The Color of the Day is Green

November 13, 2019

For the first time during the trip, I didn’t need to set an alarm. It didn’t matter because I I woke up at 5 am! Maybe it is because we gained back the fifteen minutes we lost when we went to Bhutan! It is more likely that my body is used to the early starts we have had most days. I was leisurely in my very comfortable room and did not go to breakfast until about 9:30; Maryse and Kathy beat me there. The setting for breakfast (like for everything here) is lovely and serene.

Last night we were each given a scarf to wear today in the “color of the day”. Today’s color is green … here is information about Wednesday (according to information provided to us by the hotel):

– the gem for the day, not surprisingly, is the emerald.

– the planet for the day is Mercury. Mercury is the messenger of the heavens. It facilitates clear communication and carries new information to our awareness in extremely precise and effective ways.

– Wednesday is the day of communication, making connections, and thinking. It is the Middle day of the week – connecting the past and the future… the turning point.

– Today we should study, travel, research, meditate.

– The prickly chaff flower is the plant of Mercury. It is a good remedy for inflammation of the internal organs, itch, abdominal enlargements, and enlarged cervical glands. The plant is used in piles, skin eruptions, ophthalmia, dysentery, eye and liver complaints, rheumatism, scabies, bronchial infections, and in leprosy. (I had to look up what piles are, that is another word for hemorrhoids.). Oh my! I hope I don’t get any of those ailments!!! If I do, I’ll know to use the prickly chaff flower as a cure!

After breakfast Kathy and I went to the gift shop, it is one of the nicest we have been in. After that, we went our separate ways. Kathy and Maryse took a chakra meditation class while I spent time in the salt room and then in the gym. Here is more information about the salt room.

Maybe it’s my imagination, but after fifteen minutes in there, I did feel like my sinuses were clearer. As far as the gym goes, I have used exercise equipment in gyms all around the world and have always figured out how to operate anything I have tried. Today was a first – for the life of me, I couldn’t get the elliptical machine past some of the initial set up. That said, it was on and had some resistance so I persisted and did manage to get my heart rate up.

As I mentioned, the grounds here are pretty. They strategically use mirrors to look like paintings.

I showed some of the signs yesterday, here are some more. I apologize if there are duplicates!

I also found this small later along/shrine the way.

After a bit of time sitting on my balcony, I had an appointment to meet with an Ayurvedic doctor. Ayurveda means “knowledge of life” and dates from 5000 BC in the Himalayas. It is based on the theory of “tri dosha” which classify our energy/force/functions by body type. These forces fall on a spectrum:

-Vata is associated with the sky/space and wind/air

-Pitta is associated with Fire

-Kapha is associated with water and earth.

The theory is that we all have a dominant dosha but that we need to maintain balance. By listening to my pulse, he was able to ascertain that my nature is Pitta – fire and wind, meaning I have lots of energy. My Vata is a bit too strong, and out of balance. His “prescription” for me is to maintain a strict schedule of eating and sleeping times. Not surprisingly this is a vast oversimplification, but this is probably enough. It was all very interesting and gives food for thought.

Next, on the agenda was for the three of us to take a three of us cooking class where we learned to make Nepalese curry. I got the time wrong and got there early. Instead of leaving, I had a nice visit with Anish who is a server here at the resort.

Anish is from the town of Dhulikhel, where we are staying. He graduated from hospitality management school in Kathmandu and has been working here for a few months. His goal is to get some experience here and then go to the US or UK to work in the hospitality industry. He is single and lives with his parents and grandparents; his brother lives in the US. His family operates a Newari restaurant in the town. I learned that Newari is a caste here in Nepal. The restaurant specializes in making Chi-ura with Buff meat. Chi-ura is a way to prepare rice which we have seen. If I understand it correctly, the process to prepare it is to cook rice, dry it and then beat it so that it is flat. It can be served that way, or it can be made even crunchier by frying it in a pan without any oil. This is served with the buff (buffalo) meat in one of three forms: minced, smoked which is quite spicy, or fried.

After that quick cooking lesson, it was time for the real thing. We were met by one of the hotel chefs who demonstrated how to make chicken curry and then we got to taste it. We all donned aprons and washed our hands… these steps seemed quite unnecessary since, other than Maryse using a mortar and pestle on some of the spices, we only watched the chef work. In addition to the curry, he also demonstrated how to make masala tea. This is a drink that is tea cooked with milk and has a number of spices added to it. I think we all agreed that the key to the tea is to let it cook a long time so as to let the spices really flavor the tea/milk. We learned that in summer the Nepalese have the tea in the morning and evening, during the winter they drink it four times per day.

The cooking class didn’t take all that long so I decided to walk up the mountain to give the crystal room another shot. Here is the information about the crystal room:

On the way back to my room, I saw this pretty view of the mountains.

I had some time to relax before our group reconvened for dinner. I opted for the a la carte menu and Maryse and Kathy had another traditional Nepalese meal.

It was another full, enjoyable, and interesting day! Tomorrow is Yellow day!