the day.
Next stop is to grab a quick meal at a Kerala Tourist Development Council (KTDC) roadside restaurant. Before we know it, night falls and we have to do the next 60 kms in darkness.
With my trusty map in hand, I guide very doubtful Babu through some shortcut B roads. He keeps stopping to answer his mobile phone and also to ask the way. My instincts are confirmed and he is amazed that we fetch up where we are supposed to. He muses that I should be giving people map-reading lessons! Good grief!
It has been a very long day indeed and we have not achieved what we had set out to do - which was to get the students settled into their accommodation! Never mind, they get to stay with us in a very nice place indeed.
We reach our final destination The Kottayam Club annex at Kumarakom by 10 pm. The K Club is a stately and well-appointed facility right on the edge of Lake Vembanad in The Backwaters area. We are the other side of the lake from Alleppey.
There aren't many guests staying and they have rooms available. They are large and comfortable. We all picnic in the girls' room on a smorgasbord of fruit purchased from a roadside stall.
Cara is in her element and brings out her Greek fisherman's knife. She cuts and prepares the fruit on dishes for us: guavas and pomegranate, apple and Chinese pear, grapes and bananas, cantaloupe melon and a strange brown fruit she's chosen specially for us to try. It's a welcome feast!
Beds are comfy and in no time at all, we are asleep.
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