Thali

Today (Saturday, the traditional day off in ashtanga yoga) I was invited to go with Lino and a group of Italians to have Thali in Trivandrum. This is nice becasue in Kovalam the food is usually "spiced down" a bit to fit western taste buds.

We all walked to the Kovalam bus stop and took the bus into town for 10 rupees. A pretty crazy ride indeed...traffic etiquette is seemingly non-existent...but after a few rides, you begin to make sense of the caos. Larger vehicles have the right of way...smaller ones, must move aside to let them through. The 15 km ride took no more than 25 minutes, and after a short, crazy walk through the streets of Trivandrum, we arrived at "Annipuranam" where a large table was waiting. We sat, ordered (8 of us, 8 thali 2 giant paper dosa)....the dosa arrived in minutes with coconut chutney and samar...mmmmm! Then the Thali arrived...served on the traditional banana leaf. And indeed it was much spicier than Thali in Kovalam...I had trouble with some of the items. But after it all came the ice cream...soothing on the way down, and putting the fire out! After we crossed the street to a juice stand where we ordered various things...from fresh papaya juice to a chocolate Sharja (milkshake)...all very refreshing. After, there were some minor errands to run, then back to the bus stand. This bus was a little nicer than the last...had a rockin' sound system. But we sat there what seemed like forever until the could absolutely pack the bus...when we took off, the music blasted! Pumping Malayalam music....fun! After a quick ride back to Kovalam, we walked the path back to the village...and it was 4:00pm...I realized I needed a nap...great day.

Back to yoga tomorrow morning, bright and early. More later, thanks for checking in.