Day 1 (and 2) India- It's a long way away

Day 1 Travel

India is really far away, as both my Mom and I had the chance to discover. After running some last minute errands and running into mad traffic on I-40, I made it to the airport just in time. It was very very very very sad saying goodbye to my wife, but unfortunately because of the time constraint we didn't even get to say a proper goodbye. I miss her lots already.

After getting from RDU to Washington Dulles, I met up with my mother who was coming in from the Midwest. We grabbed a bite to dinner and had a chance to catch up on wedding photos while awaiting our flight. Those couple hours flew by, thankfully, because we had a good 13 hours to sit on the flight to Dubai. Given that prognosis, and knowing we still had another 4 hour flight after that, I bought the bullet and upgraded to Economy Plus. Luckily, the plane was only half full so we had a chance to spread out and sleep a bit (as well as you can on a red eye that leaves at 10pm and arrives at 7pm).
We didn't have a chance to see Dubai too much on our approach, which was a disappointment. Hopefully on our way back it will be easier given our 14 hour layover. The airport was impressive in terms of it's shops and restaurants, and the people were exceptionally friendly. I have to say it was my first experience being in a Muslim country, though the airport view showed as cosmopolitan and global of population as any I've ever seen. As you can see, they like their upscale duty-free (which isn't really duty-free since they don't have sales tax anyway).

Day 2 Arrival in India
We arrived at Kochi around 3am in the morning. I actually felt pretty decent, likely because the time zones are so far off that my body isn't sure what to think. We met our driver, who escorted us to his Toyota SUV and we headed on our way. Altogether summary on travel is that it wasn't that bad thankfully.

It took around 90 minutes to go the 60km to the Zamorins location. We couldn't see too much of the road since it was the middle of night, but in general I would say that I was surprised that nearly all of the 90 minute drive had shops on the side of the road. It was what I would call fairly typical 2nd/3rd world looking scenery, except that it went on forever.

At Zamorins we met Colonel Babu, the person who we had been in contact with over the last couple months of planning. He is a very pleasant man, around 40 years old. He escorted us to our private rooms, basic but comfortable, and let us make ourselves at home before falling asleep. I wasn't really able to sleep, but it was nice to lie horizontally after a full day of traveling. Here are some photos of my room (called Ganga).

At 8:30am we were roused to join Col Babu for breakfast. I had no idea what to expect. It turned out it was a rice dumpling with coconut curry, and some fresh mango. I'll say the latter fit my taste buds better than the prior. We spent an hour eating and talking. Col Babu shared his reason for why Zamorins exists. He shared the basic concept of Aruyvedic. I think I'll save the full description for a later blog post (why give away the story). But the high level concept is that the body as a unit is very good at solving it's own problems, provided it has the proper holistic support provided for it. He utilized rough conceptualizations to help us visualize what he meant. His first examples were about Russia vs Afghanistan and how the body needs to be strong before it can fight off an enemy. You could try to kill the enemy with full combat, but a much more productive approach is to provide support to the body so that it can do what it does best (heal itself). He mentioned Aruyvedic tactics are targeting clearing up blockages in the body that prevent the body from operating at its full capacity. A concept of balance that the body needs to achieve in order to function at its best. All in all, I think both Mom and I appreciated the fact that there is value to a holistic approach to health.

We went on a brief walk of the grounds, with Col Babu describing the local flora. Included on the grounds are mango and coconut trees, and a number of species less familiar. I'll post photos of them later.

After rest, we went for our initial massage. It was unlike any other massage I've ever had. First, you wear essentially a very small cloth diaper. Then I had two technicians working on my body for over an hour. They begin by pouring hot oil on your skin, an effort to lubricate away impurities. They then massage the body, for the most part in a vertical motion towards or away from the heart. Following the massage, they then scrub you down with a concoction of spices and soap to clense the body. Afterwards, it's an amazing feeling of cleanliness and wholeness.

I finished my morning with a bout of yoga (not sure where this energy is coming from). It was only my second time ever doing yoga, but the instructor was patient and worked with me. When there was a position that was obviously uncomfortable, he asked if I was in pain. He had us shift out of that position, relax, and actually focus on the pain. The belief is that if you focus on it, your body will target it to help heal it. It seemed to work. The only session was very rewarding, the breathing relaxing without making you tired, the stretches strenuous without feeling painful.

Alright, I get the idea there's a routine to each day here, so I hate to write such a long thread on the first day and have nothing to write for the other 13. But I have to say that I'm pleased with what's been going on thus far, and looking forward to what's to come.

But I do miss my Rae the most :(