You get more than you pay for.

The French don't seem to mind "roughing it." When I first went to Club Med in the early 70s the thatched huts had iron bedsteads and earth floors, and there were open-air communal washing and toilet facilities. Club Med has changed dramatically, but in doing so it has lost the attraction of being very basic and laid-back. Today it's an up-market all-inclusive holiday, still very French and still very informal, but much more "all mod. cons." It has frequently had undeserved, sleazy connotations for Brits, but in reality,it's sophisticated and full of cool people. I would love to go there again, but it's not the sort of place I would want to go by myself, to be a full-time gooseberry.

Mattindia seems to attract the same kind of cool, sophisticated French, who don't appear to be the least bit bothered by the primitive nature of the amenities. (Four more have now arrived today - yet I remain the sole Brit in at least 2 months!) I think the French focus on Mattindia's strengths rather than moan about its short-comings, and what makes Mattindia special is the quality of the treatment. 

Ayurveda has a reputation for achieving results with a variety of conditions, especially those for which conventional medicine has no answers. There is a steady trickle of Indians coming for treatment, and one current patient is a young boy in a wheelchair, who has no coordination with the lower half of his body. It was very emotional to watch him have splints bound to his legs the other day and then see him stand and push his wheelchair for the first time, instead of being its passenger. He had one of those smiles of pure joy that children seem able to express so freely.

Even though the charges here are modest, I do not for one moment believe that the Indian patients are paying the same rates as we are. They appear to come from humble backgrounds - not the up-and-coming Indian middle-class or nouveau-riche. I like the fact that the flow of Westerners enables Joy Thattumkal (the proprietor of Mattindia) to do this for local people, and it is inspiring to see the Out-Patient clinic that he is in the process of constructing.

One question that UK friends ask me, is what the cost is, and whether it makes sense to search out treatment back home rather than in India. I have been looking on the web for costs in London and New York, and have found that a single treatment in these cities costs in the region of £60 - £80. Mattindia operates on an inclusive basis with basic private en-suite accommodation, unlimited consultations with the doctor, unlimited medication as prescribed, full board with 3 vegetarian meals per day plus facilities for tea and coffee in the computer room. There are two treatments every day, typically lasting 40 - 50 minutes for each treatment, and the total cost for all of this, is £24 per day. 

What is more, these fees help subsidise the kids in wheelchairs and the new clinic. 

It's a no-brainer.

The most difficult thing to come to terms with is the Ayurvedic preference for working in a messy - even dirty, environment. I get the impression that a spotless and sterile ambiance is as much of an anathema to an Ayurvedic therapist, as a dirty and messy environment would be to a Western consultant. 

You have to adjust your preconceptions.

My bathroom had an invasion of flying ants in the night. I woke to find hundreds of corpses piled on the floor. 

That's India! 

On the other hand, there are no more signs of that Rat.