Kai and I took Georgie to the bus stop and said our farewells. What a wonderful time we had. And if it wasn't enough to spend 3 days gliding down the Kerelan waterways, doing nothing, Kai and I decided that what we really needed was an Ayurvedic treatment in Kumily....and for 10 days. We arrived in Kumily after a 5 hour bus journey. A very tame bus ride compared to the one I was about to take up to the Tea plantations of Munnar. Kumily had nothing special to offer apart being very close to an established Tiger reserve, that had hardly any Tigers. It was a medium sized town and it's real beauty lied in it's temperature. Cool evenings and pleasant days. A welcome relief from the heat of Varkala. We found ourselves a very decent home-stay and the best tali restaurant in town and cheapest! Our main focus though was Santhigiri Ayurveda & Siddha Hospital. I was expecting a rather plush establishment, what I found however was a basic building housing 6 staff, 1 suspect director of staff and cable TV showing movies, 24/7. That was treatment enough for me. So, let me explain the Ayurvedic programme. Kai booked in 6 days and I had decided to do 3, so that I could go to Munnar and write. In these three days, I would be massaged by two men, steamed, put into a deep state of relaxation by having warm oil poured over my forehead [SIRODHARA] and last but by no means least, have warm oil funneled down both nostrils to clean out my sinuses. The treatments were very good and very cheap, £40, for the 3 days. The massage was out of this world with four hands working the muscles on the whole of your body. Masses of oil was used for this and the only downside was the stress undertaken in order to climb off the high table without causing an injury. The best treatment was the warm oil on the forehead, which was the most relaxing treatment I have ever had. And a common treatment for Insomnia, so they were working with the right man. The full body massage would last about an hour, then the Sirodhara would take 30 mins. Just amazing. I can't explain how relaxing that treatment is. TRY IT !!
Now the plan was to spend 10 days doing the treatment but I had been having a battle with my conscience and knew that I needed to get away and write and was unable to justify being pampered for too long! The hardest part of this trip for me has been finding the discipline to write my script and so taking myself away for seven days to somewhere isolated, was paramount. So my mind was made up and I knew it was going to be hard because I was going to have to say goodbye to Kai, my wonderful traveling partner. We had traveled for three and a half months and I had made a wonderful lifelong friend. The morning of my departure came too soon and Kai and I walked down to the bus stop and stopped at the local Chai hut and had a cuppa. We talked but not much. There was nothing that could be said to express our feelings. We had been through so much, had talked about so much and with a hand on my heart can say that I loved this man. We stood by my bus and started to say goodbye but words would not come. We hugged, held back the tears and then I told Kai to 'fuck off'. He smiled and walked away. I got on the bus and waited for the driver. Kai and I decided it was best not to do the waving goodbye thing. The driver appeared and I was about to go on the scariest bus journey of my life.......
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