Recommended & pending a personal visit by our travel writer

What was once just 5.5 acres of fallow land on the Goa-Karnataka border is today a wonderfully secluded holding that’s been cultivated into a yielding farm. Surrounded by 360 degrees of evergreen forest, it is located in a part of the Western Ghats where lies one of peninsular India’s largest undeveloped blocks of forest (approximately 2,300 sq km in size). Welcome to “Off The Grid” - one of the most isolated havens in tourist-heavy Goa.

It took six years for the land to be farmed, and for the cosy farmhouse to be built. This may sound like enough time, but when you have the additional burden of no road, no power, no phones or mobile signals, this becomes a gigantic task! The area surrounding the farm is very rich with wildlife and has an amazing bio-diversity. Waterfalls almost drop into the property and farming is possible here due to the abundance of water through the farm’s perennial stream.

A truly wonderful place, this vast evergreen canopy hides its secrets well. There are many cool jungle swimming pools ideal for a secluded unseen swim and the silky hilltop grasslands, without a soul around for kilometres together, making it  a memorable trekking experience.

Despite the property being isolated and even barely accessible during the monsoons, the owners have managed to grow a rice crop for the last two years. Tiny systems and home-made gadgets have been developed, like gravity-fed water supply from the spring, portable solar LED lighting and home-made cooler boxes that chill for up to five days even without power. All efforts to civilise have been done with an eye on sustainable, eco-friendly development. All this ensures that despite no electricity being likely to arrive at this corner of the world anytime soon, guests can be sure of a comfortable stay, even this far Off The Grid!