Ranthambore National Park, India

We bade farewell to Kamal and had our bags whisked away by beautifully dressed porters. Hot towels were presented to cleanse tired hands and faces before a traditional bindi was marked on our foreheads and a cool glass of lime water quenched our thirst.

Soon we were shown around the beautiful gardens that Khem Villas has cultivated and informed about their spa facilities. Then as darkness fell we were taken to our lodgings for the next two nights; a grand tent, maharaja style, surrounded by flowerbeds.

We ascended the verandah, complete with white linen chairs and darkwood table and pulled the flap aside. The interior was gorgeous. Lamplit and luxurious, a huge bed with traditional counterpane formed the centrepiece with bedside tables, a free-standing radiator and wardrobe rail all nearby on the wooden floor. Through another flap was our bathroom with twin mirrors, double sinks, a porcelain toilet, incense-scented soaps and a fantastic rainforest shower surrounded by bamboo. To top it all, there were various power points and free wi-fi coverage. Glastonbury this was not!!

After a glorious shower we unpacked and then wandered over to the lake where fellow travellers were sitting around roaring fires to keep the evening chill at bay. Waiters wandered around taking orders for the thatched bar near the water's edge, providing (vastly overpriced) glasses of shiraz, and as we unwound underneath the stars, this seemed pretty close to paradise. Mind you, heaven would probably have a cheaper bar - after all who'd pay nearly £50 for a bottle of Jacobs Creek?!

A couple called Beverley and Stuart from Surrey introduced themselves. They'd been on two safaris that day, seen tigers both times and on the second trip had actually seen two tigers mating - something the guide told them he'd never seen in many years of working in the wilderness park. Bev even had the whole thing on video. A Dutch lady piped up that she had also seen a tiger that day so omens were certainly auspicious.

We wandered into the main building for dinner. The owners of Khem Villas have developed the surrounding area into a farm, growing all their own organic vegetables and even keeping cows and buffalos to provide their milk. The meals are all vegetarian Thali style, with lots of dishes all piled onto the one tray, so we helped ourselves to the buffet, all simmering clay pots above charcoal burners.

On the table next to us sat a family. The parents were painful bores who, instead of the usual relaxed smalltalk and general atmosphere of calm relaxation, persisted in discussing with their poor teenage boys (who they admonished at regular intervals) the marvels of characterisation in Jeanette Winterson's novels, the importance of political essay writing and how Beethoven hadn't been appreciated in his day, before impressing upon their progeny how young Benjamin Britten was when he started composing, probably to further undermine their self-confidence.

Fortunately for the boys (let alone the rest of us) the father then managed to rub chili in his eyes which put paid to their tiresome tirade and caused much sniggering amusement for the surrounding tables who'd been subjected to his overly loud opinions.

Sadly soon after he left, an American couple nearby started complaining to a weary table next to them that they were in a tent. "I don't camp!! I mean, where do I put my hairdryer. They're even making me eat off a tin. This is AWFUL. God, I'd ask for my money back but I just wanna LEAVE."

The woman's husband nodded gravely. Obviously they'd failed to notice both the letter from Bill Clinton thanking the owners for a fantastic stay nine years previously and the 2008 Trip Advisor Travellers Award. Frankly, they needed shooting but Coman wisely suggested we went to bed before my sarcastic comments actually started to be understood.

We both had a disturbed sleep, which we put down to having to be up at 6am for our early morning safari ride, but when we returned and were having breakfast we learnt that a tiger had actually come into the property overnight and prowled around, causing the local dogs and jackals to make noise, which had woken us both up. A guard took us on a walk to show us various paw prints and let us know how close the tigers can come. Considering we'd been in the safari park for nearly four hours and not caught a glimpse we were a little surprised to learn that if we'd poked our head out of our tent in the grounds of a pretty well-to-do tourist resort at 3am we may have seen one prowling around our tent. Surprised and a little alarmed.

That said, relaxing in the gorgeous grounds watching butterflies as we had lunch, and lying in the tent later that night, toasty and warm, reading books and listening to soothing music, the sense of danger receded fast.

Two days at Khem Villas proved just the tonic after a few days of busy sightseeing. And now the road to Jaipur lays ahead...