Niraamaya Resort (August 26

We left our home and moved to the Niraamaya Resort for our final 3 days in India. At the time we planned the trip, we didn't know that Marshall's office would be closed due to Onam at the end of August. That turned out to be in our favor so we could actually take a vacation and enjoy our final days in India.

We were greeted with coconut water while they took our luggage to our room for us.

Drinking coconut water. It is supposed to be good for you. I don't really love it so I take a few sips and then I am finished. So far, I've been offered it 3-4 times and never have finished it.

I am standing in front of Bungalow Gardens 2, our room for the next few days. It is Kerala architecture and modeled after the palace in Trivandrum. They are old buildings that have been salvaged and moved to this resort and restored. Very historical and we loved that.

Our bed is a four poster bed with mosquito netting all around. We didn't really need the mosquito nets, thank goodness! We had air conditioning in our room. It was still like a safari room.

The coastline is spectacular. We could walk on the beach and were told not to go into the ocean. Many folks here do not swim and the guards are always scared when people go close to the water. This happened many places we went.

The shoreline was rocky and we could climb up on the rocks. People would come here in the morning and sit on the rocks and meditate and in the late afternoon, people would come to watch the sunset.

We chose to watch the sunset from the infinity pool or from the bar that is just over the edge of the pool. We would be the only people around most of the time and it was absolutely beautiful.

This is a view from the pool looking up at the restaurant. An old original stone building served as the kitchen and the actual tables were on a porch that you see. It had a spectacular view of the cliffs and the seashore.

We decided to watch the sunset by the lower level bar. The restaurant/bar only served beer and wine. They told us that they could arrange for some liquor for the next evening. He bought us a small bottle of Rum (Old Monk) and hid it in a small cooler. I had a Rum and Pepsi the following nights to watch the sunset. Marshall drank Kingfisher beer.

The first morning I joined the yoga by the sea. Marshall sat on the rocks and watched the boats and the waves. The following two mornings Marshall participated. There was another man who participated too.

The women who cleaned used these "brooms" to sweep the leaves on the grounds all over India. We saw them at the zoo, the first day we toured. I saw them at the Techno Park and again at the resort.

One of the security guards set up chairs and an umbrella for us to have our own special area overlooking the sea. It was so peaceful and quiet. We enjoyed reading our books and listening to music.

We are in front of the lower level bar with our own cocktails and snacks to watch the sunset. One of the staff stayed at that bar and waited on us.

The Bungalow Gardens 2 Escape Room

We had so many locks on our doors and windows. It was quite comical to figure it all out. We had upper doors and lower doors.

These are the doors to our bathroom. We had to slide the locks to open the doors.

Our bathroom was open air. We had air conditioning in our bedroom but the bathroom was not air conditioned.

This was the lock to the window. We did open it to look out at the sea but did not leave it open. We didn't want mosquitoes in the room and we wanted to preserve the air conditioning.

Locking the door on the outside

This was the bathroom in the restaurant. Both the women's and the men's restaurants are open to the outside.

This is the wall in the restaurant. The old building that was restored. It's beautiful!

Two of the guests had henna on their arms and hands and told me that I could get it at reception. One of the reception workers said she would be willing to paint my hand for me. Her name was Sangavi and she was so sweet. Isn't her saree so beautiful?

Painting my hand

The view from our bungalow. We were tucked up in the coconut trees. The ocean was a beautiful blue.

We saw this man climbing coconut trees and cutting down coconuts. They decided to cut them open for us and give us fresh coconut water.

Drinking coconut water

After drinking the coconut water, he cut the coconut open so we could eat the inside of the coconut with a piece of the outer shell.

Marshall is standing next to the elephant statue between the restaurant and our bungalow. If we had stayed too long, we might have started to look like him.