Backwater Lagoon on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. The Beach and Lake Resort is perched between the two bodies of water. A bearded boatman is required to make the journey to the Ayurvedic Resort. The 100 meter trip takes you from hectic Indian life to quiet isolation.

One can sit on the beach chairs and watch the Kerelan fishermen pull in their nets all morning long. About 20 of these men dressed in dhotis engage in this tug-of-war with their kilometer long nets for hours at a time, while singing in traditional chants and songs. Not much has changed in the last thousand years for these people. The flow of life is amazingly simple and slow. I wonder how come they have 20 people tugging on the fishing lines; why not just use a winch? I guess it would put them out of work.

Every morning begins with our yoga session. This is the real thing, after listening to our om, our teacher labels Emma and I as not sattvic. He asks us to demonstrate some asana, I choose traditional surya namskar, Ashtanga style, he is not impressed. His teaching is very different from ours, all poses are done so slowly and all with breath retention. It is nice to learn from a real yogi. Yoga is described as being only for internal spiritual benefit; all physical and relaxation benefits are secondary. I do feel that I have gained internal benefit, but my physical body is feeling very stiff.

After the 2 hour yoga class and breakfast of steamed rice cakes. We have our Ayurvedic treatment. The first 2 days involved rejuvenation massage, completely naked as a small Indian man walks over us holding on to a frayed rope. Our bodies are completely covered in medicated oils that have a strong, sweet smell. The next treatment was a general massage followed by having our skulls rapped in a floury paste covered gauze, with hot oil poured onto our skull then sitting for 20 minutes, I stare at the dim flame rising out of the kerosene stove and smell the mixture of kerosene and medicated oils, an intoxicating mix. The next treatment was sirodhara, which consist of hot oil being slowly dripped from a flask suspend above our forehead. This brought up lots of feelings and emotions all not entirely positive. But the effects are quite profound.