Desperate to escape the city, Michelle, Destiny and I went to the Ideal Beach Resort near Mamallapurram this weekend. On Saturday morning, I made the 10 minute walk to their apartment and we got in our hired taxi for the drive. I sat in the front seat, which luckily is the only seat to have a functioning belt. The ones in the back seem to be merely decoration, since there's no clasp for the buckle to go into.

We arrived at Ideal, and knew we were in for a nice, relaxing weekend. Since we'd arrived a little bit before lunch time, we took a look around the shop. Michelle tried on a stunning leopard print swimsuit, that was shaped like the bottom of 1940's womans' suit combined with the top of a suit for an eight year-old. After a delicious Kerala-style fish curry for lunch, I set off to read a good book in a hammock by the beach. While I enjoyed a beer and samosa by the shore (and a rare chance to actually wear a swimsuit in public!), Michelle and Destiny took advantage of Ayurvedic center for massages and pedicaures. Afterwards, Michelle and I took a nice stroll down the beach drinking from young coconuts cut by a woman along the path. A great afternoon, and exactly what I needed to unwind.

Chilling at Ideal Resort [photo by Michelle Holshue]

Unfortunately, I started feeling ill shortly before dinner and quickly went down for the count. Eventually just about everyone gets sick in India, right? I felt good about staying healthy for nearly 6 weeks, but really wish that the stomach bug had had the decency to wait until I'd had MY ayurvedic massage to kick in. Boo.