Ahilya
John Doyle, Client.
We arrive at Ahilya and are greeted by a member of the staff with a cold towel to cleanse our faces and a glass of ice cold jasmine juice to refresh the palette. The maitre d' shows us to the room and around the Fort. There is an old farm house feel to the place, rustic, without the bustle of televisions and check-in desks. An open sitting area as you enter, the gentle whirr of a large fan overhead and a pug lying against the wall looking up at us with docile eyes. A young waiter brings us a glass of gin and tonic and we relax into the evening. Dinner is served in a different part of the Fort every evening and consists of some rice with five or six small servings of different curries which keeps the most curious appetite interested.
Exploring the fort in the morning, there is a large vegetable garden, where many of the ingredients for the previous night's dinner were grown. Lying by the pool, you can hear the gentle rustle of the wind through the trees and little else. Looking down from the edge of the fort, which is built into the top of the hill, we see a wide river below. Mid morning, we take a small wooden boat and sail down the river watching the locals wash their clothes and swim in the river as we sail slowly past with the warm sun above us. We find a secluded spot, towards the other side of the river not far away, where we stop and dive into the water, paddling and talking about the views.
Although the local village is only a stone's throw away, the whole of the rest of the world feels very far away. We could stroll through the village and look at the textiles, the fruit, the vegetables and the people there. But instead, we stay at the Fort and let the afternoon turn gently into the evening.
