a full immersion in ancient Egypt
A heart-opening life experience
Luxor - 04 - 11 january 2025
tombs and temples-yoga & meditation-boat ride and old souk tour - delicious food and lots of relaxation
A full immersion in Ancient Egypt and a heart opening experience
We take you to a special place - filled with History, Wild Spaces, and Humanity.
You will open your heart to a vibrant landscape, made of desert and fertile lands, an outgoing and friendly culture and experience Ancient Egypt History in its most authentic form.
The Heart Chakra Journey is a retreat designed to show you the beauty of both Ancient and Modern Egypt and allow you a fully heart opening experience to these worlds.
The oldest guesthouse of Luxor’s West Bank - where all started with archeology
There is no better place than Marsam Hotel to stay when visiting Luxor (Thebes), the ancient Egyptian Capital of the greatest Pharaohs.
The Marsam Hotel is the oldest guest house on the West Bank of Luxor. 100 years old, the building was the former excavation house of the University of Chicago; since 1939 it has been a hotel, owned by the Abdel Rassoul family.
Most of the scheduled sites are a 5 to 15 minutes walk away from Marsam and you will enjoy the hassle free week we have designed, allowing you to enjoy all the free time possible to relax, in this magic place.
Half board: local and organic kitchen, products harvested in the garden
When you will sit in Marsam courtyard, you’ll enjoy a beautiful view on the lush fields of the Nile and be able to visualise your next meal.
Marsam is a team of loving hosts and housekeepers together with gardeners who look after the beauty of the outdoor spaces.
The vibrant colours of the garden will end in your plate with delicious, nutritious and healthy meals.
Generous breakfasts and heart-warming dinners are included in the package, you may treat yourself with a lunch at Marsam or in one of the local addresses or simply snack light as most of our participants did during the last retreat!
6 magic historic sites and a captivating guide
The success of a journey through Egypt doesn’t rely only on the choice of the sites visited. The guide has a great importance in what you will take away from these historically rich places.
Tayeb is “la crème de la crème”. He is a qualified archeologist himself, who has extensively studied Egyptology and will provide you with all the relevant details to understand the depth of the informations that stand before your eyes in temples and tombs.
He will also tell you everything you want to know about the contemporary Egyptian society, with a resolutely open-mind and honesty that won’t leave you indifferent.
A selection made out of ten years touristic experience in Luxor
It takes time and a lot of visits in order to draw the best out of such a grandiose thus frequented area.
The selection of visits we have made are a combination of major sites such as the Kings Valley, Luxor and Karnak temples, and more “confidential” places like Ramses the 2nd and Ramses the 3rd temples for example. It will allow you to get the most of this area, with a wealth of insights on the Ancient Egyptian life, while avoiding the beaten touristic tracks.
Full agenda with visits details further below.
Yoga and meditation every day and an initiation to Smai Tawi - or Kemetic Yoga
A heart opening yoga and meditation practice is the foundation of this experience.
Not only you will live incredible moments, but you will have a chance to debrief them daily through your yoga and meditation practice.
The heart chakra is the fourth primary chakra and serves as our center of love for oneself and others, compassion, empathy and forgiveness. When visiting a foreign country with a different culture and traditions, we can be sometimes challenged.
Working our heart chakra is a way to receive all the benefits of what Egypt has to offer and come back home with a wealth of learnings on oneself and the others.
Extra activities included to discover the modern Egyptian life
If Luxor is certainly a major and famous acheological site, there is much more to this region than temples and tombs.
The ancient Egyptian atmosphere can still be felt and seen through the peaceful agriculture life of the Nile river banks. You’ll get to discover it during a sunset boat ride on this amazing stream of water. You’ll also go on an easy and insightful hike around a local village.
Because you’ll want to bring back some memories of your trip, we will take you to the old market (old souk) of Luxor. This place, full of life and at the heart of the local life, will provide you with another authentic insight on how Egyptian people live nowadays.
Plan your extra adventures according to your wishes!
Wednesday will be THE day! The day you’ll choose to relax and process all what you’ve seen already, because that’s how you like it, or the day where you’ll fit even more excitment and adventures!Here are a few ideas of extra excursions and their costs to fit in:
Hot air balloon flight at sunrise (90€)
A 2h horse ride (20€)
Hatschepsout Temple half day (15€)
Edfu temple full day (70€)
Abydos temple full day (70€)
Dendera temple half day (40€)
Karnak Temple half day (35€)
Massage therapy - spine therapy or thai massage - (40€)
A team of three dedicated humans at your service the whole week!
You’ll meet Christos every morning before breakfast for a heart opening yoga practice, a combination of asanas and breathing techniques. You will meet again before dinner for a 30 minutes meditation, to reflect on your day and on your learnings.
Lisa will be there to look after your experience at Marsam and relay any information needed to the hotel team. She’ll be with you also on most visits and excursions and happily share with you her knowledge about Egypt, where she has spent 6 years of her life.
Tayeb is our Ancient Egypt specialist. His wide experience and knowledge will make your temples and tombs visits meaningful, with his very comforting presence allowing you to feel always safe!
Their reviews say it all - Heart Chakra Journey team 2024
“Over all I want to say that this retreat was a perfect combination of spiritual practices, discovering the stunning places of Luxor, experiencing the culture and connecting to the group. It truly was a magical, enriching and very inspiring time and I am deeply grateful for having been part of this retreat. Lisa was taking so well care of everything and made us all feel so warmly welcome. Christos` lessons I enjoyed a lot. They had a very profound effect on many levels. You can feel that he is very well connected to his own body and therefore can meet individuals needs very well. Not only on the physical but also on an emotional level. The place Marsam is beautiful and it felt like being home. Lisa has very good connections and we had a great guide with us. Also we had some time inbetween that we could choose to spend alone or with the participants which was very nice and felt very balanced and relaxing. Especially being surrounded by this beautiful nature and the animals that are there. I feel completely rejuvenated after this week and want to warmly recommend this retreat. I received a lot by participating and will keep all this as a treasure in my heart. Times like these are what life is about and I am so happy that I joined and had this time in this beautiful place, with beautiful people, building new connections, getting new inspiration, ideas and energy”
Bettina
“I had an amazing experience with the heart opening yoga retreat in Egypt hosted by Lisa and Christos. I felt as if I was welcomed by close friends and family. Lisa and Christos were very open, accesible and approachable. Our stay at Marsam hotel in Luxor was magical. Our yoga and meditation sessions were grounding and heartfelt. Lisa and Christos and Layla were wonderful, super friendly, helpful, resourceful and joyful Thank you”
Rina
“I got the chance with my yoga studio, Catis, in Crete for a 7 night yoga retreat to Egypt and what an experience it was, definitely beyond my expectations.
Lisa organised the perfect balance between yoga, activities, and doing absolutely nothing.
We visited many famous archaeological sites with Tayeb our guide who has the most fascinating way of bringing these places to life.The yoga and meditation sessions were held by Christos in different places around the hotel and on one occasion, in a secluded spot beside the Nile after a boat ride. I thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions. Christos has a passion for yoga and a very special way of making the classes very enjoyable and also interesting.
I met and got on well with the other girls that were on the retreat and we soon became friends, chatting about life experiences and also having a lot of fun and laughs.
Marsam is one of the most special places you can stay. The delicious meals are prepared with the freshest ingredients mostly grown on site or sourced locally.
I can't recommend this retreat highly enough and cannot wait until the next one.”
Karen
OUr packages
Packages description
They include all the services mentioned above and summarised in the agenda.
They don’t include:
Your transportation cost to and from Marsam Hotel on the first and last day. An airport transfer can be organised by Marsam Hotel at the cost of 30€ and upon request.
All the drinks ordered during the week and the meals consumed outside of the breakfast and dinner included in the package.
Payment and cancellation policy
To secure your spot at this retreat, you are requested to pay a 25% deposit. This deposit can be refunded in case of a cancellation up until the 4/10/2024.
The next payment (25%) will be requested on the 4/10/24 and can’t be refunded.
The rest of the amount (50%) will be requested on 4/11/24 and can’t be refunded.
