Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Teri - Yesterday we toured a spice plantation. It was way more interesting than I expected! We saw cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, turmeric, coffee, black tea, ginger, cloves..the list goes on. We also got to smell and taste many of them. It's good to see where foods we eat regularly come from. I had no idea pineapples grew close to the ground - I always imagined them hanging from tree branches!

This morning we did a two-hour trek in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. It's the home of 46 tigers and over 700 elephants and many more exotic creatures. We saw butterflies, spiderwebs, and one elephant from a far distance. :( Still the nature walk was pleasant. We walked right by a bunch of monkeys just outside the gate of the sanctuary!

Last night we also went to a performance of traditional martial arts.

Today Chris and I went for ayurvedic massages. Ayurveda is a sister science to yoga; it means "the science of life" and focuses on nutrition and lifestyle practices. The massage was interesting...
I stripped down completely naked to receive a head massage from the lady massage therapist. She had me sit on a small plastic stool (I wondered how many others sat naked on this stool before me and if they clean it in between) and standing in front of me, she took my head in her hands, nestled it into her ample bosom, and rubbed the back of my head!
For the next hour I was slathered with tons of oil, rubbed, slapped, and 'chopped' from head to toe. A face massage and steam sauna finished off my ayurvedic experience. My skin feels nice and soft.
At one point the therapist asked me how old I was and if Chris was my boyfriend. When I told her I was 33 and had been married for 5 years, she expressed shock and dismay, "Married for 5 years and no children! Why not?! " I'm pretty sure she went on to massage my ovaries and told me she was massaging me with 'good luck'!
(Ask Chris how his experience was with the male massage therapist! ;)