Day 8

Between being busy and falling asleep it’s hard to keep up with the journal. Day 8, was a travel day. We were l leaving the state of Tamil Nadu and heading to Kerala. If you’ve read Arundahti Roy’s God of Small Things or Mother Mary Come to Me, you know a bit about Kerala! First some scenes from our road out of Madurai.




Along the way, we stopped at a famous market, Usilampatti. Vibrant spot.









A tea shop posted the headlines that day. Look who got top billing!

For lunch we had croissants. The choices were chicken,paneer, or mushroom. First time I ate a croissant that left my mouth and stomach burning for half an hour!

The vegetation in Tamil Nadu looked a lot like South Florida. This part of Kerala is mountainous. Some scenes along the way.






We arrived. Greeted with juice and another bindi.


We were told NOT to open the windows otherwise monkeys might enter. The sign was in my room.







We went on a tour of a spice plantation. I can’t begin to tell you what all the trees and plants were, though that is a jack fruit that’s huge.




Nutmeg


I think this is vanilla.

A number of us ended our day by getting an Aryuveda massage. We all agreed it wasn’t like any massage we had before! They thoroughly oiled and rubbed our heads, they had a stone with herbs tied in a cheesecloth. They heated the herbs/ stone and pounded our bodies! Then at the end the swinging pendulum dripped oil on our foreheads.  That was actually soothing!

We decided a post massage group photo was in order!




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