My husband and I are enjoying an extended stay at Jewel Mountain, a massive acreage of lush mountainous forest where each rustic home is clustered not too far from a village center. All sorts of activities are available, including swimming, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, archery, and horse-riding.

The place we’re staying is a gorgeous and airy masterpiece of wood and timber. And when we want a touch of civilization, we troop along the mossy paths to the village center, which has some wonderful restaurants and shopping centers as well as a spa – I found this latter place really useful in the first week or so when the schedule of mountain climbing and horse-riding gave me aches in muscles I didn’t even know I had!

Our Sports and Activities Director has been very helpful and with his and my husband’s encouragement, I’ve overcome a fear of horses carried on since childhood. I’m glad to have overcome that fear as we’ve enjoyed a couple of guided treks through the woods on horseback—I ride a sweet brown mare called Sugar. 

There’s nothing to describe the thrill of being as close as possible with the wild mountain beauty, the feeling of peace that descends upon you as you finally climb, exhausted and invigorated at the same time, to the top of a cliff with your husband and hold hands to watch a breathtaking sunset on the majestic pastoral landscape. And for a woman like me who has lived in the city all her life, learning the names of the brightly colored birds that flit across our path or raise a noisy early morning chorus outside our bedroom window is a simple joy that seems to bring me back a piece of lost childhood.