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The Golden Chariot
Train travel is one of the most environmentally friendly ways of travelling and luxury train travel means that you are able to see a wide range of places without having to constantly pack and unpack. Travelling in a comfortable train means that the journey becomes a positive part of the whole experience. The Golden Chariot train is wholly Indian owned and staffed.
The Malabar House
This hotel was created out of a beautiful 300 year of building which was sympathetically converted by the current owners who are fully committed to sustainability and social and environmental responsibility. They are the only operation (at the time of writing) in India that is certified by Green Globe 21, the worldwide environmental certification program for sustainable travel and tourism.
Aanavilasam
This small, privately owned boutique guesthouse currently has just two rooms with another two planned. It is high quality and personal, situated away from the town of Thekkady (where most of the other hotels are located).
CGH Earth Group
Both Coconut Lagoon and Marari Beach Resort are owned by this family owned environmentally friendly chain of South Indian hotels. They opened their first hotel in 1957 and creating holidays that are inspired by the surroundings while protecting and nurturing them has been their ethos from the beginning. All the hotels in the group have a range of environmental projects and the staff are very willing to show guests the facilities at each hotel - which may include biogas generation, water harvesting, composting, organic farming etc.
The ground handling of this tour is provided by our local agent and we supply him with more than 90% of his turnover. All of the drivers and staff are local people. Thus we have fifteen local families that are directly financially reliant upon us. Our drivers have a contract and are paid a monthly wage. This is very unusual in South India where most drivers are normally employed on a commission-only basis (not easy for such seasonal work).
All of our customers are supplied with detailed information about their holiday. We supply general advice relevant to all customers as well as more specific facts about your particular tour. These documents offer our customers lots of advice and guidance including how to obtain an Indian Visa, which immunisations are recommended, how much to tip people, how to dress appropriately and how to behave in National Parks. We support local charities and invite our customers to do so too (details are supplied with your travel documents).
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
