Monday morning we woke up with 6:30 yoga and followed by yoga. I had shirodara, which is a treatment where they drip medicated oil on your 3rd eye for thirty minutes. It was mostly just relaxing, but the amount of oil in my hair after was crazy. I went through two hotel bottles of shampoo, repeatedly washing my hair to get it out.
In the afternoon, we it was our shopping day. We all wanted to get some clothes, and Betty said she knew a place. I think we all found something here! I got a couple of shirts, which I love, and the others all got tops or scarves. Betty even had several pieces made for her, and they took her measurements on the spot. We were especially impressed when they showed up at IVAC only a couple hours later with the first piece done, to make sure they had fit it correctly before starting the others.
After hitting this store, we went on a quest for pants, to go under our new tunics. Suneil recommended the exhibition, which was like a large fair with stalls of goods, including clothes. I only found one pair of pants, which turned out to be to tight (but for $2 it was worth a try), but it was fun to walk around in. Valla even came out with us and was very helpful. He would take anything we were looking at, give it a once over, and tell us if it was worth trying or not. He knew all the little things to look for, from waist bands, to fabric quality. He has really been a pleasure to have on this trip. I seem to always end up with amazing drivers, the few times I end up on such a trip. I am definitely liking this trend.
Our last day at IVAC, started as per normal. Yoga, breakfast, treatment. This time I had PPS, which is a full body massage followed by having herb poultices pounded across your body. Quite enjoyable, except that between the delicious smell of the herbs heating up, the liberal amount of oil they used, and the heat, I felt a little like I was being for the oven. Definitely an odd sensation, and probably overall not one a would go running back to duplicate.
After treatment, we all went to the Palace again for lunch. I had Tom Ka Kai, and it wasn't nearly as good as what I've had back home. I'm really looking forward to going to Thai Smile down in the desert now. It tasted mostly like chicken broth, and I've decided I'm not to found of how the chicken tastes here. So I'm pretty much back to vegetarianism again, after my one meal back out. We had several other dishes across the table to share too. I'm liking the food more now that we are out of IVAC. While their food was well prepared, most of the strictly Ayurvedic food just wasn't my favorite.
While most of us were eating, Leslie was shopping in the pashmina stall next door. She would come out draped in scarves and pashminas to get our opinions repeatedly, sometimes bringing ones for us, others for her. There was one true pashmina, from the chin hairs of the goat. It was amazing! I wish I could have afforded it. We all fawned over it a bit before we had to leave.
After this we went to find an ATM for Connie. Unfortunately, the one we found was closed. The next thing we knew though, she was jumping on the back of a "two wheeler" and taking off. Apparently the driver knew one just a block over and took her there and back. She even sat side saddle. Very impressive. We then asked the motorcyclist if he knew somewhere good to get a certain type of shirt. Instead of telling us, he hopped back on his bike and told us to follow him. So off we go again, to a great store. I got another great shirt and a comfortable pair of pants. Then they served us some Masala Chai. Incredible! I quickly bought a box of this too, and am now wishing I had bought more.
By this point we were all shopped out and headed back to IVAC for dinner, and to wait for Dr. Jay to return. He got in around 5:30, with his family in tow. We all decided to go up to the temple together, though we had to drive because it was too late in the day. It was nice to have them to show and explain stuff to us up there. We arrived a little early for the rush line, so we looked around the market a little, and started our quest to find an Indian rubber duck for Connie. No luck so far!
Shortly later we got into the temple, though we couldn't see much due to the crowds. People passed around bananas and a sweet ball though, that were given to the goddess, and then back to the people. It was interesting to be there when so many others were though, and watch them go through their rituals. We were unsure what to do sometimes, so we just watched and followed. Eventually we were through and headed back down the hill, so Dr. Jay could say good bye to his family and call it a night.
The next morning we got up early to make the climb back up the mountain. Over 1100 steps, I called it China training. There were monkeys all over the place, and at the bottom was a group of puppies. One of them had been given a bindi, and it was adorable. The sun was also just rising as we left and it was a beautiful sunrise. The whole climb up Dr. Jay also showed us different herbs and their properties. I couldn't tell you any of their names now, but I think I can recognize one or two.
At the top we slipped into the temple again. It was like a completely different place. Near empty, we could now see everything clearly. We even received two bindis, one red, and one yellow. Then as we sat in the outer area of the temple, we were paying our respects and watching the monkeys that live in the "feet" of the temple (the temple is constructed like a person lying down. The tower part is the feet, and the shrine inside is where your 3rd eye would be), when a monkey fight broke out. Talk about a quick way to not see them as cute anymore! Dr. Jay said a rival monkey had tried to encroach on their territory and they chased him out screaming with fury. Definitely startled us.
Valla drove up the hillside to pick us up so we wouldn't have to climb down too. He got us back just in time to grab some breakfast and pack our stuff. As we finished packing, we were told the president of the complex, Dr. Krishna, was inviting us over to his house for tea or coffee. Dr. Krishna is an anesthesiologist from the LA area, and despite having constructed IVAC, has no formal Ayurvedic training. But that's not to say he isn't knowledgable. He has published books on how to arrange things for energy flow, and studies quite a lot on the pulse in Ayurveda. Not only did he take us on a tour of his beautiful home, but we got to play with his puppies. He crossed a german shepherd, with a local breed of dog. I guess this was a cross he has been wanting for quite some time, and we all had fun playing with them. It was nice to see some dogs that it was safe to pet.
Eventually we had to call it a day though and head north. We had a 4 1/2 hours drive ahead of us. I loved every minute of it though. My camera was sticking out the window the entire time. I could take pictures here forever! It is such an interesting place, between the way people live to the colors.
Once we made it to Hassan, we settled into our hotel. Then Dr. Jay decided to go for a walk and invited us along. This was a whole experience too. He took us to the market they used to shop at when he was a kid and showed us what everything was as we took pictures of it all. There was one stall that had bindi powder in so many brilliant colors. My camera couldn't even catch the true hue of the purple and the pink they were so vibrant. Then we had so coconut water and watched a cow walk through, snagging bites from peoples stalls wherever she wanted. We also saw huge fruit bats all hung in a couple trees start swarming the skies as the sun set. I couldn't believe how many there were, and how big!
When we got back, we saw how much dust coated Dr. Jay's glasses. It was pretty gross. Especially when you think that is from the air we were breathing. I could of us decided to grab some dinner quickly and we had a delicious lemon soup and lemon rice. We also tried a mint cucumber carrot salad. Odd yet refreshing and tasty. We hadn't really noticed how much we'd done that day, but we were pretty tired at this point, and I think we all fell asleep pretty fast.
This morning we all got to sleep in a little. Most of our group was going to the SDM College of Ayurveda and Hospital here. We had a quick bite, with some of the most delicious pineapple, and grabbed some salad and rice to go for lunch, then we were off. We met most of the heads and presidents of the different areas and were formally greeted with roses. Then we spent the next 7 hours getting alternating tours of the grounds, and given instructional lessons in different fields, one on panchakarma, another on pharmaceuticals, and a third on herbs.
At one point they took us into their museum, which is full of organs, fetuses, and random body parts all preserved in jars. There was also a class going on in the room that was starting a cadaver. Leslie, didn't like this room at all, but the rest of us were fascinated. Connie and I had been hoping to watch part of the cadaver work. But they took us on to another room for toxicology and forensics where they had diagrams of different wounds and poisonous snakes, lizards, and plants on display. Leslie was a little surprised how interested I was, and a little surprised when I told her I had originally been planning to study forensics.
This wrapped up our time at the college though, and we were all ready to go relax at the hotel for a little while. At one point in our tours, we had met a group from Canada and England who were doing a 5 week study program there. They were really nice and asked what our dinner plans were, and if they could come join us. Unfortunately they didn't make it to the hotel, but it was still really fun to talk to them at the college. We had a great dinner anyway, with soup, sandwich, naan, and a fancy drink. All this came to less than $6. It was a lot of food. And the drink was half of the cost. And since the food is more flavorful now, I am a happy camper.
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