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Earth Calling starts 2009 with a wide range of stories. On the cover, Americans David Finklestein and Evelyn Letfuss talk about their angling adventures over the last 20 years in Bangaram.
It makes for 'edge of seat' reading.
We got renowned local artist Bara Bhaskaran to capture Coconut Lagoon in pen and ink. His pictures give the resort a unique beauty.
Ramu Chettiar will take you through Chettiar manners and homes. The community of traders made magnificent homes in Chettinad in the 18th and 19th centuries, but abandoned them when they migrated to the cities for studies and jobs. Visalam, the CGH Earth resort, has been carefully restored and Ramu, the guest relations officer, who belongs to the community is best-equipped to talk about the distinctive features of the house.
Read about Maison Perumal, CGH Earth's cosy new resort in Pondicherry. Also, pick up recipes for healthy living and if you don't want to cook, you will be interested to learn about the innovative restaurant concept at Spice Village. |
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Hello,
CGH Earth is pleased to present to you the October - December 2008 edition of our communique, "Earth Calling". |
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Butterflies in the
monsoon rain |
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The best travel experiences are not
those that are commercialised, but
that are a natural expression of the
local community, as CGH Earth has discovered and practised |
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By Adam Clapham |
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Let me own up at once. Coconut Lagoon invited me to
stay the night at their resort for free. In my far-off BBC
days, taking freebies was taboo. You were supposed to pay
for everything so no one could accuse you of partiality. |
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But
I had been to Coconut Lagoon at my own expense a dozen or so years ago, shortly after it had opened, and I was curious
to see how the resort had developed. I loved it all those years
ago and happily recommended it to friends. This is what I
shall tell them about it now. |
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Hello,
We are proud to present the July - September 2008 edition of Earth Calling, the CGH Earth communiqué.
Memories of Mansions
Visitors are treated to a homey, leisurely luxury in Visalam, situated in the hometown of the historic clan of Chettiars
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Text & Photos by David Finkelstein & Evelyn Letfuss |
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THOUGH WE HAD SEEN EXCITING PHOTOS OF CGH Earth's new Tamil Nadu property before going there, and had plenty of time on the journey to let our imaginations intensify our already considerable expectations, Visalam nonetheless took us totally by surprise.
We travelled by car from Spice Village, in Kerala's Cardamom Hills, meandering along the narrow, mountainous road that snakes its potholed way through lush forests before suddenly coming out upon a wide, open vista to the east and descending precipitously to the fertile plains of Tamil Nadu below. In the distance, clouds hung low over the hill station of Kodaikanal and the entire Palani Range, quaintly described as the "eastern end of the Western Ghats," but the highway on which we drove was bathed in sunlight as we settled in for the two-hour trip to Madurai. Having in past years visited that |
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even then far-too-frenzied temple town,in this instance we were intent on just getting through it as quickly as possible, seeking instead the relative tranquility of the surrounding country side.
Beyond Madurai a serrated range of hills, the Andippati Hills, loomed on the distant horizon to our left as we drove across a vast expanse of now less fertile but nonetheless intensely farmed flatland. Interrupted only on occasion by the scarred faces of Tamil nadu's long established granite quarries, the otherwise pastoral terrain boasted an astonishing number of massive rocky outcrops. Scattered throughout the otherwise empty and perfectly level topography, these huge single-stone protrusions, entirely devoid of vegetation, looked like slumbering mastodons, round, gray and wrinkled. |
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