April 24, 25 & 26th Casablanca and on to Rabat and Meknes, Morocco

We really sweated out getting a new passport for Leslie, whose passport was going to expire six months during mid-May when we would be in Morocco, and therefore after that it would be difficult for her to travel. We had allowed two weeks after applying in Muscat, which, from emails from the Consulate back in March and discussions with them when we handed in the passport, we had understood should be enough time – no problem. 

We sent an email a week after the application to check on the passport. Next day we had a call that there was a tech glitch and not to expect the passport in time for our flight plans, and that we could consider getting an emergency passport. This made us stop our Morocco travel planning until we were sure about leaving. We sent a long email going though our options as we saw them and asking for advice on what to do. We received back the standard response that we could expect an answer in 3 days. You cannot just directly call the Consulate, you have to make an appointment to go see them. We decided to call the DCM to see if he could add any assistance for us in getting some advice on the email we had sent in, but it turned out he was in the US, and we woke him at an ungodly hour! On Wednesday we scheduled an appointment for Thursday and were lucky to find that there were 2 slots available, and also followed up with another email asking why we had no response to our urgent message. Thursday morning we finally had a call from the Consular staff indicating they hoped the passport might come that day. No guarantees until the pouch showed up and they had it in their hands and reviewed it. They did say that if it was not in the pouch that day, they would give it to David’s brother Paul and he could send it to us on the understanding we would go to a Consulate the get the old one officially canceled or they could send it to another Embassy/Consulate for us to pick up there. The passport ID cards would take a month to arrive but they would allow Paul to collect these for us, as Embassy/Consulates can only hold documents for 1 month and we won’t be back in Muscat till mid-September. 

We started packing right after this phone call, and “closing up” our upstairs space in Haramel. By 2pm we had my new passport in hand and by 2am we were heading to the airport to catch our Qatar airways flight to Casablanca via Doha. We are enjoying our finally reached Silver membership level with Qatar airways with its lounge and priority check-in and boarding!

The flight was 8 hours from Doha and unfortunately we had just a few empty seats in the plane and it was an older aircraft, but they did still have the individual TV monitors. It was a lower quality flight easily seen with no printed menus for meals, bathrooms an absolute disgrace, and the head flight staff not stopping by to welcome you on board as a Silver Member.

On arrival in Cassablanca entry was very efficient, entry quickly with just with an immigration card to fill out, bags arrived fairly promptly and then we went out to get some money from the ATM and find a taxi to go to the hotel.  The queue of taxis was like a lineup of ancient Mercedes. Unfortunately we got a 1960s model that even from the outside I had been looking at the appendage that was the muffler. Suitcases barely fit in, David sat up front with no functioning seat belt and I was in the backseat with luggage and no functioning seat belt and a driver that only spoke Arabic. The car had minimal brakes and lots of squeaking to further enhance the white knuckle ride, which, combined with the fumes coming into the backseat of the car, made us particularly thankful to finally arrive. Lesson learned with these “grand taxis” is to gauge which one you will be assigned and then adjust your position in the queue so you might get a different (better) one.

The Art Palace Suites and Spa is interesting with us having the opportunity to stay in 2 rooms. The first room on the 6^th had a lovely terrace but no wi-fi functioning. We had a soup and salad dinner at the hotel as we had been up over 24 hours and were slightly exhausted.  The next day we requested again (4^th time now) that they send someone to fix the internet and we ended up switching rooms to a larger suite, the Charlie Chaplin, which had good internet but no terrace. As we had not really planned any of our Morocco travel, access to the internet was important. We arranged for an English speaking guide/driver named Zuhair to take us around. We ended up with a nice newer van and a fellow that spoke Arabic and French. He drove us around to the  Hassan II Mosque, the third largest in the world and completed in the 1980's, which we were able to walk around the outside of, as non-Muslims can only enter the mosque in the morning on specific guided tours. 

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

View of Hassan II Mosque over bay

 We then drove along the Cornish and Zuhair pointed out various residences of members of the Saudi Royal family. Going into the area around the Moroccan King’s main palace in the La Nouvelle Medina (Quartier des Habous), we enjoyed looking out the car windows at the new souk but we wanted to focus on the old Medina area so off we headed.

The old Medina was interesting and we walked through with Zuhair so we were not really hassled. An unusual aroma led us to a man selling escargot soup as we were leaving the Medina area after perusing the jewelry section of the souk. 

Escargot Soup Seller in Medina

We had arranged to go for dinner at "Basmane", which had a belly dancing show. Our food was good and, of the two belly dancers, one was very good and surprisingly enough she was very slim. We got home after midnight.

Fortified outer walls of old Rabat Medina

The next day, Sunday, April 26^th we had breakfast and headed off for Rabat and Meknes, respectively the current capital and one of the ancient ones, using the car and driver that we had organized through the hotel. He did speak English and had a comfortable newer Mercedes with functioning seat belts, so we headed off to Rabat along the coast road. Arriving at Rabat we went straight to Kasbah les Oudaias (12^th) which has wonderful views of the sea and the river from its perch on the cliff in the oldest part of the city.

Rabat Medina alleys

The picturesque kasbah is still predominantly residential, and the narrow streets are lined with whitewashed houses - most of which were built by Muslim refugees from Spain in the Fifteenth Century. Some seem to have been restored by foreigners judging by some of the nameplates we saw on the doors.

We then wandered through some of the shops in the Medina across the road, primarily looking for a bathroom. We had forgotten that like all Buddhist temples, near Mosques you can usually find bathrooms. We then went back to the car and had the driver take us to a local restaurant for lunch before heading on to Meknes.

On arrival at Meknes’ old Medina we found that no cars are allowed entry. This necessitated us hiring a “porter” with a cart to help us move our luggage about half a kilometer to our riad accommodation. As you can see from the photo the lanes get very narrow!

Suitcase size a source of laughter!

We checked in to our Riad Zahraa al-Ismailia, which is the traditional old house which Leslie had booked for $32 a night, breakfast included. 

Cute little room in Riad Zahraa

We went out for dinner in another old riad, Riad D'Or, which not only gave us quite a feast but also had some local rose' wine, brand Tuareg. 

Since we had become lost trying to find the place, we had one of their staff lead us "home" after dinner, as we never would have found it after being turned around a dozen or more times.Then we crashed, pretty tired, and not yet organized for our next day in Meknes.

Chicken Tajine with Tuareg rose'

April 5th, 6th and 7th the Wind Down and Do We Feel Restored?

The last three days at the spa were the normal routine with no dietary restrictions. While Leslie did not go back to the Yogic cleaning other than the eyes we both were at the morning yoga. Leslie did an intermediate yoga just before lunch and David went to the little fitness center. The heat has definitely picked up in Goa. With the yoga class inside a building (no A/C) it is like Bikram Yoga just because of the heat and all the sweating that takes place. The fitness center has some overhead fans at least.  We have taken to using our rehydration salts so that we continue to have energy. We make a liter bottle of the stuff in the morning and drink some to see if it tastes sweet or salty.  If it takes salty we don’t need it but if it tastes sweet then we drink some more to help keep the electrolytes in balance. The food here has very little salt.

On Monday April 6^th, we went out to June 18 street in Panaji to do some last minute shopping, leaving the Spa at 3:30 so we would arrive at the shopping area at 4:30 as the city cooled down. We were able to find the dress-up dresses that we wanted for our granddaughter. Leslie came home with the shawl for a lovely blue and gold Indian Choli,  the rest of which was being made up for her in 24 hours. It was to be delivered to the hotel about 6 hours before we were to leave. She lucked out and her dress arrived 5 hours before we were to leave the hotel.

The other item to buy in Panaji is cashew nuts. They have them flavored with all kinds of spices and salts. We enjoyed looking around in the shops but did not want to miss dinner so we were back by 7:30pm.

The daily spa therapies were moving away from those fixing injuries (back and knee for David) to being more rejuvenating massages.  Leslie enjoyed the herbal Scrub again and on the last day even a facial (Mukhalepam). The facial included a mask of honey and herb powders along with a massage using various herbal creams. Before the last day Leslie pointed out to the Dr. that we had paid for nights for which we would not be getting therapies…..so on our last day we had 3 hours of therapies each. Leslie was the happier camper about this.

Our energy levels have really increased since we have finished with the detox and we are now ready to move on. We are looking up apartments in Florence for the months of July and August and focusing on Morocco, which we will be visiting in two weeks. Our last day included a final weigh-in, and yes, we both lost some weight, and then we had our final consultation with the Dr. We received our files which noted all the treatments we had been given each day plus several pages for food balancing for our particular doshas. David is a Pitta Dosha primarily and his health concerns are in the Pitta Dosha, so she said he is an easy fix.  Leslie is a Vata Dosha, but her problems are across the other 2 doshas (Pitta and Kapha) so her food balancing was to balance the Kapha dosha. All she cares about is trying to stop the hair loss which the Dr. said will take 6 months and hopefully she will not be bald by then! We were each given herbal medications to take, the cost of these was about $150 total, so we will try them for 6 months and see how we go along.

Interesting that Ayurveda treats thyroid issues with natural herbs and roots but they do the same regular blood testing that is done for chemical medications. Guess there is no way to get around that.

It would have been helpful to have had a primer on Ayurveda, which is the traditional medical system of India and about 5,000 years old.  “Ayu” means life and “veda” means knowledge, so ayurveda is the science of life. It is based on 3 fundamental concepts:

1. Food is medicine. (That’s why we have so many lists of food do’s and don’ts)

2. Through your daily habits disease can be prevented and eradicated (those oil massages for one thing)

3. Lifestyle recommendations are based on your physical, mental and emotional profile.

 In looking on the internet to try and give you an idea of the summary that is in Leslie’s book, she needs to reduce the Kapha dosha in order to lose weight. The link below gives you a good idea. For her, fish can be eaten twice a week, chicken once a week and red meat once a month. David in the meantime gets fish every other day (he hates fish), chicken once or twice a week and red meat every two weeks.

http://www.doctoroz.com/article/kapha-body-type-meal-plan

We will keep reviewing this list of foods and see if we can adjust to it. Time will tell.

The Spa had arranged for their car and driver to take us to the airport leaving at 12:45am so that we could catch the 1am ferry to the mainland. We were off to Doha to celebrate our granddaughter’s first birthday.

April 1st and 2nd Purgation Days and then Freedom April 3rd and 4th

Wednesday, April 1^st

April fool’s day was David’s special day for his purging enema. He was first given a full hour body massage with oil, then the enema. He had an allergic reaction to the material, which was even apparent as a skin rash after two showers. This changed the Doctor’s plans such that now he was to have only one more medicated oil enema the following day. He had a limited diet for the entire day and was basically confined to the room as food was delivered. Good thing the room has a television and he watched the news and several old movies. As in the USA, watching the same Indian advertisements over and over got a bit boring. He thinks India has more ads per hour than the USA!

David’s allergic reaction was happening on Leslie’s free day. She was able to go to Yoga at 7 am, followed by an unrestricted diet for breakfast, fruit snack and then intermediate yoga. Her morning treatment was the ongoing oil massage and in the afternoon it was a foot massage. David joined her for dinner (only lentils allowed) at the restaurant.

Thursday, April 2^nd

David started the day early and had a “hard oil massage” with two men using their elbows, forearms and palms to massage the whole body, front and back. The pressure on calf muscles was a little uncomfortable, but otherwise it was fine. They used special oil supposed to be good for skin. After that, he had 10 minutes in the sauna, then to breakfast, where he was disappointed to be allowed only the soup! Must be that restricted diet again. The dining staff knows who we all are and are quick to make sure we don’t eat anything not on our diet!

At 2:30 PM he had a second massage for a half hour with a special oil for the back only, then oil enema to complete his “cleansing” or detox process. Glad to be done with that!

Leslie had been instructed not to go to yoga in the morning, there would be no breakfast and thankfully was given a milder purgative which was so thick that you had to use a spoon to eat it, followed by warm water.

Purge Yuck

The Doctor had said that the room temperature needed to be above 82 degrees. Leslie had to drink warm water every 15 minutes and was also given a hot water bottle to put on her stomach while she sat in an elevated position in bed. In between dashes to the bathroom she read a travel guide for Morocco. At 1 pm she was given a soup to eat and then at 4 pm she was given some fresh pomegranate juice. Dinner was served in the room and consisted of Khichadi which is rice and moong lentils. (We have been calling this a mixture of rice and dhal but Khichadi is the proper name for this food). David found out he was also having only Khichadi for dinner when he got to the restaurant.

Khichadi

The Doctor called several times during the day and then stopped by at around 6pm. She is off-duty for 3 days. The Doctor had given David information as to who was in charge of us during her absence. Leslie’s stomach cramps had not been too bad but she was asleep by 8:30pm.

Friday  April 3^rd

Leslie continued to have a restricted diet of soups and Khichadi but her therapy treatments started to vary. She had a herbal scrub (Udwarthanam) in the morning and a head massage in the afternoon. The benefits of Udwarthanam are softening and exfoliating the skin, improving muscle tone, improves blood circulation and eases joint pains. Her herbal scrub was one containing grains and milk. This paste was rubbed all over her body and then she had a shower to wash it off. The next phase was a yellow paste (milk and something else).

We escaped the Resort in the late afternoon to Old Goa which is only about 15 minutes drive plus ferry-ride away and is where we catch our ferry boat to come to Divar island. There is not much remaining other than a gateway arch dedicated to Vasco De Gamma and the Basilica of Bom Jesus with the relics of St. Francis Xavier, who was a friend of the founder of the Jesuit order (UNESCO Heritage Site).

We attended mass in Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina, which was standing room only and overflowed outside. The Se Cathedral was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over a Muslim army, leading to the capture of the city of Goa in 1510. Since the day of the victory happened to be on the feast of Saint Catherine, the cathedral was dedicated to her. Mass was in Konkani, the language of Goa, so we did not stay too long. We were then taken to some high-end tourist shops that were in old homes. The prices made me laugh – an Indian tunic top with hand embroidery that I buy in Muscat for $15 from an Indian lady’s home and here they were asking $50. No purchases from us.

At the Basilica of Bom Jesus we were determined to keep our tradition of lighting candles but we had a hard time locating where the candles were sold and then getting them lit and placed while still lit – we ended up with a mini bonfire.

Saturday April 4^th

We had our usual morning hour and afternoon 1/2 hour therapies. Leslie had the Podi Khizhi (herbal boluses that are warmed in oil and then pounded and rubbed on the body) which she likes in the morning followed by the dripping hot oil (Shirodhara) which for many guests is their favorite treatment but not really hers. David had the whole body oil massage and the Padabhyanga (Indian foot massage.)

 We have met many nice people here at the Spa and as we are well under 20 people you talk to just about everyone. In the last few days we have had more Indians come but previously it had mostly been tourists from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Holland and the UK. Two weeks seems to be the time most guests stay with a few doing 3 weeks or 4 weeks depending on their purpose in coming. We have never spent 2 weeks focusing just on our health. They would give us each a personalized diet if we had requested but I think we are doing okay with out it.

We left at 4:30 in the afternoon to go to the Saturday Night Market in Arpora, a one hour drive away back on the mainland. Others from the Spa have said it was interesting and they kept talking about “the old hippies”.  We decided to arrive as the venders were setting up, so that it would not be so crowded. What an interesting, eclectic group of stalls teeming with creativity! The meandering lanes upon lanes of kiosks snaking through this vast open field selling everything from fruits to hand-made leather belts, jewelry, apparel, Tibetan items etc. There is also a concert stage where the performances change from ethnic Indian music and dance to “old hippies” performing with their guitars.  There are many bars and signs saying "Drug Free Zone" but as pointed out by our Dutch friend who came with us, she saw several vendors sitting there calmly smoking pot. She was more sensitive to smokers because she just gave up cigarettes when she arrived at the spa.

Leslie was delighted to come across a Desigual seconds stall in the market.  If you wanted to try anything on you had to do it over your clothes but that didn't stop her from checking it all out. We left around 8pm and we had arranged for our dinner to be left in our room so that we could eat when we returned. While we had talked about treating ourselves to a fresh coconut water, we were all too busy looking around to hunt them down in the food area.  We did notice the big mugs of beer being enjoyed by others.

March 29, 30 and 31st - Oh those Detox proceedures

Detox treatments currently involve one of us drinking a herbal medicated ghee and the other having medicated oil enemas, each for three days.  The enema amounts increase each day and go from 60 ml, 90 ml and then 120 ml. The drinking of the ghee takes place around 7:30 am, and then you go to your room and drink warm water every 15 minutes, about ¼ cup each time. The thought is that you are now lubricating your insides. If you are drinking ghee you are allowed to eat lunch at 1pm but encouraged to wait and have fruit at 4:00 with tea time and then eat a light normal dinner.

During yoga on Tuesday morning Leslie got so dizzy she could not participate. It appears that she did not blow out all the water from her nose in the yogic kriyas, and some stayed in her sinus and seem to have traveled to her ear. One of the other guests went back to the room to fetch David to come help her get back to the room. The on-duty doctor came to the room and then had Leslie come to the Spa area to have a nasal steam treatment prior to drinking the last ghee drink. A steam treatment was done again that afternoon and no more Shirodhara treatments for awhile.

Shirodhara

I ate lunch the first day but not the next two days. It is amazing how tiring it is to digest this ghee! The last day it was very hard to get the ghee down without throwing up because the smell is revolting as is the slimy consistency not to mention it is green….

When you go for your daily therapy in the late afternoon the Abhayanga sesame oil smells like ghee. I asked them to put some other nice smelly oil in with the sesame oil because the smell was making my stomach churn. The Dr. ordered some other oil that I think may have been camphor oil added to the sesame and then put directly under my nose. I enjoy the steam bath after the Abhayanga massage.

David’s enemas were given in the late afternoon, so they continued to give him massages on his back in the morning. These usually included 2 men working on him and usually doing the Kizhi.  Kizhi is a massage which uses small herbal boluses made of various herbs which are warmed in medicated oils. After first oiling you down, these boluses are then heated in oil and then pounded lightly on your feet moving slowly up and down to your hands. It is a mixture of pounding and rubbing, which follows once the boluses cool down. You can have bits of the herbs which have come out of the boluses stuck in your hair. The benefits are believed to be in reducing inflammation; improving circulation, relieving pain and stiffness in joints; improving mobility and flexibility; toning the skin; and alleviating arthritis pain.

His afternoon treatments were a short head massage followed by a back massage with hot oil and then the dough on the back to make a “dike” around the back injury which is then filled by hot oil in that bounded area.  (Kati Basti) This wonderful process was then followed with the oil enema which he was requested to keep inside as long as possible.

During this 3-day period, his food was restricted to mild, cooked food like soup each meal, a dhal-rice mix, or mix of cooked spinach with rice, and sometimes steamed vegetables, with only herbal tea allowed and no salads, desserts or fruits. At some dinners, bread was allowed. Presumably the restrictions were to make the stomach more controlled. The process seemed to make us both, and particularly David, somewhat tired and lacking in energy.

We were happy when this three day period was over and even looked forward to Purgation day. Leslie was told though she might have to do another day of ghee drinking and to come see the Dr. before her afternoon treatment.  Thank goodness her skin was shiny which meant that she had absorbed enough ghee one way or another such that she did not need to drink any more.

March 27th and 28th at Devaaya Spa

Friday, March 27^th     

Neti pot and eye cups

Leslie was out the door by 6:30am so that she could experience the yogic kriya cleaning which involves a neti pot, a cup and two eye cups. “A little common salt should be dissolved in luke-warm water and filtered. Fill it in a specially designed tubed tumbler with a nozzle. Stand up tilting forward a little. Now turn the head a little to the right. Place the nozzle of the tumbler in the right nostril and bend the tumbler such that the water flows into the nostril. Breathe in and breathe out through the mouth only. The water that enters into the right nostril comes out from the left nostril automatically, carrying out the dirt in the nose. Entire tumblerful of water should be poured into the right nostril. Now tilt the head to other side and repeat the same process through left nostril with another tumblerful of same water. Throughout this process breathing is through mouth only.” (yogasimplified.com)  This takes some practice to get it right.

The location for these cleanses is a special hut with 9 sinks and stools. The water from the taps is filtered water. You then are give a cup full of warm salt water to gargle and spit out…you can imagine the sounds around you at this point.

You pay $2 for your neti pot and eye cups. The eye cups are filled with a mixture of rose water and filtered water and you raise them to your eyes and blink 6 – 8 times. This does sting a bit and gets easier I am told with each passing day.

Then it was off to 1 hour of basic yoga with sun salutations and breathing.

David recollects getting an hour oil massage (Abhayanga) in the morning and then a shorter head massage (Shirodhara – described on March 26^th) for a half hour in the evening. Leslie’s therapies were the same as the day before being well greased with hot sesame oil mixed with herbs for an hour/steam bath in the morning followed by the foot massage in the afternoon.

We swam in the late afternoon but David was more walking in the water because his back is still a problem. Leslie recognized that the only advanced yoga person had left the resort and asked management if an intermediate yoga put be put on in place of the advanced.  It was decided to keep the late afternoon advance yoga and put on an intermediate class just before lunch from 12pm-1pm.

We enjoyed our dessert at lunch, but when we asked for dessert at dinner, we were told “No sweets in the evening, sir.” Such is healthy living….

Saturday, March 28^th

As David reported his back problem to the Dr, when we saw her in the morning and his treatment was changed from the pre-detox exterior oiling to include treatment for his back. David got treated with an hour massage with oil from 12 noon to 1 PM, in which two men simultaneously and rhythmically wacked his body with hot powdered herbs in cloth sachets. This was supposed to be good for pain, particularly for my back, on which there was some concentration of effort, although they covered the whole body, front and back, even arms and legs. After lunch, at 2:30 PM this was followed by a half hour session in which a small dam was built around my lower back injury, which received several infusions of hot medicated oil. (kati basti)

Leslie continued to be the early riser doing the yogic cleansing and then the morning yoga. The number of guests is now down to 11 and as the heat is increasing we don’t expect to have too many more new guests coming. Her morning therapy was again the Abhayanga (full body hot sesame oil massage followed by steam bath).  Her afternoon therapy was the dripping warm oil on the forehead treatment –Shirodhara. They recommend that you keep this oil on your hair overnight and I think everyone tries this once and then decides they don’t need to do it again.

David has had Delhi Belly from food possibly on the Air India flight and it had gotten worse so he went to the Dr. He was given some herbal medication  (Kutaj Ghan Vati and Shanka Vati) to take and surprisingly it did clear the problem up quite quickly.

Our Breakfast and Lunch area - cooling breezes

Our Dr. also advised us that she had now decided on the type of detox program we would each have – the alternatives were medicated oil enemas or drinking medicated ghee. David’s treatment was to be oil enemas (Anuvasana Basti) and Leslie got the ghee (Virechana). “Here’s a list of the benefits of cleansing with ghee, explained in detail below: Flushes old bile – which can be re-used by the body up to 17 times; Stimulates the liver to make new bile, so 94% of old toxic bile is not re-absorbed; Scrubs the intestines of toxins and bad bugs; Supports the primary source of energy and immunity for the cells of the gut; Supports the health of the beneficial bacteria in the gut who make butyrate; Lubricates and softens the hardened tissues of the body; Pulls stored fat soluble toxins and molecules of emotion out of the body;  Encourages fat metabolism and weight loss; Supports stable mood and energy level; Protects against bad bacteria in the gut.” (lifespa.com/top-ten-reasons-cleanse-ghee/)

Why did we pick an Ayurveda Center as a travel destination? A friend had a knee injury that would not heal. Her sister, who is a holistic health practitioner, suggested she go to an Ayurveda spa in India and gave her three spa names (Isis, Kensville, and Devaaya) . Our friend went to Isis last year and found that after having treatment her knee started healing and she felt really good and relaxed after being there.  Due to the fact that we would be here during the hot part of the year David insisted on AC, and other activities such as swimming and tennis so we chose Devaaya. We have read very little about Ayurveda and are learning as we are experiencing it firsthand.

 

March 26th - Day one at Devaaya Spa

Thursday, March 26^th. We were up and out the door for morning Yoga at 7am. The basic yoga is sunrise salutations as the sun rises overlooking the water and includes other balancing poses, stretches and breathing, and lasts one hour. 

Daily Schedule

Buffet breakfast follows 30 minutes later and is open for one hour. The first morning, because they had had a storm the night before, breakfast was served by the poolside which is the usual dinner location. There was oatmeal, almonds, dates and honey, bread along with other Indian vegan options to choose from, including rice, daal, and masala. No fruit or juice to be located.

We saw Dr. Akshata, a young woman, to review our medical history and she would then devise a program for the 2 weeks we are here. We were given a list of foods that David cannot eat (unfortunately nuts are a favorite snack food for him and now he can only eat walnuts) and we both lost yogurt as a food according to Ayurveda logic.

You are given a colorful cotton gown to use for going to and from therapies. I now understand that Ayurveda is synonymous with oils! Each guest has 2 therapies a day; the one in the morning is 45-60 minutes and the one in the afternoon is 30 minutes.  We both had the Abhayanga massage as our first therapies.

Abhyanga includes – coconut oil on the scalp with the head massage, a face massage with a cream and then the followed by a whole body massage with herbed oils on a hard table surface. The treatment ends with steam therapy. One must put modesty aside as you quickly learn here…you might get a thin papery loin cloth but that will be gone as soon as you turn over. This up-close and personal procedure is going to take some getting used to!  In Ayurveda an “Abhyanga Herbal Oil Massage is a holistic healing and complementary medicine program and NOT a conventional massage, oils are applied to detox physical toxins, mental toxins and emotional toxins and also for pacifying aggravated vata dosha (due to hectic and stressful lifestyle and improper foods/food habits) which is the root cause of imbalance, also it helps relieve stress” (aurvediainpittsburgh.com). I see in Pittsburgh for $100 you can get the same treatment the following listed benefits: “Nourishes mind and body; Rejuvenates the whole body; Increases longevity; Delays aging; Relives fatigue; Builds stamina; Promotes deeper sleep; Enhances complexion and luster of skin; Cleans your body (detoxify) ;Helps you avoid stress and enjoy a brightness of the senses (Balance body, mind and soul.); Prevents stiffness of muscles; Corrects digestion and blood pressure and enjoy better sleep; Mind (Avoid bad thoughts and feel happy) ;Soul (Only a sound body can bear a good soul).” (aurvediainpittsburgh.com)

They ask you not to shower for at least an hour after these massages and to leave the oil on your head as long as possible

Lunch was served down by the water in a covered upstairs area which received lovely breezes off the water. The meals are served buffet style with all foods described by name, ingredients and then by dosha (Vata, Pitta, Khapa) Leslie was told to eat the VPK Balanced and VK foods and David the VPK Balanced. The selection of choices included a soup, 2 salads, 4 cooked choices all vegan, 2 types of bread which are usually a nan and roti variety, a dhal and white rice. At lunch a dessert is served – happiness. The sweets are based on honey and/or jaggery (a coarse dark brown sugar made in India by evaporation of the sap of palm trees. Jaggery is made up of longer chains of sucrose. Therefore, it is digested slowly and energy release is also slow).  The drinks you get with your meals include hot water plain or hot water with ginger. There is also a choice of Masala chai (black tea, milk and spices) or herbal tea for after lunch.  No fruit is served with cooked meals.  There is a fresh cut fruit time every day at 11am but we missed it today. It is believed that you should have at least 1 – ½ hours between eating cooked food and fruits.

We had our afternoon therapies about an hour after finishing lunch. David’s therapy was Shirodhara. “A steady flow of warm oil onto the forehead stimulates the pituitary gland, or "third-eye." This is one of the most divine therapies, awakening your body’s intuitive knowledge. Benefits of Shirodhara include: Stimulates the 3rd eye and crown chakras, and awakens intuition and inner wisdom; Relieves stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia through natural serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin release; Helps mental focus and concentration; Balances VATA DOSHA; Works on the cerebral system, helps to relax the nervous system, and balances the 'Praan Vaayu' (life force energy) around the head; Improves the sensitivity of five senses; Reduces and relieves migraine headaches; Decreases hair loss and fatigue and makes one calm and refreshed; Deeply relaxes mind and body; Releases negative emotions and thought patterns; Improves sleep patterns; Rejuvenates the entire face and softens worry lines; Heightens the senses; Increases spiritual awareness; Pacifies vata reducing anxiety, restlessness, irritability, nervousness, fear & excessive thinking; Improves mental focus and concentration.” ($105 cost in the spa in Pittsburgh from which this information was derived)

Leslie’s therapy was a foot massage to increase circulation.  Unlike a Thai foot massage where you sit in a chair, here you lie on the table and they only work on the soles of your feet. Minimal time is spent on the front of your foot and ankles and no time on your legs. The thirty minute massage hits energy points in a linear fashion and also focuses on the toes.

Tea time is at 4:00pm and is a choice of two masala teas. You can add honey for sweetness. We are really missing our diet cokes!! We were busy doing a laundry in the bath tub and hanging things out on the line we made. While we sent some clothes off to the laundry service here it takes basically two days before you get your clothes back. With all the heat, humidity and oil treatments we need to get our clothes back faster than this!

Questionnaire for Dosha Type 

 

We headed off to 30 minutes of Advanced yoga (total of 3 of us in the class) followed by 30 minutes of meditation. The yoga we survived and David gamely sat through a 30 minute meditation session with pulled a back muscle. Mediation was seating cross legged on a mat with a small cushion while you stared at a candle flame. There were probably 8 women and David in that session in two groups.

Trāṭaka is a fixed gazing method of meditation – we were staring at a candle flame placed on the closed window ledge such that it was eye level. You are to breathe deeply and regularly sitting with your back straight and legs crossed. You are to keep your eyes focused on the candle flame without blinking and let your thoughts just focus on the candle. All the while the yoga teacher will gently remind you to focus on the candle; this gets more necessary as we older folks keep adjusting our uncomfortable positions!  After about 15 minutes of this you are then instructed to close your eyes and focus on the candle image in your mind. This takes some concentration. We limped back to our rooms after this experience.

Dinner is served at 7pm. After dinner you check the spa board to see what time your therapies are. Today there were 21 guests shown on the list but tomorrow we drop down to 14. We put the TENS unit on David’s back and will have to tell the Dr. about this injury tomorrow.

Our home for the next 2 weeks is the room J-4 which is below the pool and directly across at the bottom of the photo

We are hoping that the pictures with words can be clicked on and then zoomed so that you can read what is written if you are interested in some of the details.

Another new experience - an Ayurveda Spa and Health Center in Goa March 2015

We have been on various adventures other than the Silk Road which we did detail our blog: traveling though Sri Lanka and North India; a family vacation on Alonissos Island in Greece, then travels through Turkey with my sister Liza joining us for Greece and Turkey adventures.  This was followed by a quick visit to Washington and San Diego to see family, then two months in Cuenca, Ecuador learning Spanish and enjoying the Galapagos islands, and Liza visiting and traveling with us to Mindo, Otovalo and other birding sites together with the Amazon. We had a big Bosch family gathering for Christmas 2014, and the periods in between we were in Chiang Mai, Thailand covering almost four months of the year, November through February.

David at Madain Saleh, Saudi Arabia

We left Chiang Mai March 5^th  2015 and traveled to Oman for a few days and then on to an Aramco Reunion in Dhahran Saudi Arabia, an overnight stop to see our son Jonathan and his wife Kat, to kiss and hold our grand daughter and then to David’s 48^th year Kodaikanal High School reunion. Now we are spending 2 weeks in the Devaaya Ayurveda Spa and Health Center in Goa, the former Portuguese colony on the Indian Ocean.

Wednesday – March 25^th We travelled here from Madurai on Air India and had a 3 hr stop in Chennai. We arrived at Goa in the evening and then had a 1 hour drive plus small car ferry (5 minute) to Divar island where the Devaaya Ayurveda and Nature Cure Center is located at the tip end. Even though we arrived after 9pm the staff had a dinner on a tray already for us which we appreciated very much.

The well-maintained resort is very clean, with gardens, a pool, meditation room, yoga area, wi-fi areas and 2 eating areas along with a library/ room with some exercise equipment. The main building on the resort is the Spa/Treatment area.  Our standard room (J-4) is on a lower floor and has a view of a field and water, AC, overhead fan, TV and bathroom.  We have a patio with nice tables and chairs. We look forward to our Ayurveda experience.