Mustique : Book now with SJ Villas
India
Let us show you the idyllic needle in India’s giant haystack.
Not so much a country as a continent, India is an assault on the senses: spices, colours, palaces, temples, mountains, deserts, beaches, forests, and a sense of the surreal that’s hard to articulate.
In a country so large, it’s hard to know where to start. Many opt for Rajasthan, the epitome of regal, romantic India – a colourful kingdom of palaces and pageantry, giant gold sandcastles, sun-kissed deserts and tiger-padded parks.
Some will head straight for the perfect symmetry of the Taj Mahal, built in the mid-17th century by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in loving memory of his wife, Mumtaz.
While others take aim at the Keralan backwaters, a languid network of canals and lagoons, backed by plantations of tea and spices.
We’ve found our own slice of Indian Nirvana near the town of Gorkana on the coast of Karnataka. A few hours away from commercialised Goa, this holy beach town is magical in a way that Goa used to be in the early 1970s.
For centuries it has been a place of Hindu pilgrimage, but Western travellers have only cottoned on quite recently, meaning the area remains centred around farming, community and puja, or worship, all set against a backdrop of heavenly beaches with come-hither names like Kudle, Om, Half Moon and Paradise.
Go now is what we say, before word gets out for good. Our luxury villa is ready and waiting.
The Kahani Paradise Estate
Gorkana, India
Sleeps: 12
Price Guide: From RS 2,478,000 to RS3,221,400 per night
