Ananda

Aaahhh - just returned from a weekend at Ananda in the Himalayas; a spa in the mountains close to Rishikesh. It's a very expensive and widely recognized spa - voted worldwide best destination spa. When my friends went a few months ago, the other guests were Seal and Heidi Klum. Rachel was in town doing more Methane in Markets work in India so we did a quick getaway to Anada; taking the train up on Sat morning and returning Sun night. It was clearly rushed but really didn't feel ridiculous.

Ananda's on a lovely compound, this time of year it's quite hazy and cool but not truly cold. There and peacocks roaming around and monkeys, who stay pleasantly away and I swear I saw a pig. So we spent our time in steam rooms, the gym, doing yoga and having various massages, facials, and body scrubs. And eating. In case people aren't aware, I am still a total spa novice. I had my first real massage in Thailand, which was a gift for organizing a company conference. Since then I've done some low-end massages in different countries, and I vaguely think I had a massage once in DC. I've had one or two facials; both in Delhi. That's about it.

This time, I indulged in a jasmine salt scrub - which was just a more thorough, longer version of the scrub I use in my own shower! But really nice and wonderful smelling! The next day I did stone massage which was wonderful! Rachel had one of the ayurvedic treatments (when in india....), which I slightly tried to warn her about but don't want to impart my opinions on what others will like. I had one done when I first got to India (probably like 2003) at the yoga center I went to. I found it absolutely horrifying. I was totally oiled up and flipped around on this hard, slatted wooden table. There was a level of touching in places that I wasn't prepared for. I felt oddly violated and part of it was that I'm in a society which is totally non-nudity, non-touching so it surprising. Rachel felt the same way about hers (without me biasing her at all) - sad to not enjoy a massage but I'm glad to know others share my opinion. She also had a facial that was really nice, she said.

Like way too many cult-ish retreats in India they give you these kurta pajama outfits that everyone's supposed to wear (technically only for yoga and meditation but people seemed to wear them all the time). Just reminds me of cults - and they never fit. The rooms were beautiful, the facilities all around were pretty great. The service was nice and well intentioned but utterly obnoxious. Forgetting meals and serving the wrong ones at the restaurant. Twenty-five people saying "namaskar" in a two second time period. It's clear to me that my definition of good service is leaving me alone.

The train ride home (about 5 hours) was fairly uneventful. Satender picked us up at the train station and as we were driving home, smoke started rising from the engine. He pulled over and realized that for the third time in about a year, some tube had burst. It was about midnight, cold out and Rachel had a 9am flight to Pune and I had physical therapy. So I basically told Satender to figure out what to do and we took an autorickshaw home. I'm not sure what part exactly surprised Rachel so much; that I would trust someone so completely with the car or that I don't have to deal with anything but it was one of those moments when you realize your life isn't "normal". If I understand correctly, he got some stranger to use their car to push (or pull) my car home (which wasn't all that close) and got home about a half hour after we did. Can you imagine a stranger doing that in the US? But we couldn't find any towing company (even though I see tow trucks occasionally). Not the most relaxing end to an otherwise lovely weekend but does make me appreciate Satender yet again!