Vast Subtlety 
 -Inner Mongolia Discovery: Desert & Grassland

At the door of the skytent,
holding a golden lantern,
by the light of my golden lantern, I can see
that the old ones are coming,
mounted high upon white clouds.

A gentle creature, smelling still of milk is coming, 
wading through the milky ocean.
Through tantric practise and endless recitation,
a monk has shrunk his body, small as an elbow, 
and he’s coming, flying cross-legged.
The door of the skytent swings quietly open…

Twenty-one young girls, their eyes all-seeing and clear,
are coming into the Buddha’s presence.
The pure heart, free of sorrow,
free now from the world,
have thrown the door wide and stand amazed.
A child comes to her mother, 
and a mother comes to her child, 
and they go seeking the profundity they lack.
The door of the skytent swings quietly open…

And every time that door swings quietly open,
It steals a count of breaths from life’s red bulb.
Gold and silver fishes,
impermanent, seem permanent inside.
They are content in their own way.
at the door of the skytent holding a golden lantern….



Length :7 days, 6 nights 

For more details about the difficulty levels, click here.

Mountains for compassion, Water for wisdom,
  Flowers for vitality. How do we lead our life?
About the Retreat

Enter the region of the Mongols who live for centuries to centuries. 
With the energy manifested in its fluidity, Grassland, Deserts, Clouds, Wind and Sky....
which shapes the spirit of the Mongols the respect of the TOTALITY.

We will explore what inspires the Mongols through experiences into the two nature element of this land: Desert & Grassland.
Both with the beauty of the fluidity, while at the same time with the huge differences...

Each seemingly equal & unique unit eventually forms the majestic... WHOLENESS

Itinerary 
(summer version,July & August, will have 2 days Desert and 3 days Grassland,
Other Seasons, April to June, September to October, will be 3 days Desert and 2 days Grassland Explore )


Day 1
“Huhohot Gathering”
--:--   Arrival in Huhohot, check-in and free time

 Day 2 
“The ENTRY: Beauty of Desert”
06:30 Breakfast
07:00 Departure for Desert Entry
09:30 Briefing on desert hike, prepare water and packing
10:00 Start the Journey
12:30 Road Lunch
17:00 Arrival at rest site
18:30 Dinner and rest
20:30 Free time

Day 3
“Desert Contin'... ”
06:30 Get up, exercise and breathing
07:00 Breakfast and continue the explore in Desert
12:00 Road lunch
15:00 Finish the hike 
15:30 Departure to Telateqi Rest and Shower
19:00 Local dinner 
21:00 Free time and sleep

Day 4
“Grassland plateau”
06:00 Get up, exercise and breathing
07:00 Breakfast
07:30 Departure to Grassland
11:00 Local Lunch 
12:30 Start the hike to host guesthouse
19:00 Arrival yurt and Local dinner
21:00 Rest

Day 5
“A day into the plateau…”
05:00 Get up with the rising sun on the plateau
07:00 Exercise & Breathing 
08:00 Breakfast 
08:30 Go with the mongols and help graze the sheep
12:00 Local lunch
12:30 Continue the day in the majestic grassland
17:30 Back to the yurt and rest
18:30 Local dinner
20:00 Stretching and free time

Day 6 
“Home again...”
07:00 Get up, exercise and breathing
08:00 Breakfast and hike to another host
12:00 Local Lunch
14:30 Continue the hike
16:00 Arrival new host family...
18:30 Local dinner and rest
20:30 Exercise, stretching and rest

Day 7
“Saayibanu...”
07:00 Get up, exercise and breathing
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Departure back to Huhohot
12:00 Dismiss and free choice

Transportation:
The meeting point is in Huhohot City (Inner Mongolia Province).
We will use local transportation during the trip.

Notice for the itinerary:
The return to Huhohot, Inner mongolia occasionally have traffic jam and regulations. To avoid missing the airplane, please arrange your flight accordingly.

Gathering:
Time: At any time on Day 1
Place: (unless notified differently) at the hotel, informed upon booking.

Meals:
The meals include local dishes, not many choice of vegetable but more meat and local bread, cooked in a traditional way and on the campfire. 
Should you have especial requirements, please let us know beforehand.

Accommodation:
We will stay in a local guesthouse which we choose according to their good service commitment. Arrangements are usually twin bedrooms and in the grassland yurt is in a shared dormitory. Friendly and Family atmosphere. 

Equipment:
(Need to be prepared by each participant)
- Mountain sunglasses, Lip balm, and sun protection
- Backpack 60L
- Day-backpack 15L (to carry lunch and drinks, during the day)
- Hiking boots (warm and water/snow-proof if it is in winter)
- Gaiter to protect from sand and grass
- Hiking jacket and pants
- Warm layers (200gram & 400 gram polar fleece. Depending on season: wind breaker, gloves & hat)
- Dawn Jacket in winter
- Quick dry T-shirt
- Hiking socks
- Fleece hats
- Head lamp
- Hiking Poles (Helpful for wet path and to avoid knee problems)
- Drinking bottle (no plastic bottles because refill is often with boiled water)
- Some snacks (3 simple lunch portions)
- Personal medical care.

Booking Procedures:
-> INFORMATION & BOOKING

Activity Confirmation:
Upon reaching the minimum amount of participants, you'll receive an email with the last details about the trip. Usually 2 days before departure.
If we are unable to reach the minimum amount of participants, we will postpone or cancel the activity.

Price: 4490 RMB

This activity requires a pre-payment.
Payment options are:
- Cash payment in Shanghai office
- Bank Transfer

Minimum 6 persons, Maximum 19 persons
Private Groups & Team Outings:
For a private group, contact us and we will arrange this trip for you. (Price is dependant on  group size).

Weather Conditions & Cancelation:
This activity is dependent on the weather. If at any time, the weather conditions are not suitable to perform the submitted hike safely, the activity will be cancelled and we will propose an alternative hiking route that satisfied similar hike while avoids the risk.

Included:
- Land transportation once in Huhohot (from & back to Huhohot)
- Insurance (Click here for details)
- All Meals as per itinerary
- Local guide
- Accommodation
- Entry Tickets to all places mentions on the itinerary

Not Included:
- Alcoholic Drinks
- Activities and expenses, not mentioned in the itinerary
- Transportation to Huhohot (Air ticket, train, bus) 
- Personal equipment for desert & grassland hike, like hiking shoes, clothing, backpacks and personal shopping

Enjoy your vitality and time of nature and serenity…….See you soon!
   





























  




  

Something about the Spiritual World of the Mongols:
What distinguishes the Mongols is their devotion to and love of Nature, the far-reaching scope of their spiritual awareness, unending mental curiosity and nearly limitless endurance and quest for excellence in every endeavor. Since Chingis Khan is the Founder of the Mongol nation, we use his name as a starting point, and see where we get if we try to compare the qualities of water with those of the Chingis-Khanite Mongols. Afterwards we shall look more closely on their thoughts and beliefs.

The meaning of "Chingis" is "large body of water," "ocean," or "huge quantities of water." Considering what we know about the symbolism and spiritual universe of the Mongols, it seems probable that Temuchin chose to call himself by that name on the ground that the water is the strongest; the only unconquerable, but at the same time the most changeable and also the softest of all substances. Its peaceful, harmonic, imperturbable stillness can in a moment change into a frenzied daemon of waves shattering to pieces everything standing in its way, this is characteristically accomplished by the water's utilizing the forces existing in its environment.

The water is also capable of showing unyielding hardness; even the strongest person will be beaten to death by a single blow when falling onto the surface of water from a height of 15 meters. In the next second it shows a new quality: if one grabs a sword or an axe to beat the water, it will softly, easily and graciously withdraw; the water cannot be beaten. Immediately when the sword is removed, the water is unscathed. You can burn water, then it will only temporarily evaporate, and thereupon infallibly return. If one tries to push away or shut out the water, it will soon find a new path and there break every resistance with multiplied force. The water can withdraw, evade, disappear, but always, indefatigably, it returns again and again.

The water is thus invulnerable and ubiquitous, it unites within itself all opposing qualities, hence it is not limited by any of them. In this way it possesses incomparable flexibility, softness and hardness without rigidity, it can therefore anywhere, anytime, adapt itself to any new circumstance, then in a split-second completely unexpected take on a new quality. Chances are that Chingis called himself "chingis" for the very reason that he wanted himself and his people to adopt and use the unique qualities of water in their actions.

This extraordinary intuitive adaptability, flexibility and eerie perspicacity permeated their whole nature, all their thought and actions. All this tells us what water represents; simultaneous strength and softness, and it possesses indefatigable, invincible strength because it possesses its sensitive, adaptable softness. The insight in this is a main constituent of the secret of the Mongols.

According to Mongol philosophy, the Universe only apparently consists of separate entities functionally independent of all other parts. Interdependence and interconnectedness were a tangible matter of fact for the Mongols. This perception is perhaps not too original, but the Mongols went further: They knew that Cosmos is built upon principles that in turn are the fundamentals of their countless manifestations. Every part of the Cosmos is therefore a microcosmos in an indefinite series, meaning that every component carries within it a blueprint of all other constituents of an intrinsically inseparable whole, as a consequence they together constitute an interconnected web resembling a giant hologram. Because of this hologrammatic organization, the uninhibited, intuitive mind has the opportunity to derive limitless knowledge from careful observation of a small number of phenomena, as every segment or facet informs simultaneously about all of them.

Herein is found the source of the fundamental dictum of the mystic, saying that all possible answers we carry within ourselves. "Know thyself."
To endeavor to perceive and interpret this information accessible to us is to develop consciousness and comprehension on a Cosmic scale. 

It was not until the advent of Chingis Khan that the Mongols collectively drew together their combined human, that is their physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual resources to establish the largest world empire the world has ever seen, and accomplished the great task to realize the potentials of contact between the parts of the world the Mongol Empire, stretching from the Pacific to the Baltic and including the great Moslem states of Asia, comprised. It is possible to discern in the life work of Temuchin and his Mongols the undertaking of knitting the worlds of East and West together, which means establishing and broadening human contact, dialogue, fraternization and ultimately the establishment of the conscious brotherhood of all people, a unity in the diversity which the Great Mongol always honored and encouraged. The history of the Mongols is a prime example of the principle that as long as our actions are in harmony with the larger forces, they will be endorsed by Eternal Heaven, as Chingis Khan himself would have put it.