I’m lying down with the sound of Tibetan singing bowls making music in my ears and feeling their vibrations deep through my body. This is the way that the Indian people have discovered to align one’s “chakras” and I am learning all about them tonight. Who thought that a simple brass bowl could have such a wonderful effect? I have only been in the Veda Wellnes Centre in Kochi, Kerala, for less than an hour but already Joseph, the owner, is succeeding in helping remove the tiredness that comes from being on the move for almost 24 hours. I can’t complain – the first flight to Delhi was spent in Upper Class thanks to our wonderful staff travel concessions – what a superb start to my Indian adventure!

My time in Kerala is going to be taken up primarily by a cycling challenge through the Ghat foothills (they say foothills, but it all looked pretty mountainous from the aircraft window!!). I am joining a group of 30 fellow Virgin adventurers to take part in this and we have all raised money for Hope Community Village orphanage where we will be presenting the bikes we have ridden to the children. More about the bikes later – suffice to say at this stage that I have bought a padded seat cover with me and am anticipating some hard work on those hills without any gears! After the biking adventure, I probably should have booked some more R&R but it’s straight into rafting and trekking to explore Kerala’s wonderful countryside.

Anyway, back to the singing bowls. Once Joseph has finished aligning my chakras, his strong hands massage the healing oil deep into my travel-worn muscles. I come out floating and am immediately presented with a delicious veggie curry and dahl – my taste buds tell me that food is going to be a highlight of this trip!

Any worry I had about falling to sleep this evening was misplaced (I have only just returned from a work trip to St Lucia so my body clock is in almost the opposite time zone) – I sleep like a baby. Perhaps I need to find a Joseph wherever I go to help me get over jetlag?!