DAY 1: May 23Rd Arrival and Transfer to Rock Lijiang
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A YUNNAN YOGA RETREAT May 23-28th 2021 www.bespoketravelcompany.com 1 [email protected] ABOUT THIS TRIP We may not know you personally, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say that you need a break. A proper one. If your past year has been anything like ours then we know a couple of things are probably true. 1) it’s time you treated yourself; and 2) stepping onto the yoga mat was probably the best thing you did last year to stay sane and happy. Here at Bespoke we feel the same, which is why this six-day trip in Lijiang and Dali has been created by our frazzled founder and the fabulous folks at Taozi Tree Yoga studio to be a dream retreat of sorts; a complete getaway for those looking for something special. The focus of this trip will be on restoring balance, aligning ying and yang, identifying problem areas and returning a new person: calmer, healthier, more rested and with greater mental clarity to cope with whatever comes next. What’s more, the surroundings couldn’t be more inspiring: Yunnan’s majestic mountains, lush valleys, rare flowers and rich Tibetan heritage will lift your spirits daily. We’ll visit practicing temples, take a yoga class on a raised platform overlooking Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, be serenaded by local musicians and even try our hand at tie dying with the locals. Oh, and let’s not forget all those delicious family-style Yunnan meals – it’s one of the main reasons to go right? TRIP LENGTH: 6 days, 5 nights (Sunday May 23–Friday May 28, 2021) COST: Early bird until April 10th: 10,900RMB/person; 12,000RMB/person thereafter, based on double occupancy; add 2,800RMB for single occupancy. Based on a group of 10. DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Low-Medium INCLUDED: Hotels, meals (including tea and mineral water), all transportation, tour guiding, daily yoga classes and workshops, all entrance tickets and one massage per person. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 2 NOT INCLUDED: Alcohol or personal expenses, flights, insurance. FEATURED HOTELS ROCK HOTEL LIJIANG 2,400m above sea level | 3 nights Twin room This well-designed modern hotel in Lijiang’s Yuhu village is surrounded by mountains, wild flowers and cobblestone paths and is the perfect spot to begin your Yunnan journey. Full of natural light thanks to an abundance of floor to ceiling windows, you’ll also have gorgeous views of the countryside wherever you turn. DALI SKY VALLEY HERITAGE BOUTIQUE HOTEL 2,000m above sea level | 2 nights Twin room This hotel is one of our favourites in Yunnan for its tasteful renovation of a former Bai courtyard home, which manages to retain its gorgeous rickety wooden feel while still being utterly stylish and comfortable. Quiet, stylish and understated. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 3 ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR KATERYNA PANASOVSKA Kateryna Panasovska is a dedicated yogi with over 500 hours of teacher training under her belt. She took her first 200 hours in India at the Ayu- yoga Eco ashram in 2018 and went on to complete another 300 hours of training with Tymi Howard in Bali in 2019. She's also multilingual, and speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. Kateryna is a star teacher at Taozi and teaches many of the extremely popular Yoga in the www.bespoketravelcompany.comPark classes as well as Vinyasa 4 classes in Taozi’s Sanlitun studio. SCHEDULE OVERVIEW DAY 1: May 23rd Arrival and transfer to Rock Lijiang. Check-in to the hotel and relax before dinner. We strongly suggest taking Air China flight CA1483 if departing from Beijing to Lijiang. Stay at Rock includes one in-room massage on Day 1, 2 or 3. DAY 2: May 24th Early morning yoga and meditation before walking to Baisha village, eating lunch and visiting a local schoolyard to enjoy Pu’er tea and be serenaded by local musicians. Afternoon Dosha and The Four Rooms workshop and evening in the old town. DAY 3: May 25th Transfer to Tiger Leaping Gorge and take today’s yoga class on the rooftop platform of the Tea Horse Guesthouse with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain for a backdrop. After lunch we’ll take a more challenging hike along a non-touristy elevated trail of Tiger Leaping Gorge. DAY 4: May 26th After morning yoga and meditation, we’ll head to Xizhou in Dali, enjoy lunch in this ancient village and then join the locals for a tie dyeing class DAY 5: May 27th After morning yoga and meditation we’ll feast on local Xizhou snacks before hiking for an hour to the valley housing Wuwei Temple to pay a visit to the local monks. Afternoon Soul Seeds mood boarding workshop at the hotel then dinner in Dali old town DAY 6: May 28th Final early morning yoga class and meditation before transferring to the airport. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 5 DAY 1 DAY 1 Arrive in Lijiang You’ll know you’re in Lijiang the second you step off the plane – breathe in that fresh air and enjoy those big fluffy clouds! We’ll whisk you off to the Rock hotel so that you can check in, relax, and perhaps even get a massage. Each person on this trip will be given one in-room spa treatment by Rock’s expert therapists either this evening, tomorrow or the final night in the hotel. Dinner this evening will be in the hotel before settling in ready to our adventure to begin. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 6 DAY 2 DAY 2 Morning Rise and shine! This morning we’ll begin the day with a one-hour yoga class and 30-minute guided meditation exploring the concepts of yin, yang and balance, setting our intentions for the rest of the trip. Then it’s time to eat a hearty breakfast before meeting our guide and walking into the ancient Baisha village. Baisha’s old town was once the centre of silk embroidery in southwest of China and therefore one of the most important places on the Southern Silk Road that once ran from Burma to Lijiang, Tibet, Iran and beyond. Afternoon After lunch in Baisha village we’ll head to the pretty courtyard of a local schoolhouse to sit in the sunshine and sip Pu’er tea as a band of elderly Naxi locals serenade us with local instruments. Once we’re ready we’ll head back to the hotel for two afternoon workshops: Finding Balance With Your Dosha and The Four Rooms. According to Ayurveda, we are all born with a specific mind-body type or ‘dosha’. In the first part of the workshop, we’ll discover our individual doshas and learn to determine when they’re out of balance. In the second workshop we’ll learn about the Indian proverb of the Four Rooms (mental, emotional, spiritual and physical) and attempt to bring each into better balance. Evening This evening we’ll enjoy dinner in Lijiang’s bustling but magical old town, making sure to take in the beautiful lights, canals and wooden buildings after dinner. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 7 DAY 3 Morning Today we’ll enjoy breakfast at the hotel before driving for just under two hours to one of Yunnan’s most spectacular spots – Tiger Leaping Gorge – for (what has to be) one of the most memorable yoga classes you will ever take. The group will be given special access to the platform at the Tea Horse Guesthouse for a one hour yoga class with the mighty Jade Dragon Snow mountain as the backdrop. While from Lijiang you can only see one of the mountain’s peaks, this spot affords you a view of 13 of them! Today’s class will be a Yin class focused on ‘relaxing into balance.‘ Afternoon We’ll enjoy a simple lunch of vegetables and rice at the Guesthouse and then set off on relatively challenging 4-hour hike along the gorge, taking the high road away from the crowds. We’ll pass local Naxi folk who rely on these trails to navigate the canyon, beautiful waterfalls and quaint wooden guest houses. Evening We’ll eat dinner in a local restaurant before heading back to Rock for our last night in Lijiang. www.bespoketravelcompany.com 8 DAY 4 DAY 4 Morning DAY 4 This morning’s Yang yoga class and morning meditation will focus on ‘stoking the fire’ to increase strength, stamina and overall flexibility and continue our search for balance. After breakfast, we’ll pack our things and take a 2.5 hour drive across rolling fields and through valleys to the pretty town of Xizhou in Dali. This tiny group of villages with less than 3,000 Bai minority inhabitants dates back to 580AD and went from military fortress in the 9th Century to a crucial stop on the Tea Horse road during the Ming dynasty famed for its architecture. We’ll check into the Sky Valley Heritage Hotel before enjoying a lunch of local specialties and taking in Xizhou’s street life. Afternoon In the afternoon we’ll visit the stylish workshop of a family that is expert in the ancient Bai practice of tie-dyeing. We’ll try our hand at this surprisingly complex process and see if we can match the skills of the local artisans, who have passed down techniques and designs from generation to generation since the 6th Century. Evening This evening we’ll enjoy dinner in the village or at the hotel and relax in the beautiful surroundings of Sky Valley, which sits on the edge of Xizhou, totally away from it all.