The Ashram....O my goodness...where shall we start!? (it was an experience to say the least).

The Ashram at Amrithapuri is home to 2500 followers of the spiritual leader Amma (more commonly known as the hugging mother...estimated to have hugged 23 million people) The day we arrived was known as a Darshan day as Amma was at the Ashram giving blessings and offering hugs all day and all night.

We arrived at Amrithapuri with expectations of backpackers and middle aged hippies stuck in the 60s and... thats exactly what we got. It felt like we had stepped into a cult which made Sarah feel extremely uncomfortable (she remained in a two day sulk chanting "I just don't get it...I just don't understand....I don't want a hug!") Deborah was a little less sceptical but in the end we both decided it was not for us.

After a sleepless night of monsoon rain and talk of bedbugs we got up at 7 after our so called "lie in" (everyone else was up at 4am chanting) we went to a yoga class which we certainly felt the next day...aparently Debs has no intellegence in her pinky toe!?

The Ashram felt like a prison with its own "hospital", bank, shops, dining hall with metal crockery and regimented timetables, plus everyone wore matching white oufits. The strangest part of the experience was the number of Westerners who had joined the following...most of them looked like middle aged divorcees trying to find themselves - where as we found ourselves on the ferry out of there one day early.

Our ferry back was really relaxing and Sarah finally had a smile on her face! Public transport isn't that bad when it is a ferry in the backwaters...we arrived back in Alleppey for a quick stop over before heading to Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary!