secret retreats

Dear guests and friends of Secret Retreats, There are places where you stop checking the time. Places where you forget to take a photograph because you are too busy watching what is happening in front of you. Places where the day…
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If you have travelled through Asia, you have probably encountered the moment. You arrive at a house, a temple, a traditional restaurant, a small shop or perhaps even a hotel room, and there is a quiet little collection of shoes by the…
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There are places you remember long after you have left them. Not necessarily because they have the grandest rooms, the most elaborate facilities or the longest list of awards, but because they have something that cannot quite be…
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The ones who understand what most of us have forgotten how to notice. There are people who hold knowledge most of us no longer need in our daily lives. How to tell when a coffee cherry is ready to be picked. Which tea shoots should…
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From ancient temples and ethnic villages to limestone valleys and the Mekong, discover a different side of Laos on a Secret Journey Laos is a country that rewards travellers who slow down. Its landscapes unfold gradually, its towns…
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Phang Nga Bay is one of Thailand’s most recognisable landscapes. Towering limestone cliffs rise dramatically from the Andaman Sea, islands appear almost suspended above the water, and the famous rock at James Bond Island has become one of…
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Nepal, Still Welcoming In the wake of the recent floods that were very much contained to the upper reaches of a single valley, Nepal remains open to travellers and welcomes those who wish to discover its extraordinary landscapes, living…
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There are some travel experiences that no itinerary can guarantee. A sea turtle hatchling emerging from the sand is one of them. For a few extraordinary minutes, a tiny creature that has spent weeks developing beneath the beach…
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The individuals who quietly reshape how we see the world. Some of the most profound encounters in travel are not written into an itinerary, they arrive without announcement: a fisherman hauling hemp nets before the first light fractures…
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The thin mountain air over the Paro Valley smells of sun-warmed blue pine, smouldering juniper branches, and high-altitude meltwater. As the aircraft banks between sheer forested ridges to touch down on the valley floor, the frantic pace…
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