On the move, health tourism, Kiran's connections, 3months in.

(I do realize that this is totally unnecessary. Enough complaints and I'll take it down)

After finishing my last blog entry, I went in search of a massage. What I found was an ayurvedic hospital in the heart of Coimbatore. I ended up talking with all the people that run it and getting some great information about ayurvedic treatments and how to include that in a India tour. They also have different training programs to teach people basic ayurvedic theory, massage techniques, and yoga. This I plan on doing in the next couple of years combined with some other health ed. I did end up getting a fantastic massage. I was stripped down and covered in ayurvedic oils before getting a truly great massage. Afterwards I had to cover myself in a green paste which was an natural soap followed by the first hot shower I had had in weeks.
I was cleaner than I had been in a long time and noticed when I was bothered much more by mosquitos than I had been.

From here I was picked up by a friend of Kiran's, Georgie. We drove 4 hours back to Cochin where I met with Dr. Raj. He is probably one of the most expensive dentists in India, but about 60% of his patients are from overseas. He specializes in Root Canals, crowns, and implants and has been in the business 12 years. His office was cleaner than any office I've seen in the US. For the cost of a root canal in the US, it is generally between $1,000-$1,500. His cost in India is about $150. Many people come to get work done and then they basically have a vacation in India paid for. We all then went to a city club for dinner and business talks. I jumped on a bus back to Coimbatore where I immediately caught another bus only to change to a new bus which eventually took me a to a place in the mountains called Coonoor.

A day around this city and then took a beautiful train ride to a nearby place named Ooty. This is probably one of the 3 best scenic train rides in India, and I crammed in with a school group who sang to me about half of the trip.

In Ooty I met some great people, ate some great food, visited many different lodges and got some black market dvd's. Pineapple Express, Love Guru, Zohan, No country for old men, Gajini, and a foreign one. I have now seen 4 of them. It is such a treat to be able to watch a movie considering I never have a tv in my rooms. I was reading Sacred Games, but left it on one of my many bus trips; it was dragging a bit anyway. I am now reading Holy Cow; a book written by a westerner about her experience in India.

From Ooty I headed to Mysore where I got to see the City Palace lit up due to it being a sunday night; it is really a site to see.

Kiran told me to visit his friends Manoj (who I had met previously) and Ajit. I went to see them in their dentists office and the firts thing Ajit did was tell me to sit in the chair so he could check my teeth. He said all was looking good. I went with him to his home and the Jag therapy office, which was started by his father in law and is now all over the world. It is a natural type of therapy that helps in all aspects of health. It is a bit of a lifestyle more than anything else.
Mysore is really a great city, big city with a small city feel.

I spent most nights with Manoj and his other friends and even got to spend a night at Manoj's house playing with his kids who had loads of energy. After so much time dealing with adults and talking with managers, it was so refreshing to play with kids and just have that simple relationship.

On the day of the Harvest Festival where they paint the cows and in the night have the cows jump over fire a group of us went for a long drive to the forest to try and spot a tiger and some wild life. We saw lots of elephants, some warthogs, spotted deer, samba, and other small things, but no tiger. It still was a lot of fun.

After some days in Mysore, I headed up to Bangalore to stay with Kiran and Vibha again. When I arrived they weren't home, so as I waited I asked his neighbor to use their bathroom. After the bathroom we got talking and I ended up spending the next eight hours their talking with Frank, Nilini, and their 1.5 yr old Arjun. We listened to lots of music, ate lunch and watched a movie; really nice people who I will stay in touch with.

Another friend of ours, Haley was visiting with Kiran too. As soon as they came home I found out that Kiran had planned a day trip for Haley and I for the following day to visit some different cities with different monuments, including one that we arrived to after it was closed, but since we weren't coming back I decided to run past the guards and climb the many stairs. They ended up not caring at all and when getting to the top, besides the gate being closed I thought I was going to faint due to the fact I haven't ran in a long, long time; never the less, up many stairs.

The next day I went to a tourism expo and met with many different tour operators only to confirm that 99% of the tours that people book online to India are overpriced, on the normal tourist circuit, staying in not the best hotels, but the ones where they get the most commission, and trying to get as many in and out as possible. I did however go to one booth which advertised a serviced apartment in bangalore called Green apts. The owner is very into eco friendly activities and promotion. The apartments are all made out of eco friendly materials and the meals served are all from organic crops. I was invited to a talk that they host once a month that included folk singing and a presenter of some eco topic. This topic of the night was how to convert your roof into a garden of sorts using normal waste that would usually pollute the environment if disposed of the normal ways.

It is so nice to be able to stay with friends where it is just comfortable and their is no pressure to do things and they don't feel obligated to entertain. Especially after being on the go, it just makes everything sort of settled and recharges the batteries to go again.