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  • TravelerKerala
    Day 15

    Business class

    Yesterday in India ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    I just got upgraded to business class on my 1st leg of my flight ✈️ 😍 I was pulled out of the queue when boarding and told I had an upgrade. I even got a window seat. On the plane when they took my breakfast order the flight attendant said that ground staff told me I could only have economy food in the upgraded seat. The flight attendant said she'd work around it and took my order any way. I ordered a bloody mary and it was fantastic. She asked if I wanted it extra spicy, which I did, and I'm sure she made it extra alcoholic as well. The breakfast was good and the seat was comfy. I thoroughly enjoyed that flight.Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 14

    Black Sand beach

    May 15 in India ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Today is my last full day in Kerala! I fly at 4.30am tomorrow morning so this will be a long day. I'm having a lie in as it'll be a long travel period and I can't sleep on planes. This morning flew past. I had my 1st session at 11.30am. The masseuse were so cute. They said they will miss me. They have never met someone from the Caribbean so I was a novelty for them. They kept saying how beautiful I am. It was very sweet. I'm glad that the scrubs are done though. My skin feels fully exfoliated! It doesn't help that I'm sitting in the sun alot without sunscreen after these treatments.

    I realised that I didn't take any pics in the red robes that we wear to go to get our treatments. We are completely naked under the robes. The masseuse come and collect us from our rooms and lead us holding hands towards the treatment rooms. It's an interesting sight to see people in red robes being lead by therapists in purple jackets to dark rooms. When we get to the rooms we take off the robe and put on a piece of tissue lining around our crotch. Some people wander around the grounds in the robes all day.

    I walked a few km to black beach today just to get a change of scenery. It wasn't fully black sand but was nice to see more or varkala. The North cliff is definitely more crowded and touristy. I wore a dress I've had since 1996 today. I love that dress. The colour doesn't fade and since it's a wrap dress it still fits. I bought it for our high school senior day. I wear it every few years now just so I can maintain it.

    I came back to have my final treatment and I asked the girls to take my picture in the steam box. It's super old fashioned but effective. I love the basic but effective treatments they provide at this facility. I caught my final sunset on the cliff. Waiting now to go to the airport.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 13

    Beach day

    May 14 in India ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    I had another early morning. I woke up to do the morning 5.45am yoga session here at the facility. It was quite nice, different than any other session I've tried. This focused more on breathing. I then had my 7am ayurveda session. It was a relaxing seated back massage, then face massage, then dry rub, followed by oil massage ending off with a wash down from the masseuse. I then had breakfast of fruit, a rice bread thing and coconut salty thing. I made a banana sandwich with the rice bread and ate the fruit. I'm missing coffee now. I'll find some in the town tomorrow.

    I walked 20 minutes up the beach to get in my steps. It was a nice walk and the sea was a bit calmer than yesterday. I actually got my feet inside and the water was warm. Security was preventing people from going out too far though. There are police signs saying swimming isn't allowed. There are lots of stray dogs as well. One followed me for a bit until he realised I didn't have any food.

    I set a towel down and people watched my morning away until it was time to head back for my second treatment. This one was a seated upper and lower hot oil massage, then full body hot oil massage then full body heated bags massage then steam box followed by a wash down by the masseuse.

    I spent the afternoon reading whilst laying on a cabana bed. It was lovely to watch the birds and listen to the waves crash. For dinner I was served beetroot soup and cauliflower curry with roti. A couple sitting next to me finished their meal with watermelon and papaya juice and that seemed refreshing. They are super strict here. I asked for papaya juice instead of tea and the waiter had to call the doctor. Doctor said no to papaya juice but I could have watermelon juice.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 12

    Treatments

    May 13 in India ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    I left the big group behind today for the last section of this trip, 3 days at an Ayurveda treatment facility. Two others booked this extension so we all shared the transfer car here. I naturally woke up early so caught the sunrise from my hotel room. It was lush.

    After breakfast we set off on the hour long drive to the facility. The drive went through a fishing village. There were churches every 5 minutes on the drive. The driver said the village was 95% Christians. It was weird driving past so many churches in such a short period of time especially ones with large statues of pink figures outside.

    The treatment centre is set up on a cliff edge overlooking the sea. It's basic accommodation but lovely grounds. Lots of places to sit with a book. The walk to the beach is easy enough 8 mins down the hill. Again no shade on the beach and rough sea so can't enter the water.

    I had 2 treatments back to back to ensure I had both today. I received a face massage followed by a dry scrub massage followed by an oil scrub massage then a seated back and shoulders massage and finally a steam in hot box. This is finally a good place to experience Ayurveda. All my treatments were top notch. I fell asleep whilst she was massaging my face it was so relaxing.

    The meals are tiny and vegan. They are delicious though so I can't complain.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 11

    Palaces

    May 12 in India ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Today is the last of the entire group trip. We went on a tour of Trivandrum. This is the official capital of Kerala. Their parliament sits here and the Palace of their monarchs is here also. We visited the latter after the tour. The Palace is grand and beautiful. I was shocked that it was so lavish and runs independently of the government. There were lots of jewel studded ornaments in the rooms and the walls were really intricately carved.

    After the guided trips we were given some free time for shopping. The guide took us to a liquor store. All of the liquor stores are state ran and separate to any other stores. It was down a back alley and up 2 flights of stairs. We were the only tourists in the place. The alcohol in the hotel is super expensive, £9 for a glass or £35 for a bottle of cheap wine. I bought a bottle of barcardi ginger and barcardi guava to take back to the UK with me.

    The rest of the day was relaxing. I walked to the beach and people watched a bit. The beach had potential to be lovely but the sand was filled with litter and no shade at all. Also there were boats everywhere and the water was rough. I'm looking forward to the beach at the ayurvedic treatment centre tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 10

    Jatayu

    May 11 in India ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    First stop of the day is to visit Jatayupara Earth Centre. A rock them park with the worlds largest bird sculpture. It was a sight to behold. A large concrete bird on his back. There is 800 steps to the top or a cable car. I wanted to try the steps as I'd previously done 1260 steps in Thailand in 30 mins so I knew the steps were achievable. We arrived at the centre later than expected so didn't have much time there so I thought I'd just go in the cable car up. It took just as long waiting on the cable car as it would have been for me to walk. I think I would have appreciated the sculpture more if I'd walked as well. I'm not getting the huge step count I usually get on my travels.

    After taking a few photos we headed for lunch. I had the traditional thali fish curry. For the two lunches we've gotten just a tiny portion of fish. On the boat the fish curry was a bigger portion so I'm thinking the restaurants are short changing us.

    This hotel is good. I'm staying in a top floor room overlooking the pool. I had a scheduled massage tonight. It was a proper massage with lots of oil. I enjoyed this one much better than the 1st. I do widh the masseuse would give some privacy when getting undressed as opposed to standing there watching you get naked!

    We had the final dinner as a group tonight. I sat with surgeonsthis time. Was lovely getting to know another group.    Read more

  • TravelerKerala
    Day 10

    Backwaters

    May 11 in India ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    Last night on the boat was lovely. The room was freezing cold from the air-conditioning and there was a slight rock to the boat. I slept very well. It was one of the best sleeps I've had on the trip. I woke up with the sunrise seeping in through my blinds.

    The crew made banana pancakes, omelette and toast for breakfast and it was all very good. During breakfast we set off on a cruise down the river. After eating I sat on the back of the boat to get the last bit of riverside sunshine.    Read more

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