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Tag: retreat
The Thrifty Traveler: How To Search For An Authentic Spiritual Getaway

The Thrifty Traveler: How To Search For An Authentic Spiritual Getaway

By Myscha Theriault, Tribune News Service (TNS)

Finding time to feed one’s soul is something many struggle to incorporate when it comes to work-life balance. So it should come as no surprise that religious retreats are often as preferred a travel choice as romantic weekends or girlfriend vacations.From Saudi Arabia to Sedona, spiritual getaway options are as diverse as the people who seek them. Here are some tried-and-true methods for making sure you book an authentic one.

Lifestyle: Traveling to any place where spirituality is the local lifestyle is a sure shortcut to authenticity. Just ask any world traveler who’s ever spent time on the island of Bali, in Indonesia. Whether you’re making your way to the mother temple or attending one of the dance ceremonies in the cultural center that is the town of Ubud, it doesn’t take long to realize that this place is the real deal. Ditto for Peru’s Sacred Valley.

The spiritual practices of your destination don’t have to match your chosen religion in order to provide a powerful sense of understanding. While the faith practiced in Saudi Arabia isn’t my own, I did notice something undeniable when I visited the country on an exploratory business trip some years ago. Putting it into words has proved difficult over the years, but I am confident it was directly related to the system of prayer.

While other Persian Gulf countries have the same call to prayer schedule, with small mosques available in nearly every public building for those who wish to pray at the designated times, the kingdom takes it to an entirely different level. Prayer time in this country means commerce and other activities literally shut down so spirituality can be practiced like the priority it is for the local people. As a visitor who was there for more than a month, what I started to notice and appreciate was how powerful and profound those times of day were for my personal meditation. It’s something I’ve yet to experience again anywhere else, though I’ve tried repeatedly to re-create it.

Location: Remote temples and monastery experiences are certainly the gold standard celebrated in the cinema. However, they do tend to be suited to a different type of travel, where excursionists have the time to disconnect from the grid and commit a significant amount of time from their itineraries to get to and experience the sanctuary in question.

For those trying to carve out a bit of time in the family vacation itinerary for some religious reflection, choosing less remote locations that are still slightly removed from the day-to-day hustle and bustle is an affordable and workable solution. For stark desert beauty that provides solitude along with adventure potential for the rest of the family, Jordan’s Wadi Rum is tough to beat. If you happen to find yourself in northern Italy, the sanctuary of the Madonna Della Corona is also an excellent choice. A stone church built into the side of Mount Baldo, the structure is an engineering marvel unto itself. The view is stunning, and it’s a great stop on a day drive through the area. Picturesque mountain meadows, wineries, castles and other fun stops can be worked into the trip as well, depending on the route you choose.

Heritage: There’s a reason ancient religious sites remain pilgrimage destinations for modern-day travelers. People feel something when they arrive. Whether it’s a palpable energy suitable for deep meditation, a connection to the culture responsible for its creation or simply a chance to reflect upon whatever practice brought awakening to countless people over the ages, a site’s history plays a significant role in the spiritual nature of a traveler’s experience.

England’s Stonehenge and New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon are certainly two of the more famous options, but there are lesser-known options which are equally powerful. For example, the pre-Incan stone towers of Sillustani near Puno, Peru, provide more than enough cause for contemplation, as do the ancient Native American petroglyphs carved into a remote boulder in the middle of Minnesota’s massive Lake of the Woods. The fact this boulder is still used by the local Ojibwe as an offering site as it has been for generations speaks volumes about its authenticity.

(Myscha Theriault is a best-selling author and avid traveler. Having just finished a yearlong trip throughout the United States with her husband and Labrador retriever, Theriault is busy planning her next long-term adventure. Readers can keep up with her adventures on Twitter by following @MyschaTheriault.)

©2015 Myscha Theriault. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Moyan Brenn via Flickr

 

Syria Rebels Poised For Final Retreat From Heart Of Homs

Syria Rebels Poised For Final Retreat From Heart Of Homs

Homs (Syria) – The last rebels were poised to leave the center of the battleground Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, handing a symbolic victory to President Bashar al-Assad ahead of a controversial election.

Rebels hit back in the historic heart of Aleppo, blowing up a luxury hotel turned army position after tunneling under the front line that divides the main northern city.

At least 80 percent of rebel fighters have already left the Old City of Homs under the unprecedented negotiated evacuation that began on Wednesday, provincial governor Talal Barazi told AFP.

The remaining 300 to 400 were due to leave on Thursday, Barazi said, although no evacuation buses had emerged by early afternoon.

The pullout from the city center after a siege of nearly two years leaves the rebels confined to a single district in the outskirts of a city that what was for long an iconic bastion of the uprising.

Barazi said negotiations were well advanced for the rebels to leave that neighborhood too in the coming weeks.

“80 percent of the rebels have left the city. The remaining 20 percent will leave on Thursday,” Barazi told AFP.

“On Wednesday, 980 people left, the great majority rebels but some of them civilians, including women and children.”

He said just 300 to 400 people now remained in the Old City and they too would be bussed out on Thursday to the opposition-held town of Dar al-Kabira, 13 miles north of Homs.

Barazi was able to visit his former office in the Old City on Thursday for the first time in three years.

It is not the first deal between the government and the rebels — a number of ceasefires have been agreed in the outskirts of Damascus.

But it is the first time that rebel fighters have withdrawn from an area they controlled under an accord with the government.

The government allowed the remaining rebels in Homs to pull out with some of their weapons in return for the release of dozens of prisoners and hostages held by opposition fighters and the delivery of relief supplies to two pro-government towns in the north which they have besieged.

The negotiations were overseen by the ambassador of Syria’s close ally Iran.

Abu Wissam, one of the last rebel fighters awaiting evacuation from the city center, bemoaned the outside interests now at play in a conflict that had begun as an Arab Spring-inspired protest movement.

“I took part in the protests from very early on. During that time, there were no international agendas controlling the protests. Everyone acted freely and spontaneously,” he told AFP via the Internet.

“But now, everyone is moved like pawns in a chess game. The evacuation is a big game that has been in the planning” for many months by regional and international powers, he said.

There have been many sieges imposed by both sides in the three-year-old conflict but that of the Old City of Homs has been by the far longest.

Some 2,200 people were killed as near daily bombardment reduced the area to ruins.

The rebel pullout comes less than a month before a controversial presidential election, described as farce by Western governments and the opposition, that is expected to return Assad to office.

On a visit to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama, opposition chief Ahmad Jarba said the vote will give Assad “a licence … to kill his own people for many years to come.”

In Aleppo, the rebel attack completely destroyed the Carlton Citadel Hotel, just across the road from the city’s UNESCO-listed Citadel, which the army had been using as a frontline position.

At least 14 soldiers and pro-government militiamen were killed in the explosion and its aftermath, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Islamic Front, the largest rebel alliance in Aleppo, said it carried out the attack, which state television said also destroyed neighboring historic buildings.

A rebel offensive in July 2012 in which they seized large swathes of Aleppo left the Citadel and nearby hotels which had once thronged with foreign tourists on the front line of the deadly conflict.

AFP Photo/ Jim Lopez