Covid19 concerns
The retreat will be organized if the Covid19 situation in September allows. If the retreat needs to be cancelled, any fees paid will be returned. We will be following official guidelines regarding safety during the trek and possible restrictions as to who can join (for example, what kind of illness would mean that the person cannot join, or whether a vaccination or a negative test is required for people joining events of this size). If you are able to get vaccinated before the trek, that is supportive for everyone’s safety.
Closer to the time we will see what the Covid19 situation is and plan the practicalities of the retreat accordingly.
Price and donations
The base price of the retreat is 250 €. This covers the travel expenses of the teachers and the managers, the food expenses and some other practicalities. The bus from Rovaniemi to Kittilä is included in the price; meals during the travelling are not included.
We feel that financial situation should not prevent anybody from participating, so we are willing to offer the retreat for a reduced price, if needed. If the base price is too high for you, please contact us at retriitit2@nirodha.fi and let us know how much you are able to pay. If you would like to support those in a difficult financial situation, you can pay more than the base price.
The teachers and organizers do not receive any payment for their services, but offer these freely, so that as many as possible have a possibility to benefit from the teachings regardless of their financial situation. This principle of generosity is very central in the teachings of the Buddha, and has made it possible that we can still practice meditation 2500 years after him. The retreatants may support the teachers and organizers by donations after the retreat; we ask you to take a payment card or cash with you for this. The teachers live primarily on donations.
Registration and cancellations
You can sign up by filling the registration form. Once you have registered, you will receive an invoice for the 30 euros registration fee. Please pay the invoice using the reference number by due date.
About 6 weeks before the retreat, we will send you a second invoice for the rest of the retreat fee. Make sure you pay the invoice by due date, or your place will be given to the next person on the waiting list.
If you are paying the fee from an non-euro account, you have two options: 1) Pay by using PayPal. The recipient’s email address is talous@nirodha.fi. Use the reference ”Outdoor retreat registration fee” in the PayPal message. 2) Send the money to Nirodha’s account by using Wise. If you pay from abroad from an account which is not with your own name, please inform us about this to retriitit2@nirodha.fi; tell the payment date and account holder’s name.
In case you need to cancel the retreat, we kindly ask that you tell us as soon as possible, so we can give your place to the next person in the queue.
In case of cancellations, the registration fee is not refundable. If you have already paid the second invoice but need to cancel, we will unfortunately be able to refund you only if we can find another participant to fill in the empty place.
If you are coming from abroad, please note that we are not able to provide any documents for visa applications because of limited resources.
Time, place and travel arrangements
The retreat starts on Thursday the 2nd of September. Our bus leaves from Rovaniemi railway station at at 1 pm and takes us to Kukasjärvi area. One the first day we will walk to our camp, which is about 3 km from the nearest road. The retreat ends on Thursday the 9th of September. The bus picks us up so that we are back at Rovaniemi railway station after 5 pm.
A good way to travel from Southern Finland to Rovaniemi is by taking a night train from Helsinki. A suitable train leaves Helsinki on Wednesday the 1st of September at 11:13 pm and arrives to Rovaniemi the next morning at 11:13 am.
For the journey back, a possible train leaves Rovaniemi on 9th of September at 5:45 pm and arrives at Helsinki on Friday the 10th of August at 6:27 am. If you need help with purchasing the train tickets, please contact us for advice. Train tickets are not included in the retreat price.
Conditions in the retreat
The beginning of September will probably be a beautiful time of autumn colors. Biting insects have disappeared. The weather may vary from quite warm to even occasional snowfall; most probably daytime temperatures will be between 5 and 15 degrees. The temperature may go below zero at night.
The camp will have very basic equipment. Nights are spent in shared tents and food will be cooked with portable stoves. There will be a dry toilet available and possibility to wash yourself.
During the days we will do long walks (up to 12 km) in the surrounding area. We will walk partly on paths and partly outside of them. Will will wade across small streams. In some places the terrain may be wet or stony.
There are some other cottages around the Kukasjärvi lake, so we might meet other people or hear their voices every now and then. Nevertheless, we will have a chance to be mostly on our own.
Equipment needed
The equipment needed for the retreat are listed in the equipment list.
If you do not have everything on the list, please try borrowing from your friends or use a rental service (e.g. Kuinoma).
We do not have an insurance for the participants. It would be good to have your own personal insurance, which also covers trekking in Lapland.
Food
On the Outdoor Retreat we will eat trekking food, which is light to carry to the camp and on our day walks. We eat three meals a day, and there will also be some common snacks. All the food will be vegetarian. You can tell about your food allergies in the registration form.
There is a spring near the camp and during out walks we can get drinking water from the streams. The outdoor retreat is a drug-free event. We also encourage people not to smoke during the trek.
Lastly
We will send the particants more practical information closer to the retreat. If you have any questions, please contact us at retriitit2@nirodha.fi. We hope that this retreat will be an unique and beautiful experience for everyone!
You are warmly welcome,
Heini Repometsä (practical arrangements, heini.repometsa@gmail.com, +358 45 6755043)
Marianne Kautiala (registrations +358 50 531 8228)