NameAshish
Area CoveredSouthern India and Andaman Islands, India
InterestsLocal food & drink, Architecture, Team sports, Marine conservation, Adventure sports, Volunteering, Local history, Cultural traditions, Music, Environmental work, Ecology, Walking, trekking & hiking, Markets & shopping, Arts & literature, Wildlife watching

Introducing Ashish - your Friend at the other End!

About Me

I was born and raised in Madras (now known as Chennai) on the Coromandel Coast in Southern India. After studying, working and travelling across India and South East Asia, I returned to Chennai 12 years ago to help run my family travel business. I now live in the city I love with my wife and two children.

I am an entrepreneur in the travel and hospitality industry. In 2003, I co-founded the Barefoot Group, an eco-tourism enterprise in the Andaman Islands. In 2008, my wife and I set up a 9-room B&B in Chennai called Footprint. I was also the Director - Research & Content for Traveltocare.com, a website promoting responsible holidays to the Indian Sub-Continent. Since October 2009, I have returned to my first love, managing the family travel company, Milesworth Travel, the local American Express Travel office in Chennai.

I have a deep love for Southern India - its people, rituals, art & culture and its ecology. Running both the B&B and the travel company, gives me the opportunity to interact with travellers on an almost daily basis - offering them personal insights into Chennai and its wonderful hidden experiences.

As a Tripbod, I have the wonderful opportunity to share my knowledge and personal experiences of Southern India & the Andaman Islands and take travellers beyond glossy brochures. Being a Tripbod lets me help travellers have richer and more experiential holidays - whether it is a local market best visited at three in the morning, going birdwatching at an urban refuge, taking a scenic route rather than the obvious one, or even watching young students learn traditional dance at a school.

Southern India comprises the provinces of Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The entire region has a rich and ancient history dating back to the 5th century AD. This is reflected in the wealth of temples, palaces and forts that exist almost undamaged today. In more recent times, the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts became a magnet for European trading powers like the Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and the British. And all of these countries left an indelible colonial influence across the region through their architecture, food, language and lifestyle, that can still be experienced today in little pockets of erstwhile colonies, urban centres, and hill retreats. A long coastline stretching thousands of miles on each seaboard provides plenty of beautiful palm-fringed beaches to find your little private spot. And fringing the western side of the Deccan Plateau are the lush green Western Ghats (mountains) running north to south. Here are lush tropical forests home to rich flora and fauna, gorgeous tea, coffee and spice plantations, and quaint colonial hill stations.

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