Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
‘Prepare for a journey within stillness and purity,
you will never forget’.
Egypt, Magical White Desert Yin journey, 9 days
​
5 - 13 February 2027
1795 €
Day to Day program :
Day 1
* Meet the group in a hotel located close to the Pyramids of Giza.
Get acquainted with the people that are going to share this amazing adventure off the beaten track.
* Dinner together as a group somewhere in one of the local restaurants close to the hotel.
Day 2
* After an early breakfast we’ll take a taxi to the Pyramids plateau. The 3 pyramids of Giza, built around 2580 to 2500 BC are monumental tombs for pharaohs. The great pyramid of Giza built for pharaoh Khufu is the largest (146 meters high) and the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World. The pyramids reflect the ancient Egyptians' architectural powers and their belief in the afterlife. Those who want can also visit The Grand Egyptian Museum,the largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, showcasing over 100,000 artifacts from Ancient Egypt. Opened in 2025, it features significant collections, including the complete treasures of Tutankhamun.
At the end of the day we can have dinner together and prepare ourselves for the days that come, the trekking into the White desert.
​
Day 3
* An early start, we will be picked up and meet our guides after a 4 hours drive. After lunch we will start heading into the desert.
Yoga class before sleep in the shared tents or outside....
​
​
The White Desert of Egypt (Sahara el Beyda) :
​
This desert lies in Egypt's Farafra depression, about 45 - 70 km north of the town of Farafra in the Western Sahara, about 500 km southwest of Cairo.
The desert sits on a Cretaceous-paleogene sequence of sedimentary rocks deposited when the region was a shallow sea millions of years ago.
The rock formations were formed as followed :
- The primary rock is wind blown and marine deposited chalk and soft limestone rich in calcium carbonate.
- Over millions of years wind erosion sculpted these soft sediments into surreal mushroom- and pillar-shaped formations seen today.
- Occasional chemical weathering and rare rain events helped erode and undercut harder caps, leaving isolated columns and totems.
- Sandblasting by wind further polished and shaped the features; harder layers resist erosion and form protective caps.
​
The striking white color comes from the chalky composition (calcium carbonate).
​
North of the White desert lies the Black desert, as the Yin complements the Yang we can see this often also in nature.
​
The black desert shows a landscape covered by dark, iron- and manganese-rich volcanic rocks and black basaltic silt and gravel that overlie older sedimentary formations. Volcanic activity millions of years ago produced lava flows, volcanic ash, scoria and basaltic intrusions across parts of the desert.
Weathering and erosion broke these volcanic deposits into the coarse, dark gravels and isolated mounds seen today. Wind redistributed finer volcanic ash and sand, leaving darker lag deposits that coat low-relief areas. In some places, erosion exposed older sedimentary hills capped with volcanic material, producing the characteristic dark-capped hills.
​
We will be able to see those two contrasting deserts during our journey.
​
​
Day 4 to 7
* Breakfast will be served and then we will walk for some time through the desert. Our luggage will be carried by jeep and we have the use of camels for those who want to take a break from walking.
Walking will automatically be very much in silence..... socializing will more likely be the activity around the fire at night, while watching the stars.
​
Throughout the journey you can choose to be silent, independently or maybe the group practices a form of noble silence for a certain time. This creates time for interaction but also time for introspection.
Nothing is obliged, everything is possible.
In any case; the surrounding silence will enter your being, will become a part of you, in a way you could never have imagined. This magical energy of silence that is always there, even when people are speaking. An experience that will probably forever change you. Slowly you might understand that silence will lead you deeper towards your inner essence. The strength of the silence of the desert will make you stronger, you will never forget her and always be able to return to her in times of need after you’ve experienced it.
We will have lunch and walk a little bit more until we reach the place where we will camp for the night.
Before diner we will have a relaxing Yin Class.
Every day on a different beautiful spot, watching the sun setting in this mesmerizing desert and observing the everchanging colors influenced by the light, the clouds, the sun, the time of the day, you will be able to indulge yourself in desert Yin Yoga sessions.
​
I will be flexible with a second (more theoretical class during the day - after breakfast or before lunch - depending on the possibilities (weather / shade). If a class during the day is not possible the evening class will be longer.
​​
​
What to expect while travelling in a desert.
* Five days and four nights we will be at the mercy of the elements of the desert. The soft first daylight brings warmth and after that the burning sun. The last stripe of pink light after the spectacular sunset brings night, darkness and cold. We need to protect ourselves from the elements, adjust ourselves to it by wearing many layers of clothes that we can either add or take off. Wind might bring sandstorms, so sunglasses and a scarf to put around our head are necessary precautions for traveling in the desert.
The elements (5-Elements System from Traditional Chinese Medicine) will also be the theme of our daily Yin Yoga sessions.
​
* Exploring the desert on foot or at the back of a camel, immersing into the rhythm of the desert, become a nomad and forget all earthly worries. No disturbances, only relishing the silence, rest, nature and beauty. Some days traveling longer than others, sometimes we are in need of longer rests and all can be adjusted to the group, there where time does not exist anymore. Live the rhythm of light and dark, breakfast at the first light, trekking to a new place through overwhelming beauty, dinner sleeping in a tent or outside, under a starry sky after the sun has set and the fire has gone out.
​
* Everyone will be provided with a (thin) mattress, pillow and sleeping bag but you are free to use your own sleeping bag or travel sheet. In the desert there are (surprise !) no toilets present but there will be always a place nearby to withdraw yourself. Bedouin clean themselves with water but you could of course use paper, taking it with you afterwards or burning it. There will be carried water with us to refresh yourself but essentially you will slowly become one with nature, creating trails towards places where few went before you, deeper and deeper into the desert through the most beautiful spots in the desert over grey and white rocks, soft sand dunes, sometimes overseeing unexpected vistas. The desert and her flora and fauna is amazingly varied.
​
Day 8
* Our desert adventure ends today and we will gently move back into the civilization, step by step.
We will return to the small hotel where we had lunch on day 3. Depending on the amount of participants we will either have a shared or private room.
​
Maybe you’ll feel happy to go to a ‘normal’ toilet again and sleep in a real bed or you might already miss the disconnection of ‘normal’ life that you were living the previous days, but you will definitely feel enriched by the experience, you will have made new friends with whom you shared an amazing, magical, unforgettable journey within the desert, into silence, into ourselves. You might already realize you have had an experience that has put a spell on you and is indescribable, inexplicable and can only be cherished deep within you. The memory of the desert, her ever changing beauty and her silence will be yours to carry with you.
​​
Day 9
* Silent but energetic days have flown and we will have to say our goodbyes and return to Cairo, or wherever you planned to go next .....
​
​
At the end of this adventure, within you, the White desert will have created a place where you can return to whenever you need it.
​
‘Every experience in life is unique and nurturing. A step closer to our own essence, a move further on our path, our life’s journey. Therefor embrace and cherish it ….'
Basic things to bring with you :
​
- Yogatowel or yogamat.
- Travel sheet or sleeping bag (optional).
- Enough (thin) clothes that you can wear on top of each other and maybe a warm vest for the evening.
- Jacket and/or warm vest.
- Sunglasses and sunprotection.
- Scarf (head + neck covering).
​
Price of the retreat :
Normal price based on shared room : € 1795
(depending on the amount of participants, private rooms might be available at an extra charge of €100).​
​
Be sure to read the booking & cancellation rules.
What is included in the price :
​
- 8 Nights accommodation : Giza hotel (night 1 and 2), White Desert Wild Camping (night 3 - 7), Bawiti hotel (night 8),
- Breakfast on day 2, 3 and 9, full board during the days in the desert.
- Transport on day 3 to 9 (i.e. all transport except arrival to hotel Giza, last day will leave you in a hotel or at the airport - depending on your plans)
- 5 Days, 4 night White Desert journey with guide, jeeps and camels during our journey.
- During the days in the desert : Daily Yin Yoga sessions as taught by Paul Grilley and highly inspired by Jo Phee’s Yinspiration modules. Sessions are based on the Chinese Traditional Medicine 5-Elements and Meridian System. Depending on the needs, the pace, the circumstances Yoga sessions can be adjusted to more relaxing or more energetic forms of practice, all within the Yin Style.
What is excluded from the price :
- Flight to Cairo.
- Entrance Visum - can be bought upon arrival +/- 30 €
- Taxi from Cairo airport to hotel Giza (day 1).
- Entrance fee for Pyramids and/or Grand Egyptian Museum.
- Travel insurance with world coverage (check if you are covered by your health insurance as well), insurance for luggage or cancellation insurance.
- Drinks, tips, own expenses.
​