[justwheels]

There is not much that compares the fun of riding a beastly motorcycle in the twisties. I am sure you had more fun than the four wheeled ones (and I am sure they have their own stories of fun in their beasts).

Ninja 1000 is such a splendid motorcycle and a dream to own for me some day. Till then, I will continue ogling at your black Ninja. Thanks a lot for sharing this crisp travelogue. The bike looks lovely in those mountain backdrops and the pic with abirnale's red XUV700 in the background is just so classy.

Cheers for many more mile crunching by the Ninja.

[Dhruv Shetty]

Been following and reading majority of your reviews, this is no exception it contains a nice detailed write up and beautiful pictures and the yummy food, can agree that bike reaches earlier to places.

Talking about fuel, on my Duke 390 normal 91 octane it runs ok, XP95 smoother and quicker response & XP100 well It turns into another animal, the smoothness, engine response and everything changes. So over here every type of fuel make sa big difference. But when i did this experiment on my elder brother Interceptor 650 there wasn't any difference.

Anyways nice write up, looking forward to the next update.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by justwheels

There is not much that compares the fun of riding a beastly motorcycle in the twisties. I am sure you had more fun than the four wheeled ones (and I am sure they have their own stories of fun in their beasts).

Ninja 1000 is such a splendid motorcycle and a dream to own for me some day. Till then, I will continue ogling at your black Ninja. Thanks a lot for sharing this crisp travelogue. The bike looks lovely in those mountain backdrops and the pic with abirnale's red XUV700 in the background is just so classy.

Cheers for many more mile crunching by the Ninja.

Thank you for all the kind words justwheels

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

Been following and reading majority of your reviews, this is no exception it contains a nice detailed write up and beautiful pictures and the yummy food, can agree that bike reaches earlier to places.
...
Anyways nice write up, looking forward to the next update.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty

Thank you so much Dhruv Shetty, glad you enjoyed going through it!

Talking about fuel, on my Duke 390 normal 91 octane it runs ok, XP95 smoother and quicker response & XP100 well It turns into another animal, the smoothness, engine response and everything changes. So over here every type of fuel make sa big difference. But when i did this experiment on my elder brother Interceptor 650 there wasn't any difference.

Ah, this also compares to the same experience I had when I had my interceptor 650 - no difference no matter what I used. So I guess it boils down more to the compression ratio then - Duke also runs a pretty high compression ratio - what 12.5:1 or something? The Ninja 1000 runs 11.8:1.

[Dhruv Shetty]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Thank you for all the kind words justwheels



Ah, this also compares to the same experience I had when I had my interceptor 650 - no difference no matter what I used. So I guess it boils down more to the compression ratio then - Duke also runs a pretty high compression ratio - what 12.5:1 or something? The Ninja 1000 runs 11.8:1.

The Duke 390 runs a 12.88.1 compression ratio according to the specification on Google.

[KarthikK]

Ride to Tranquebar and Karaikal, Tamilnadu (May 2023)

April month didn't have too much action for the Ninja, because the better half and I usually avoid the overcrowded summer vacation peak month everywhere, plus most scenic places are brown instead of green. For the end of May, we planned a 3-night, 4-day getaway to the scorching hot East coast of Tamilnadu to experience summer in its entirety , literally.

We decided to try this place called Tranquebar (also called Tharangambadi locally) which is located down south from Pondicherry very close to Karaikal, on the East coast of TN. The history of this town dates back to the early 18th century, when Denmark's kingdom came to southern India due to the lure of spice trade prospects, similar to the other European colonies such as the Portugese, Dutch, French and English who had also made similar forays to India. While Tranquebar as a Danish colony was established in the 1700s, the Danish authorities' rule wasn't very long lasting and they left the town in the late 1800s, leaving it to the English later.

Fast forward to the modern day; What remains from the once-flourishing, planned colony of the Danish, is now a small town full of leftover Danish artifacts, old buildings, churches and a fort. We decided to experience some of the history and heritage of this location, whilst enjoying our stay at two different hotels operated by the Neemrana group. We spent 2 nights at their flagship property here called Bungalow on the Beach. This was a heritage property, restored and renovated to be opened up to guests to experience the colonial architecture and ambience right at the ocean front (hence the name). The third night we spent at Neemrana's second and newly opened property called Coconut Alley, which didn't have any heritage elements but the cottages were styled similar to a beach shack and the entire property was inside a coconut plantation very close to the beach.


Bungalow on the beach's location in Tranquebar, on the Eastern coast of TN. Pic taken from the internet for illustration and is not mine



This time for a change, we decided to break the ~450 km return journey at the midpoint Salem, and explore some street food trails in the evening there while staying overnight at Radisson Salem. We normally just use Radisson Salem as a breakfast stop on many trips falling on this route, but this was the first time we decided to camp overnight here and explore Salem town's local street food eateries just for the heck of it. Post that, we just headed back homewards on Day 5 early morning, to reach just in time for our routine workday schedules.

For the onward journey, we had 400+km to cover in TN's famous summer heat so we left home early before 5 AM to beat the heat and to try and reach Tranquebar by noon.

The Summer sun was up early, and I was all set with a new red Iridium visor for the helmet, it really works wonders during the day, cutting off excess light and heat and allows surprisingly good vision even during the wee hours of the morning too!



We stopped for breakfast at GRT Grand Estancia, Salem for an early buffet. The food was decent but the parking lot is a mess here, this probably will be my last visit to this place.



After the Salem - Thalaivasal expressway, the road changed to single lane but the surface quality was so brilliant that we enjoyed the spirited ride even more than on the expressway.



The Ninja enjoying super fast single lane roads as much as it enjoyed the expressway stretches



Taking a breather under a tree





Rider's view of the Ninja 1000



The roads between Chidambaram and Tranquebar were under construction, they were concretizing the entire stretch into a four lane expressway. That entire stretch was in bad shape and there were constant deviations into mud and stone pathways every now and then, for the last 50km of the ~420km distance. That delayed us a bit but the bike handled those roads with equal aplomb. We reached the place by noon as planned, so we managed to escape the deadly afternoon heat there, lol!

We checked into Bungalow on the beach, and our chosen room was called Queen Anna Sophia, perhaps the names of one of the Danish queens from the erstwhile spice trade era. Resplendent in old world charm with the antique furniture and ambience and the super high ceilings, the entire property lends itself a very elegant and sophisticated charm everywhere.

A common living area on the first floor



This was our simple, yet tastefully done up room called Queen Anna Sophia, all themed in Blue and Brown





Simple yet neat bathroom



Opening up the large french windows led to a balcony directly overlooking the Bay of Bengal.



We also had a private table here to enjoy our cups of tea/coffee or snacks while enjoying the pristine views of the ocean



The balcony corridors ran along the circumference of the property, and there were two other rooms which enjoyed the same views on the first floor balcony



The 300+ years old Dansborg Fort was a stone's throw away from Bungalow on the beach, also visible from the perpendicular side of the balcony



After freshening up, we visited the restaurant downstairs, again very elegantly done up in white and red ambience. There was no dedicated indoor restaurant space as such. It was just a row of tables laid out along the ground floor corridor



A decorative bronze vessel with flowers



The tomato and basil soup was made very well



We ordered a vegetarian steak (an oxymoron I know, lol!) with vegetables, Paneer, herb rice and garlic mushroom sauce. The lunch was delicious and we washed it down with tons of hydration, aka ice water. This place is often frequented for travellers from other countries, so while they claim to make authentic continental stuff, I couldn't really say they were 100% authentic continental dishes.



It was too hot to step out in the scorching sun, so we waited until 5 PM or so to start exploring the surroundings. Our hotel was located very close to all the historical places, so everything could be explored on foot. We started off with the beach right outside and found this stone, marked as the 'Ziegenbalg Landing Place', marking the date that Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, the first Danish missionary set foot in Tranquebar



Just a few hundred metres ahead into the town, we found this building which housed many artifacts and interesting trivia from the Danish expedition to India and their tryst with Tranquebar and the local people.





Some nice and informative paintings adorned the walls too



There was some kind of Cafe here, which I found a bit weird because, who sits and eats inside a museum??! Anyway it wasn't operational so we moved on.



We also stopped at a 300+ year old church called the TELC New Jerusalem Church, established in 1718



Found this statue of Ziegenbalg very close to the museum



As we made our way from another side of the town to the beach towards sunset time, we found an interesting 'Stone Map', marking the regions of the erstwhile Tranquebar town in a clearing next to the beach.



This old temple was right next to Bungalow on the beach, later found out it was called Masilanathar Temple.



While the temple itself was shut, the area outside had quite a few rocks where we sat and spent time till the sun went down. This is not a sunset beach since it is on the Eastern coast, but the evening sea breeze was enjoyable nonetheless

[KarthikK]

Ride to Tranquebar and Karaikal, Tamilnadu (May 2023) continued...

We settled in to the restaurant for a simple and quiet dinner, choosing to have some soup, pasta and some local Danish-Tamil Jugalbandi cuisine dish made of Babycorn



Since there was nothing much to do inside the property, we were strolling around the beach area at night, and finally called it a day. Here is a view of the hotel from the beach at night.



This time of the year being around Equinox, the sun rises very early here and we woke up to this sunrise view from the hotel room at roughly 5.30 AM itself!



The beach looked beautiful at sunrise and we spent a couple of hours shooting sunrise and passing time in general at the beach, until the sun started to burn and force us back indoors



The hotel from the beach



A local fishing boat preparing for the day's action



Fishermen in action in the ocean at sunrise



This place is called Ruin of Bastion, it extends into the ocean and apparently signifies the landing spot for the Danish sailors of yonder



The Dansborg Fort ruins as seen from the Ruin of Bastion





The better half enjoying the early morning sea breeze, amidst the sound of waves crashing into the stone wall



A rock on the beach



The Bay of Bengal coastline extending into the horizon



Back at the hotel, some simple yet relaxing Masala Chai with a view of the beach



More views of the surroundings from the terrace of Bungalow on the Beach







The late morning and upto late afternoon heat was extreme, so we just stayed indoors and played some indoor games in the hotel to pass time. The swimming pool in the hotel was of some use in the afternoon and was a fun activity for some summer relief, lol!



In the evening we visited a place called the Ziegenbalg museum, housing some relic machines of a historic printing press of this town which he established



After this we visited the Dansborg Fort and hung around inside for a while, checking out the intricacies of the structure and some trivia posted on boards by the Archeological survey of India.



Following this we retired back to our hotel and called it a day. The next day, post breakfast at the Bungalow on the Beach, we checked out of this hotel and moved to another property by the same Neemrana group 300 metres away - called Coconut Alley.



A picture of the Ninja in front of Bungalow on the Beach



This property had a very different vibe in comparison to the previous one. It had a row-house style set of cottages themed like coastal 'shack' houses, themed with different colors and named after different fishes.





Ours had a blue theme on the inside and was called 'King'



The bathroom had a multi-color, loud and confused design I couldn't fathom



There was also an open air rain shower in a backyard which was a nice touch



And a tiny sitout outside facing the common alley



There was a lovely outdoor open air cafe but it was much too hot, except during the early mornings and evenings



They had a rooftop restaurant overlooking the beach, amidst the coconut trees. Again, it was too hot to try during the harsh sunny hours

[KarthikK]

Ride to Tranquebar and Karaikal, Tamilnadu (May 2023) continued...

In the late morning, we took out the bike to Karaikal town which was close by. The heat was insane during the afternoon .
Here is a picture of us riding around like maniacs in the 40 degrees Celsius coastal heat



Scorching afternoon heat of the East coast and the deserted small town roads of Tranquebar



The Ninja posing with the Bay of Bengal near Karaikal



Lunch was had at Bungalow on the beach, which had a better equipped restaurant and chef than the new property we had moved to on day 3. We had an awesome time trying out some Vegetable Creole with rice (a local Indo-French delicacy of vegetables in coconut milk based gravy). To go with that, we had what I fondly nicknamed Scuderia Ferrari Pakoras, due to the annoying red color they had added, much to our dismay.



The desserts were absolutely mind blowing at Neemrana's hotel. I distinctly remember these desserts - Chocolate mousse with raisin sauce, Bitter Caramel custard and Brownie with dark chocolate sauce.



After returning to the hotel post lunch, we set out on foot to explore the coastal harbour viewpoint area of the small town. This peacock chap here was dancing in anticipation of the rain gods but he had turned the other way, lol! We got a rear view of the peacock dance!



We came across this devastated house in ruins, and while we were looking at it in curiosity, a local passerby told us it was a remnant leftover from the 2004 Tsunami which had unleashed untold fury and misery on this tiny town twenty years ago.



The fishing harbour had many boats docked for the day.



We hung around here, enjoying the evening sea breeze and watching the sun go down behind the fishing harbour



Repeat of the shot with the Fuji camera



After the sun went down, we walked back to the hotel and retired early after a quick dinner. The next morning we woke up for sunrise as usual. But instead of going to the other common beach, we thought we could ride on the Ninja to the harbour viewpoint and catch some interesting sights en route

Enjoying a cup of coffee on this beach-facing open terrace



The Ninja in front of the Tranquebar Town entrance arch



Riding to the harbour viewpoint - It is basically a ~500 metre concrete road extending into the Bay of Bengal to help fishermen unload and transport their catch to the local markets.







There was a tiny beach next to the harbour viewpoint which we could climb down to



Sunrise view from a different beach



A closeup of our lids



Managed to get a few shots of the bike with the fishing boats in the background, for our memory books







Since this point is almost a kilometre out of the Indian mainland, I can now brag that the Ninja has officially done an 'overseas' ride . The google maps location is testament to my 'overseas' ride!



Last shot of the bike at the farthest point on the harbour strip before it started getting hot, forcing us to head back to the hotel for breakfast



Post breakfast we checked out of the hotel and proceeded towards Salem, not without a photo in front of the hotel for memories though.



It was a hot day, and the bad road patches were annoying for the first 50km, after which the roads opened up into lovely enjoyable stretches all the way until Salem.



Since we had decided to break the journey at Salem and stay overnight there, we just had 230 odd km to cover on Day 4 and we easily reached by lunch time. This was the super comfortable room at Radisson Salem



View from the hotel window of an adjoining piece of land - probably a coconut plantation



In the evening we stepped out to some of the city's interior areas to try out their famous street food fare. In clockwise order - left to right from left top corner - Kudal Appalam Set (a kind of papad sandwich chaat), Thattu Vadai Set (somewhat like Papdi chaat / Sev Puri hybrid), Horsegram dosa (at Saravana Bhavan Aasai Dosai) and Murukku cheese basket chaat! It was amazing to try the local chaat and street food variations that Salem had to offer.



The following morning we checked out early and proceeded to polish some nice dishes at Radisson's breakfast buffet counter, after which we left Salem by 7.30AM to reach Bangalore in 2 hours flat, just in time for our routine office workplace duties.



This 'blood boiler' summer trip to the East coast logged a total of ~840 km and was the only trip for the month of May on this bike.



There are a couple more rides planned in June month, so some more updates to follow in the days to come. Thanks for reading!

[raptor_diwan]

The pictures are fantastic! Your writing is impressive, and I couldn't help but laugh at the veg steak.

[100Kmphormore]

That Kudal Appalam is nothing but Boti masala - a harmless veg chats item, the name due to the cylinder shape fryum but meaning intestine for the non vegetarians. Amazing hotel, beachside location and the Ninja, as stealthy as always - where do you book your rooms, booking.com?

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

The pictures are fantastic! Your writing is impressive, and I couldn't help but laugh at the veg steak.

Thanks a lot for the kind words raptor_diwan!

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

That Kudal Appalam is nothing but Boti masala - a harmless veg chats item, the name due to the cylinder shape fryum but meaning intestine for the non vegetarians.

Absolutely right, in karnataka they call it Boti Masala and the origin of the Kudal name is from the non-veg analogy as you said

Amazing hotel, beachside location and the Ninja, as stealthy as always - where do you book your rooms, booking.com?

Thanks sir! We do not stick to any particular site as such. It depends on the property; If it is some lesser known homestays or BnBs, the booking is mostly by direct communication over phone or Whatsapp. If it is some well known hotel or resort, we compare across multiple booking sites and even check with the hotel's reservation desk directly. What we have found so far with most of the established hotel / resort chains, is that direct reservation usually yields the best prices, compared to third party aggregators. Generally for resorts / homestays / BnBs we prefer to book directly, while for hotels based out of towns / inside cities we tend to use travel aggregators such as MMT or Agoda (just a guideline).

Some useful advantages that aggregators such as MMT or Agoda (and many more) offer is that:
a.) we can lock the price months in advance by paying 0 or 1 rupee and need to pay the full amount only closer to the trip dates, while booking directly will usually need 50% of the tariff or more upfront. This way we don't block money for weeks or months together
AND
b.) There are sometimes better offers on certain specific cards or cashback offers for specific rooms with certain aggregators

So in short, there is no blanket site we are loyal to. Every property is looked at from ground zero and booked after exploring all the options the property is listed on.

[kiku007]

I enjoyed reading your travelogue. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing and do keep writing.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

We decided to try this place called Tranquebar (also called Tharangambadi locally) which is located down south from Pondicherry very close to Karaikal, on the East coast of TN. The history of this town dates back to the early 18th century, when Denmark's kingdom came to southern India due to the lure of spice trade prospects, similar to the other European colonies such as the Portugese, Dutch, French and English who had also made similar forays to India. While Tranquebar as a Danish colony was established in the 1700s, the Danish authorities' rule wasn't very long lasting and they left the town in the late 1800s, leaving it to the English later.

Fast forward to the modern day; What remains from the once-flourishing, planned colony of the Danish, is now a small town full of leftover Danish artifacts, old buildings, churches and a fort. We decided to experience some of the history and heritage of this location, whilst enjoying our stay at two different hotels operated by the Neemrana group. We spent 2 nights at their flagship property here called Bungalow on the Beach. This was a heritage property, restored and renovated to be opened up to guests to experience the colonial architecture and ambience right at the ocean front (hence the name). The third night we spent at Neemrana's second and newly opened property called Coconut Alley, which didn't have any heritage elements but the cottages were styled similar to a beach shack and the entire property was inside a coconut plantation very close to the beach.

There's very few people having the surname Tranquebar and I'm one of them. So it was nostalgic for me to see pictures of the village. Its a serene seaside hamlet hidden away from the busy ECR with NO entertainment or typical touristy sight-seeing spots. I think the opening up of the Neemrana Group's Heritage resorts has brought in some visibility that appeals to a select few (from interstate or overseas often times I suppose) and I hope it remains that way so the Land of the singing waves (Tharangambadi) remains tranquil.

I've stayed at the Neemrana's Gate House hotel a long time ago. That property has since been closed. Very few people knew about it back then, so we could pretty much have the whole property for us. The group had painstakingly restored the properties and kudos to them for doing that. It also helps the local community.

May I ask you how was the service at the two Neemrana hotels you stayed? Also, how about their occupancy levels in summer? You reckon they are busy?

Some pictures from more than a decade ago.

[Cyborg]

Karthik, man, what can one say


The places you guys visit are really off the grid, beautiful, with such classy, niche accommodations. Hats off to your selection, superb documentation and proper, proper use of weekends/holidays.

Keep enjoying and taking us along, it’s a pleasure!

Cheers

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by kiku007

I enjoyed reading your travelogue. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing and do keep writing.

Thanks a lot for the kind words, kiku007!

There's very few people having the surname Tranquebar and I'm one of them. So it was nostalgic for me to see pictures of the village. Its a serene seaside hamlet hidden away from the busy ECR with NO entertainment or typical touristy sight-seeing spots. I think the opening up of the Neemrana Group's Heritage resorts has brought in some visibility that appeals to a select few (from interstate or overseas often times I suppose) and I hope it remains that way so the Land of the singing waves (Tharangambadi) remains tranquil.

That is amazing to know . Did you by any chance grow up here or were you visiting the place in your childhood? You might have some lovely stories to share about the evolution of the place over the years, and perhaps the stories of restoration post the 2004 Tsunami here.

I've stayed at the Neemrana's Gate House hotel a long time ago. That property has since been closed. Very few people knew about it back then, so we could pretty much have the whole property for us. The group had painstakingly restored the properties and kudos to them for doing that. It also helps the local community.

Ah yes, the Gate house used to be the other heritage property here but I was told it got shut just before the pandemic. On a funny note, I remember seeing some of these chairs and tables in Bungalow on the beach last weekend, lol! They must have transported it there after the Gate House got shut down.

May I ask you how was the service at the two Neemrana hotels you stayed? Also, how about their occupancy levels in summer? You reckon they are busy?

Bungalow on the beach - 9/10 for the stay and ambience, and 8/10 for the service. Perhaps 7/10 for the food. Some minor hits and misses but overall very nice staff who went the extra mile to make us feel at home. Overall 9/10.

Coconut alley - still an upcoming property but I am going to be blunt here - 8/10 for the stay and ambience (some facilities still lacking such as proper parking, etc), 6/10 for the service (delayed service for even minor requests, they appeared understaffed since it is a new place), 6/10 for the food (delayed service and many items unavailable on the menu - so much that we decided to go back to BOTB for food). Eventually more misses than hits here - so overall maybe 7/10

I would pick Bungalow on the beach if I were to go back again.

Occupancy levels were very low due to the extreme summer heat in May. I think in BOTB, ours was the only room occupied on the first floor with 1 other couple in a room in the ground floor of the property, among a total of 8 rooms there, so 25% occupancy.

In Coconut alley, there were 8 rooms again and only 3 were occupied (including ours).

Some pictures from more than a decade ago.

Attachment 2460571

Attachment 2460567

Attachment 2460568

Attachment 2460569

Attachment 2460570

Very nice, thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Karthik, man, what can one say


The places you guys visit are really off the grid, beautiful, with such classy, niche accommodations. Hats off to your selection, superb documentation and proper, proper use of weekends/holidays.

Keep enjoying and taking us along, it’s a pleasure!

Cheers

Thanks so much for your kind words Cyborg sir. I am really glad to know we share common tastes in our place and stay choices, will be happy to continue posting other travelogue reports as usual every month on this thread . You should plan a trip down south on your multi v4s and a bunch of us should all ride to a scenic location over a weekend!

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

You should plan a trip down south on your multi v4s and a bunch of us should all ride to a scenic location over a weekend!

Thank you for the lovely offer Karthik, sounds great to me. If I were to broach the topic of me riding down south to my wife, I would have to permanently move there with only my bike as she is definitely not taking me back

It’s better for my health if you take me along on your trips/rides through Team BHP

Cheers

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Did you by any chance grow up here or were you visiting the place in your childhood? You might have some lovely stories to share about the evolution of the place over the years, and perhaps the stories of restoration post the 2004 Tsunami here.

Sorry to be a disappointment on that regard. We didn't live there or even visit often to offer any local stories. The temple is pretty much the only reason we go there. Ours is a bit away from the coast so it'll stand the test of time hopefully.

Even though we don't live there, the surname Tranquebar is a good conversation starter at times. Recently I learnt from an acquaintance of Dutch origin that the Dutch also follow the practice of using Toponymic surnames i.e. the name is based on the location on which the bearer lives or lived. Example: Gerard van Schagen means Gerard of/from Schagen. That's similar to the practice followed by some families in India.

Also, we had a laugh when the ITC Grand Chola hotel in Chennai named one of their bars as, "Tranquebar".

A person called Preeti had done a good job at documenting the restoration efforts at Tranquebar. Here's the link,

https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/Q...-heritage.html

I've provided some interesting bits from the article below,

• Gedde entered an agreement with Raghunatha Nayak, the king of Tanjore. According to the treaty, signed in 1620, which is today preserved in the Royal Archives in Copenhagen, “We order the creation of a port named Tarangampadi here and allow the export of pepper to that country as it is not available there."
• Thus began an association which went all the way till 1845, when the Danish state entered into a contract with the British about taking over both Tranquebar and Serampore in Kolkata, explains Helles. “Though I’m not sure how they could sell something they had simply leased," he laughs.
• The oldest monument to survive in Tranquebar is the Masilamani Nathar Temple, built by the Pandya king Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan in 1305 AD, located very close to the seafront.
• In 1994, Danida, the Danish international development agency, contacted Das asking if it could help them restore the place. “Some headway was made but then the funding was curtailed by the Danish government," he says, a trifle ruefully.
• Then Francis Wacziarg of the Neemrana group of hotels, best known for creating heritage hotels out of crumbling monuments, became interested in Tranquebar. “There is a sea-facing property that belonged to a Nadar family that was brought over by the Tatas—they wanted to construct a boutique hotel there. That project was never implemented," remembers Das.
• So, the Neemrana Group in association with INTACH renovated this building, maintaining the ancient architecture. “We started the work in 2002 and we completed the restoration in 2004. Our soft opening was slated for early January—the flooring hadn’t yet dried when the tsunami hit," he remembers.
• The Danish Tranquebar Association came into existence at this time, he says, and they went on to complete other restoration projects. Most of these projects were in association with a number of other stakeholders including INTACH, the Tamil Nadu government and Bestseller Fund.
• Helles chips in: “We are talking about 225 years of shared Indian and Danish history here. I want more people to know about it. This is the only way we will succeed in preserving it."

I'll stop here so as to not hijack your thread with my trip down memory lane. lol.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

On a funny note, I remember seeing some of these chairs and tables in Bungalow on the beach last weekend, lol! They must have transported it there after the Gate House got shut down.

That's good to know.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I would pick Bungalow on the beach if I were to go back again.

Thanks for the feedback. I should include this in one of my trips.