Just like an aristocratic couple in a novel from the late nineteenth century: she’s a journalist (Debbie Pappyn), he’s a photographer (David De Vleeschauwer), and the two Belgians set off on a getaway trip saying goodbye to the everyday hustle and bustle.No borders, no limits to isolation, just the desire for peace and relaxation.
They went on to find what they consider the 22 most remote places in the world. They describe them, photograph them, catalogue them and put together a picture book, issued by Italian publishing house Rizzoli.
The concept of remote is associated with silence, solitude, space, emptiness, of secret doors and starry skies. Simple conditions that can still be found today, but only if you are ready to cut yourself off from everything.
Here are three of the choices that fascinated me most from what we can deem to be the most sophisticated tourist guide of our time.
The idea that more than one strikingly remote location was relatively close to home, near Milan, made me both confused and pleasantly surprised. Maybe this guide is not only about pipe dreams, I thought.
Two hotels are in Italy, but I chose the Hotel Bellevue des Alpes, Oberland Bernese, in Switzerland. Why? Because you can only get there by train. No cars allowed in this paradise 2,070 meters above sea level.A family-run operation, while it’s lacking a gym it excels in silverware, porcelain plates and stools by Alvar Aalto.
Anyone who, like me, has been to Utah has likely spent hours watching a still, motionless view on the horizon. But when I think about Utah I just can’t picture a luxury hotel in the middle of the Hopi and Navajo desert territories, especially one inspired by their tribal architecture. Yet there is one, and it’s deeply American.
Of the utmost luxurious, it features a swimming pool in the middle of the rocky Canyon Point desert, as the Amangiri is a diamond in the rough. The writers say that it is designed to maximize natural light, while the inside blends with the outside. Is it true? One way to find out.
A remote place in many ways, except one: distant, extremely isolated, absolutely silent - but not so much different. 240 kilometres south east of Australia, in the green coast of Tasmania lies a haven of relaxation with a contemporary flair. To put it simply, it’s a bit exotic, but not too much.
Twenty suites, from 80 to 140 square metres, with marble bathrooms and all the comforts you could ever dream of.A futuristic design that – as they write – blends into the backdrop of the breath-taking Tasmanian coast.One of the most luxurious places known to man, immersed in one of the most majestic natural environments ever. A retreat from the end of the world.
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