En route to Adam's Peak our driver made an unexpected stop at a Spice & Herb Garden. We got a tour around the gardens to see all the different types of herbs and spices used in Ayeurvedic medicine. I never knew how vanilla and pepper grew on vines and I've never seen the cinnamon bark on the tree. Very cool.
We learned about different concoctions of coconut oil, cinnamon, ginger, sandlewood, jack fruit and many more. Our guide was a young man who was in his last year of university, studying ayeurveda. He was quite knowledgeable and after discovering we all worked in medicine as well, he decided to give us demos of everything.
Since I am covered in mosquito bites from head to toe --seriously, there is not a spot left on my arms or legs to bite-- he mixed together a waxy balm to rub all over to stop the itch and prevent more bites. I smelled like a citronella candle, but I didn't get any more bites that day.
Then he made an oil mixture of sandalwood oil and vitamin E for "anti-wrinkle" cream. I volunteered for that one (see my wrinkle story in the Surgery post). He ended up giving me a rather long face massage with this oil! It was incredible. Then came the headache relief- another menthol-smelling wax that he rubbed/massaged into my temples. And since Holly was coughing, he made her a syrup mix of a whole lot of brown stuff that smelled real bad- Yuck!
Then came the best part-- green oil back, shoulder and leg massages! 45 minutes of free massage. This was better than most massages I've paid money for. I don't know if my wrinkles will disappear or Holly's cough was cured, but I think I like this ayeurvedic stuff!
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