Warm oil up the nose....... I'll have some of that.

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Happy New Year.

My 2008 ended with a complete herb ally induced sneeze fest.

Let me retrace the steps. This may get a bit gross. Don't read this while eating.

When we were with Dr Manoj at the Auyrvedic (sp) hospital booking in our second massage, he noticed that I was sniffling a bit. I told him about my recurrent sinus problems and that being here eating wheat and dairy (unavoidable in this place) and being rolled around in the spin cycle of waves inhaling shovelfuls of sand, was not doing me much good on the "ole bunged up head feeling".

He suggested that before the massage I have a small face and head massage and "some little drops" for my sinus.
Sounded good and off I trotted - certain in the knowledge that I would feel a million times better.

Just shows you how wrong you can be!

Fifteen mins of really pleasant, gentle face massage was followed by ten mins inhaling boiling herbs while sitting wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a rictus grimace of fear, with a tea towel over my head. All this takes place over a boiling kettle perched precariously on an upturned bin.

Then a neck massage and I was feeling okay - until he asked me to hang my head back off the end of the table I had been moved to while he continued to massage my entire face and then out of nowhere.....BANG.
The first of ten fire drops of peppery, clove and chili like drops of warm oil is introduced nasally!

Dear Shiva - what had I set myself up for! It was then that I realised, not only was this the first of ten drops, but it was to be repeated in my left nostril. Nineteen more to go. Yikes. It was on drop number nine that I reminded myself that I had paid for this. Not much, granted - but it was an option I chose.

Imagine the feeling of two red hot skewers shoved into your nose, then imagine that with your head upside down, slathered in oil and wearing a loin cloth. Then put those images together and place them in a small out of the way treatment room miles from anywhere. Got the picture yet/ Not so pleasant.

And as if all of that wasn't bad enough, the result of all that inhalation and oil had to have an end result.
That result was six hours of sneezing, and sniffling and general unpleasantness while - let's put this gently........gunk and sand is flushed from your sinus cavities.

The next day I felt surprisingly well and could breathe normally. I contemplated skipping the next three treatments - but decided on one more. Masochism maybe or an end to troublesome sinuses more likely.

We had to change location and have now moved into a guest house not far from the last one. It’s probably not so bad that we moved because last evening I went to our Houseboy's quarters to get a cold sprite for the warm vodka from the communal fridge.

I was just closing the fridge door in the hut when something moved. I have razor sharp vision for wildlife and this thing just fluttered a bit.

What moved was an enormous and quite beautiful grey spider beside the cooker. It was the size of a saucer. Damn.... I didn't have my camera. After another Steve Irwin “What a Beauty” outburst I remembered that I didn’t know if it was venomous or not.

When I was telling J about it over our drink he asked me if it was poisonous. I tried to sound convincing that it was nothing to worry about.
I checked it out since and it seems like it is a bit of a shy spider and will run far away unless it’s cornered (then it gets nasty!!!!!) - only joking - it’s venom is just like a bee sting for humans.


NYE on the cliff saw a squadron of police come marching along the narrow path, swinging their batons in front of them. They were looking for contraband beer and half an hour later it looked like they got it. The unlucky vendors were marched ceremoniously by for all to see.
There was a bit of trouble here last year and the Kerala police and tourism dept are determined not to let Varkala go the way Goa went with loud music, over indulgence of alcohol and loose women!

I went for a sunset swim a couple of days ago while John sat back at the apt.
I was settling into just lolling there and admiring the fantastic sunset when just beside me only three waves away was that familiar dolphin shaped dorsal fin just scything the water and ambling around for a while. It felt amazingly calm and was a very special moment.

It was too far away to touch - but it was a wild dolphin and for a brief moment it was just the two of us in the whole ocean.

I slept soundly that night with the calming effect of that dolphins presence in my dreams.

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Comments

[liz Gill]

wow again
Will you are a brilliant writer and I think you should go professional...! Please continue the ayurveda it may be horrible but could fix things permanently... And what an amazing image, you and that dolphin....!!!