Gentle cure of an Indian summer

We put the 栄冠を与える around your 長，率いる, like this, 調印（する） it with wax and then 注ぐ in half a litre of hot herbal oil,' said Dr Cyril Thomas. 'The hotter the oil, the greater the value to the 団体／死体.

' 'What does it cure?' I asked. 'Eccentricity,' he replied. Sitting on the verandah of the Ayurvedic Centre, looking out at the frogs on the lily pads in the lagoon, I wondered if my brains were 存在 so 明白に 緊急発進するd by the South Indian heat. 'Do you think I need it?' I asked. 'It is also a very useful 治療（薬） for 苦悩,' said the doctor, tactfully.

Ayurvedic 薬／医学 has 3,000 years of tradition behind it. And summing up the 患者 - analysing everything from the quavers in his 発言する／表明する to the 星／主役にするs of his birth chart - is part of the 過程. Dr Thomas had 明白に been making a 早い 査定／評価.

Pretty masseuses hovered, the oil was warming on the stove, the 広大な／多数の／重要な teak （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was already waxed and waiting. It was time to 調書をとる／予約する in for a fortnight of pummelling and potions . . . or make an excuse and leave. But first I had to know a little more about ayurvedic therapies, which have become a best-selling attraction for tourists in South India and an important 追加する-on feature at 訴える手段／行楽地s such as this one at Coconut Lagoon, 近づく Kumarakom.

Dr Thomas was happy to explain. Ayurvedic means 'life knowledge' and is the 古代の 薬／医学 of India. Today it is recognised by the Indian 政府 as a 医療の system of equal standing with modern Western practice.

Health, in the ayurvedic 見解（をとる）, 代表するs the harmony of 団体／死体, mind and soul. Dr Thomas told me that for two centuries Western 薬／医学 was popularised in India and 地元の methods neglected, but now there is 新たにするd 利益／興味. 国会 is the 重要な to ayurvedic belief.

Wrong diet can destroy you, say the system's masters, which fits in 井戸／弁護士席 with modern Western 最大の関心事s. It was becoming easier to see why Dr Thomas believes our 医療の worlds are converging and why 探検者s after health go to Kerala as they once went to Bath or Tunbridge 井戸／弁護士席s. But Dr Thomas 収容する／認めるs most Western 訪問者s 手配中の，お尋ね者 only massage, scented oily baths, aromatherapy and 緩和.

The heat of Kerala did the 残り／休憩（する）. And it is very hot in South India - a more 湿気の多い and relaxing heat than the 燃やすing 干ばつ of the northern plains. You just want to 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する on the beach under the palms. India has never been seen by British tourists as a sun-and-seaside holiday, even though Goa has been attracting beach-loving hippies for years.

But now Kerala's sandy coast is 製図／抽選 a new 肉親，親類d of holidaymaker who doesn't want too many 寺s - just the sun. The horizons are shorter than in Rajasthan - almost like the Caribbean, with bays, palms, little fields of sugar 茎 and colourful 道端 villages. Hotels are 改善するing 急速な／放蕩な and service （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域s anything in the Caribbean.

Most guests at Coconut Lagoon come between October and April and 連合させる 治療s with the 楽しみs of the beach and boating on the lagoons. My own 判決 is that the massage, the oils and the laying on of 手渡すs were all very relaxing. It made a pleasant interlude in a bumpy trek around India . . . and my eccentricity seems to have 生き残るd.

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詳細（に述べる）s from South India specialist Cape Travel

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