National Geographic Guide to the World's Secret Places

Book excerpt: Here are island hideaways on the tropical beaches of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and on the windswept North Atlantic shores of Harris, where Scottish crofters handweave their famous tweed. Visit mountain aeries from the Himalaya to the Pyrenees, secret realms from the harshly beautiful desertscapes of the Sahara to the lush rain forests of Costa Rica, or the winding alleys of a village tucked into the foothills of the Alps. Twenty-eight destinations in all, each place has its own unique flavor and appeal, yet shares a kind of privacy and authenticity all too rare in our hectic, modern world.