Steamy Sunset on the Arabian Sea…It’s Like a Painting
Breaded Prawns at One of Neeleshwar Hermitage’s Restaurants
Living the Life of Luxury
After having traveled in a more chaotic rhythm up to this point, moving from city to city and activity to activity, we were ready for this planned down time. While planning this trip, we decided to treat ourselves to one more luxurious stay and that was at the Neeleshwar Heritage right on the Arabian Sea coast. We were feeling a bit guilty about the money spent because at this point we figured out how to get by on very little but when we arrived and were greeted with flowers, hugs and coconuts in this little piece of paradise all of that guilt went away. This ayurvedic resort has multiple individual cabanas, a spa, a store, a yoga cabana, an affinity pool and poolhouse and two restaurants. We had a cheaper cabana in the facing the garden versus seaside or poolside, but it was so comfortable and swank that it didn’t matter. Morning yoga, a free ayurvedic consultation, breakfast and tea were all included in the price of our stay. We spent most of our four days here relaxing and eating. We did yoga a couple of days but it was hard not to just sleep in. After our consultation on day 2, we each had a treatment done. I had a two hour massage that included a polstice rubbed on all my joints. Wow! It felt amazing.
The food here was amazing as well (hence choosing to put a photo of the prawns above). For breakfast we chose from a menu that changed every day. We had things like dosa, masala omelets, poha, uppam, fresh fruit and fruit shakes. They had homemade breads to die for…so I hesitated ordering anything else. Tea was 4-5 every day where you had your choice of South Indian coffee or tea, regular coffee or masala chai and you were always given little snack like zucchini pakora and a sweet treat made from coconut or banana. We chose to skip lunch and have a more luxurious dinner each night. For dinners we had different masalas, dals, fish, breads, of course and more. So good!
Other than eating and spa-ing, we spent time at the pool, reading on our porch or walking on the beach. There was only one crazy excursion we took, as you will read about next.
Click on the images in the below gallery to see more of our time in Neeleshwar.
Inhabited by the Gods
On the advice of Neeleshwar’s general manager, we hired a car to take us to a local Hindu harvest celebration called Theyyam. He drove us to a temple in one of the towns close to the resort called Kanhangad. Here, people were gathering to experience this yearly event where chosen lower caste families (from the dalit caste) participate in a ceremony where they dressed in elaborate costumes and look into a mirror until a Hindu god inhabits their body. The local Brahmans readied the space for the ceremony, dressed the chosen one and also danced with the god with an elaborate headdress on, at one point. Cindy and I had read about the ceremony and were a little worried because the God could choose you to come after to ward off evil, heal or offer you advice. The dancer known as a Kolam does seem superhuman because they can dance so nimbly while bearing the weight of this costume and its generally still fairly warm temperature-wise.
It was definitely an interesting event to witness and we made it through without being noticed by the God. We were however noticed by the all the people around us because, of course, we were the only foreigners with light skin. We sat with a family in the front and were treated like friends…they took care of us, making sure we didn’t have to sit in the sun and making sure we got to eat along with everyone else. Speaking of eating, we saw people donating money so we went ahead did the same not realizing we were paying for a lunch. They tried to get us to go up earlier than everyone else to get some food, so we didn’t have to wait in line (this happened a lot on our trip where we pushed to the beginning of a line) but we waited until everyone else got in line. We weren’t going to eat but kept being pushed so we said, why not. We were given plates of rice, raita (a yogurt side dish) and some beans on a metal platter with no silverware. This is when we realized that people here and many other places, didn’t generally use silverware…they scooped with their fingers or used bread to pick up their foods. We figured it out fine, sitting among all the others, watching us figure it out…the food was spicy too but we managed. After we ate, the driver approached us to see if we were ready to go. We took pictures with our new friends, exchanged numbers and were given two bags full of bananas and puffed rice. Another example of how gracious and genuine people in this country are.
The Kolam
The Elaborate Dancer waits to be Inhabited by the God
A Homestay in Kerala
After we left our paradise near Nileshwar, we hopped on a train and went to our next paradise stay. This time it was booked homestay just outside of Calicut/Kozhikode in Kerala. We were picked up at the train station by our host, Saheer and brought to his family home about 1/2 hour away. The property, seen on the left is right on a river and near an area that is a sanctuary for migratory birds and is connected to the Arabian Sea which is less than a mile away. Along with Saheer, his wife and 3 children along with his mother and father live here. His wife and two of the children were traveling but his parents greeted us when we arrived and we met his young son later in the day.
The first day here, we mainly napped in the AC and on the hammock by the river, went for a hot walk down to the rocky beach by the sea and then were treated to an amazing dinner of a couple of different coconut curries, some fresh veggies and some roti, cooked by his mother.
The next day, we had a boat tour into the mangroves and the bird sanctuary. The mangrove plant life was interesting and we did see a few different birds…herons, eagles, etc..not too many photos because it they were at too great of a distance. It was also just the beginning of the migration for many of them. It was still worth the peaceful paddle through the various nooks and crannies of the river at high tide. Later in the day we were taken back to Calicut by Saheer and his friend Tahir. We first went to an archealogical museum that housed findings from this area specifically. It included some old and not so old nautical devices and weapons along with different religious relics. We made it barely in time to get a tour of the space. After, we walked through a butterfly garden and met some young children that were playing in the area. They were very keen on using their English on us and of course wanted to take a picture with us. After this, we went main beach in the city for sunset which was the practice of many people in the town so it was fairly busy there. We had some good conversation going there and throughout the night with our two guides. Tahir was very interested in touching on religion and politics and other large topics.
After this, Saheer took us to this coffee shop and art house which was quite spacious and filled to the gills with various objects that were collected from many places by the owner. We ordered our iced coffees and walked through the space to see glass, old cameras, antique furniture and musical instruments. It was such an interesting space that they were shooting film in one area. We drank our coffees and chatted a bit more and then headed to world-famous Paragon restaurant. Apparently people come from all over to eat at this restaurant that was established in the early 18th century and that was apparent as the restaurant was full and there were many people waiting. We were brought to the takeout side and got in very quickly (again, a perk of being a foreigner). What was more interesting was that instead of taking us on a regular route through the restaurant, they took us up and through the multi-level kitchens and to the nicer room of the restaurant. They apparently wanted us to see how clean the place was before we enjoyed their amazing food, so we could feel good ourselves but also report back to the greater world about Paragon. We ordered the dishes they were known for…Biryani and Mango Fish Curry and also enjoyed some breaded prawns and various chutneys, raita and breads. Wow! Definitely worth all the hype we heard.
Click on the images below to see photos of our time at Green Island Homestay!
After eating, we walked around the shopping area of Calicut in search of more statues and other gifts for people. Like many other cities in India, things really came to life at night. The streets were lit up with lights, the vendors were selling and people were out eating and socializing. We found some statures at this shop and talked with the owner about the important things in life…being spiritual…and also found a great candy shop to get some tasty sweets called halwa to share with Saheer and his family. We ended the night by visiting some temples and a park and had some coconut water on the way home.
The next day we relaxed much of the day. At night we were treated to Saheer’s mother’s famous fish biryani…again we were not disappointed with the food nor the hospitality. In the evening we went in a tuk tuk to a long pier to enjoy the sea breeze with the many other people who visited this place when the sun went down after a hot day. On our final day, waiting for our evening flight to Bengalore, we spent a lot of time just relaxing at on the lovely porch of Saheer’s home. While relaxing, working on posts, writing and drawing we were suddenly visited by about 40 of the moms relatives that were staying close by for a reunion. It was fun to chat with them and, of course, we ended up taking many photos with groups…you’ll see some photos including one with us and the whole group.
A Few Days in Bengalore Before Flying Home
We had a short flight from Calicut to Bengalore and made it to our final hotel by the airport without too much trouble. We basically had two full days in Bengalore but the last day would be spent just relaxing and getting ready for our long flight back to the states. So, we decided for one day we would go into the city and explore a bit. We did still want to look for a few gifts and wanted to visit a Buddhist temple. Our Uber took us straight to the Maha Bodhi Society temple and the Buddhist shop. We found some great books, some incense and some mala bead bracelets and then went and meditated in the temple. The temple had amazing spiritual energy which has stayed with me since my return and I continue to meditate daily…so it was a great last temple to visit.
From here we walked to the famous Chickpet Market which were streets and streets full of different shops including more bronze shops, clothing, soaps and much more. We wandered for quite a while purchasing small final things including some ayurvedic soap, some dried fruit and nuts and few final statues as gifts. At some point, we had enough of the crowd and the shops so we located a brewery to have a beer and a snack. It was a nice treat after a long day. After, we called an Uber who took us back to a restaurant close by our hotel called Acre. It was a cool restaurant tucked back into a green space with an open atmosphere and pretty decent food too. A great way to end our stay in this amazing country!
I will miss you, India! But, I’ll be back!
