Ten days in one region.
Ten days is long enough to stop travelling and start arriving. Each ten-day tour goes to one region only: Hunza and the Karakoram one time, Skardu and its lakes another, Chitral and the Kalash valleys another. Four of the ten days are full stillness days in one place. The region is announced with the dates.
The journey.
The long road
Two days of travel with silent hours and sittings at the stops, through the gorges into the high north.
Stillness
Two full days in one place: sunrise, walks, the science hour, time alone, dialogue, the fire.
Deeper in
A move to the heart of the region. A sitting by a lake, a glacier or a pass. Silence grows.
Stillness
Two more full days in one place. Long sittings, who am I?, the letting-go fire, the stars.
Return
The road back, slower than it came. The sharing circle, a letter to yourself, Islamabad.
How the days feel.
Six days on the road, four days still. The vehicle is silent for the first hour of every drive and after every sitting. Nights are early. By the second stillness days most people have stopped counting the days.
For you if
- Those who have done a retreat of 5 days or more
- Seekers who want the far north without a tour group’s noise
- Anyone who can give ten days
Not for you if
- First-timers
- Those who cannot be without their phone for most of ten days
- Those with health conditions that altitude or long drives would stress
Included
Travel from and to Islamabad · Stay · All meals · Every sitting and session · A tour notebook · 21 days of WhatsApp practice after you return. Arranged with our partner tour operator.
The few rules
Phones are kept with us during silent hours and sittings. No intoxicants. Keep the group’s times. Tell us at once if you feel unwell on the road or at altitude.
What to bring
Please bring your own personal things. We provide the stay, the food and everything for the practice.
Always
- Loose, comfortable clothes for sitting and yoga
- Comfortable shoes and slippers
- Your own medicines, with a note of the doses
- Toothbrush, toiletries and a towel
- A small torch for the paths at night
- A yoga mat or your own cushion, if you have one
Winter
- A warm shawl or blanket wrap for the sittings
- A jacket or sweater
- Warm socks and a cap
- Thermal innerwear for the early mornings
- Lip balm and moisturiser
- A hot-water bottle, if you feel the cold
Summer
- Light cotton clothes
- A cap or hat
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent
- A small hand towel
- Sunglasses for the outdoor sittings
Leave at home
- Books and laptops
- Valuables and jewellery
- Anything you will miss your phone for
Health and the mountains
Meditation is not medical or psychological treatment. If you live with a serious physical or mental health condition, are pregnant, or take regular medicine, please talk to your doctor before booking and tell us on the health form. Do not stop any medicine for the retreat. Altitude on some routes reaches 4,700 metres. Read the full notice
After you return
For 21 days you get a short practice on WhatsApp each morning. Once a month you can sit online with everyone who has come before. And three months later, a letter arrives: the one you wrote to yourself.