7/26/2023 - Coconut Lagoon

 After a month at an Ayurveda Wellness clinic we headed to Coconut Lagoon for a lovely recovery, rest and relaxation stay. 

The canals on the way to the resort. 

The lovely hotel grounds

We took a boat ride on the nearby lake.

The food was much more interesting here...

and the staff was very friendly.

We had a truly spectacular sunset one evening. 

The farewell committee. 

7/5/2023 - India And Ayurveda

 Countryside heading to Kairali Wellness Clinic.

Kairali Ayurveda Wellness  

The Yoga Hall.  We tried Yoga but just couldn't get into it.

A concert at the Yoga Hall.

The bland, boring food.

The beautiful grounds.

Monsoon Rains hit one night.

2023-06-29 - Kochi, India

We decided to spend some time at an Ayurveda Wellness Clinic and Spa in India in the hopes of loosing some weight and getting Paul some help with his very dry skin.  We flew into Kochin, India and spent several days there to get over jetlag before going to the clinic.  These photos were from our time in Kochin.

The hotel was lovely with a pretty courtyard and pool.  

We really enjoyed the food and had the vegetable tempura several times.  

We were there during the monsoon season.  The first few days were sunny but then the rains hit.  The rains and winds were pretty significant.  

Winds blowing the curtains on our patio.

A chain "downspout" with water pouring down it. 

Tara arranged for a tour of Kochi for us.  We were here a few years back as a shore excursion from a cruise from Mumbai to the Seychelles.  However, while we had come repeats (this time in the rain) we also hit a couple of new places.  

One stop that was new to us was the Mattancherry Palace, the oldest building in the Portuguese Oriental architecture style in India.  It was built around 1555.  It was the seat of the local Royalty for a few centuries.  

It had glorious carved ceilings...

and beautiful murals.

Other photos of the interior of the palace. 

We also visited the Paradesi Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in India (1568) and the only active Jewish Synagogue in India as of early 21st century. 

We hit a shopping street where we did some window shopping...

and saw the world's largest cooking pot, a varpu.  Pretty amazing.

We also stopped at the St. Francis Church. Vasco de Gama died in Kochin on his last voyage and was originally buried in this church.  Much later his remains were removed to Portugal.  We had visited this church on our last visit.  Unfortunately, this time they were doing restoration on the interior of the church so we were only able to walk into the vestibule.

Our last day at the hotel.  Staff was great and we got a nice going-away flower.